Research on the physiological and psychological impacts of extraordinary nature on emotions and restorative effects for young adults

Abstract

Research indicates that exposure to natural environments positively impacts both physiological and psychological well-being. However, extraordinary, awesome landscapes, such as the mesmerizing Arctic and mysterious underwater scene, particularly contribute to enhancing emotional well-being. More exploration needs to be done exploration into the specific emotional and healing recovery effects of extraordinary natural landscapes. This study employs a combination of objective physiological measurements and subjective evaluations to investigate the therapeutic benefits of extraordinary natural landscapes. Sixty-two university volunteers experienced three ordinary natural landscapes and four extraordinary natural landscapes in a virtual reality setting. Participants wore wearable devices to collect physiological data, including EEG and HRV valves. Subjective questionnaires, semantic differential scales to assess the extraordinariness of landscapes, perceived restorativeness scale, and PAD emotional scale were utilized to evaluate recovery effects and emotional impacts. Results showed that: 1) Compared to ordinary nature, extraordinary nature demonstrates more significant recovery and emotional improvement effects. 2) The semantic differential scale evaluated the extraordinariness of natural landscapes across five dimensions: awe, remoteness, mystery, complexity, and uniqueness, with uniqueness being the predominant influencing factor. 3) As the extraordinariness of natural landscapes increases, the recovery effect also improves gradually. However, excessive exposure to extraordinary natural landscapes shows a diminishing therapeutic effect. These findings underscore the superior recovery effects of extraordinary nature, validated by physiological data and subjective ratings. The study highlights the potential of extraordinary nature as therapeutic material, offering a fresh perspective and quantitative data to study therapeutic landscapes.