Pub Date : 2025-10-24DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102821
Cleiton Pons Ferreira , Paula Latorre , Francisco Antonio Nieto-Escamez
This systematic review investigates the role of natural and architectural elements in virtual reality (VR) environments in promoting mental health and well-being. Following PRISMA guidelines, 93 studies were included after screening 6661 initially identified records, applying stringent inclusion and exclusion criteria to ensure methodological rigor. Geographically, the majority of studies were conducted in Asia, followed by Western Europe and North America, highlighting a global interest in leveraging VR for urban and residential design evaluation. Temporal analysis reveals a significant increase in research output starting in 2016, coinciding with advances in VR technology and its adoption in environmental psychology. The review explores the integration of biophilic elements, architectural features, lighting, and acoustic qualities in urban VR environments, demonstrating their potential to reduce stress, enhance relaxation, and improve emotional well-being. Included studies utilized subjective measures and physiological indicators, such as heart rate variability and cortisol levels, to assess psychological outcomes. However, methodological limitations were evident, including small sample sizes, limited participant diversity, and variability in study designs. Notably, none of the studies achieved a "good" rating in quality assessment using the NHLBI tool, emphasizing the need for methodological improvements across the field. This review highlights VR's transformative potential as a tool for urban planning and design, enabling the simulation and optimization of built environments to enhance mental health and well-being. Future research should prioritize larger, more diverse samples and longitudinal methodologies to validate findings and explore the sustainability of VR-driven interventions.
{"title":"Impact of nature and architectural design in virtual residential spaces and urban settings on human mental health and well-being: A systematic review","authors":"Cleiton Pons Ferreira , Paula Latorre , Francisco Antonio Nieto-Escamez","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102821","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102821","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This systematic review investigates the role of natural and architectural elements in virtual reality (VR) environments in promoting mental health and well-being. Following PRISMA guidelines, 93 studies were included after screening 6661 initially identified records, applying stringent inclusion and exclusion criteria to ensure methodological rigor. Geographically, the majority of studies were conducted in Asia, followed by Western Europe and North America, highlighting a global interest in leveraging VR for urban and residential design evaluation. Temporal analysis reveals a significant increase in research output starting in 2016, coinciding with advances in VR technology and its adoption in environmental psychology. The review explores the integration of biophilic elements, architectural features, lighting, and acoustic qualities in urban VR environments, demonstrating their potential to reduce stress, enhance relaxation, and improve emotional well-being. Included studies utilized subjective measures and physiological indicators, such as heart rate variability and cortisol levels, to assess psychological outcomes. However, methodological limitations were evident, including small sample sizes, limited participant diversity, and variability in study designs. Notably, none of the studies achieved a \"good\" rating in quality assessment using the NHLBI tool, emphasizing the need for methodological improvements across the field. This review highlights VR's transformative potential as a tool for urban planning and design, enabling the simulation and optimization of built environments to enhance mental health and well-being. Future research should prioritize larger, more diverse samples and longitudinal methodologies to validate findings and explore the sustainability of VR-driven interventions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48439,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Psychology","volume":"108 ","pages":"Article 102821"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145424922","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-23DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102822
Elsie Yan , Haze K.L. Ng , Daniel W.L. Lai , Edward Leung , Vivian W.Q. Lou , Daniel Y.T. Fong , Habib Chaudhury , Karl Pillemer , Mark Lachs
Living environmental conditions can pose great impacts on the health and well-being of older adults receiving care from residential care facilities (RCFs). Despite the growing concern on resident-to-resident aggression (RRA) worldwide, little is known about what environmental factors, and how these factors affect RRA among RCF residents. This study examined the correlates of RRA, with a special emphasis on the environmental and structural features of the RCFs. Cross-sectional data collected from a quota sample of 412 personal care workers (PCWs) working at 29 RCFs in Hong Kong were analysed using linear mixed-effects modelling. Guided by a survey, PCWs reported the most recent RRA incident they witnessed, and provided details about the perpetrator, victim, and the RCF involved. Effects of different individual characteristics of PCWs and residents, as well as environmental and structural factors of RCFs were included to predict RRA witnessed by PCWs. Results show that RRA is associated most strongly with residents' behavioural disturbances (perpetrator: B = 0.19, SE = 0.04, p < .001; victims: B = 0.16, SE = 0.03, p < .001). Among all environmental factors, cleanliness of the indoor areas of RCFs is the only significant predictor of RRA (B = −0.06, SE = 0.03, p < .05). Overall, findings did not support the impacts of most environmental features on RRA in the current settings. Yet, the significant effects of residents’ behavioural disturbances and cleanliness of RCFs on RRA advocate for integrated prevention and intervention strategies that address both individual health needs and organisational management.
居住环境条件对接受寄宿护理机构（rcf）护理的老年人的健康和福祉有很大影响。尽管世界范围内对居民对居民攻击（RRA）的关注日益增加，但对于哪些环境因素以及这些因素如何影响居民对居民的攻击，人们知之甚少。这项研究审查了RRA的相关关系，特别强调rrf的环境和结构特征。利用线性混合效应模型分析了在香港29家居家护理中心工作的412名个人护理员的横截面数据。在一项调查的指引下，pcw报告了他们最近目睹的RRA事件，并提供了肇事者、受害者和涉及的RCF的详细信息。我们考虑了不同个体特征和居民的影响，以及rcf的环境和结构因素来预测pws的RRA。结果表明，RRA与居民行为障碍的相关性最强（加害者：B = 0.19, SE = 0.04, p < .001；受害者：B = 0.16, SE = 0.03, p < 001）。在所有环境因素中，rcf室内区域清洁度是RRA的唯一显著预测因子（B = - 0.06, SE = 0.03, p < 0.05）。总的来说，研究结果并不支持大多数环境特征对RRA的影响。然而，居民的行为障碍和rcf的清洁度对RRA的显著影响提倡采取综合预防和干预战略，同时解决个人健康需求和组织管理。
{"title":"Living environment and resident-to-resident aggression in long-term residential care facilities","authors":"Elsie Yan , Haze K.L. Ng , Daniel W.L. Lai , Edward Leung , Vivian W.Q. Lou , Daniel Y.T. Fong , Habib Chaudhury , Karl Pillemer , Mark Lachs","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102822","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102822","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Living environmental conditions can pose great impacts on the health and well-being of older adults receiving care from residential care facilities (RCFs). Despite the growing concern on resident-to-resident aggression (RRA) worldwide, little is known about what environmental factors, and how these factors affect RRA among RCF residents. This study examined the correlates of RRA, with a special emphasis on the environmental and structural features of the RCFs. Cross-sectional data collected from a quota sample of 412 personal care workers (PCWs) working at 29 RCFs in Hong Kong were analysed using linear mixed-effects modelling. Guided by a survey, PCWs reported the most recent RRA incident they witnessed, and provided details about the perpetrator, victim, and the RCF involved. Effects of different individual characteristics of PCWs and residents, as well as environmental and structural factors of RCFs were included to predict RRA witnessed by PCWs. Results show that RRA is associated most strongly with residents' behavioural disturbances (perpetrator: <em>B</em> = 0.19, <em>SE</em> = 0.04, <em>p</em> < .001; victims: <em>B</em> = 0.16, <em>SE</em> = 0.03, <em>p</em> < .001). Among all environmental factors, cleanliness of the indoor areas of RCFs is the only significant predictor of RRA (<em>B</em> = −0.06, <em>SE</em> = 0.03, <em>p</em> < .05). Overall, findings did not support the impacts of most environmental features on RRA in the current settings. Yet, the significant effects of residents’ behavioural disturbances and cleanliness of RCFs on RRA advocate for integrated prevention and intervention strategies that address both individual health needs and organisational management.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48439,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Psychology","volume":"108 ","pages":"Article 102822"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145474796","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-23DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102813
Yanxia Zhang, Jing Li
GPS-based mobile navigation is two-sided like a coin, which improves efficiency but may impair spatial knowledge acquisition. In this project, we investigate the effects of GPS dependence on pedestrians' acquisition of spatial knowledge in a virtual environment (Experiment 1), the impact of different GPS guidance functions (position tracking and route planning) on spatial knowledge (Experiment 2), and whether modified navigation instructions can reduce the adverse effects of GPS dependence (Experiment 3). The results of Experiment 1 showed that participants with higher GPS dependence made more errors in the route repetition task, but no effect was found in the shortest route task. In Experiment 2, participants made fewer errors and were more likely to navigate the shortest route when they planned the route themselves, compared to following the predesignated route. They also acquired better route knowledge when position tracking was not provided. No significant effects were found in landmark recognition tasks. In Experiment 3, participants made significantly fewer turn direction errors when using landmark-based instructions compared to Euclidean-based instructions. Furthermore, this positive effect was greater among individuals with relatively lower levels of GPS dependence. Additionally, the positive effect of landmark-based instructions was found in the landmark recognition and shortest route tasks. Taken together, our findings suggest GPS dependence negatively correlated with route knowledge acquisition. Moreover, route planning plays a critical role in how GPS guidance negatively impacts route and survey knowledge acquisition. Position tracking also impairs route knowledge acquisition. Additionally, landmark-based navigation can improve spatial knowledge acquisition, particularly route knowledge, with stronger effects for participants with relatively lower GPS dependence.
{"title":"Limiting the negative effect of GPS dependence on spatial knowledge with landmark-based instructions","authors":"Yanxia Zhang, Jing Li","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102813","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102813","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>GPS-based mobile navigation is two-sided like a coin, which improves efficiency but may impair spatial knowledge acquisition. In this project, we investigate the effects of GPS dependence on pedestrians' acquisition of spatial knowledge in a virtual environment (Experiment 1), the impact of different GPS guidance functions (position tracking and route planning) on spatial knowledge (Experiment 2), and whether modified navigation instructions can reduce the adverse effects of GPS dependence (Experiment 3). The results of Experiment 1 showed that participants with higher GPS dependence made more errors in the route repetition task, but no effect was found in the shortest route task. In Experiment 2, participants made fewer errors and were more likely to navigate the shortest route when they planned the route themselves, compared to following the predesignated route. They also acquired better route knowledge when position tracking was not provided. No significant effects were found in landmark recognition tasks. In Experiment 3, participants made significantly fewer turn direction errors when using landmark-based instructions compared to Euclidean-based instructions. Furthermore, this positive effect was greater among individuals with relatively lower levels of GPS dependence. Additionally, the positive effect of landmark-based instructions was found in the landmark recognition and shortest route tasks. Taken together, our findings suggest GPS dependence negatively correlated with route knowledge acquisition. Moreover, route planning plays a critical role in how GPS guidance negatively impacts route and survey knowledge acquisition. Position tracking also impairs route knowledge acquisition. Additionally, landmark-based navigation can improve spatial knowledge acquisition, particularly route knowledge, with stronger effects for participants with relatively lower GPS dependence.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48439,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Psychology","volume":"108 ","pages":"Article 102813"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145579331","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-22DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102814
Erica Dolce , Maria Laura Gidari , Irene Ruffo , Anna Longo , Vittoria Siciliano , Silvia Canino , Maddalena Boccia , Fabrizia D'Antonio , Antonella Di Vita , Simona Raimo , Liana Palermo
The possible impact of the interindividual variability in interoception on human navigation remains unexplored. However, recent theories suggest that interoceptive inputs are essential for cognition, and evolutionary perspectives link navigation to interoceptive processing related to energy regulation.
Building on this evidence, we present three studies on healthy volunteers aimed at exploring whether individual differences in conscious interoceptive dimensions (interoceptive sensibility, accuracy, and awareness) predict individual differences in spatial knowledge of both virtual (Studies 1 and 2) and real-world (Study 3) environments.
Study 1 was a web-based study in which 142 participants completed an interoceptive sensibility (ISe) questionnaire and three tasks probing route, landmark, and survey knowledge of an environment acquired from a video presentation. No significant relationship was found between ISe and environmental knowledge, as assessed using virtual navigation tasks.
Study 2 extends Study 1 by exploring other relevant interoceptive dimensions, specifically interoceptive accuracy (IAcc) and awareness (IAw), in a laboratory-based setting. In this study, 110 participants completed an ISe questionnaire and the Heartbeat Counting Task to measure IAcc and IAw, as well as desktop-based tasks probing landmark, route, and survey knowledge of a virtual environment. Results from this study provided some indication that higher IAcc could be linked to slower performance in the landmark task.
Study 3 moves from a virtual to a real-world environment. A total of 45 participants completed the IAcc, IAw, and ISe measures, as well as tasks that probed landmark, route, and survey knowledge of a real environment and involved first-person, actual navigation. The results suggest a possible link between higher IAcc and better performance in the route and survey tasks.
These findings offer new empirical evidence on the relationship between interoception and environmental navigation. Tentatively, while heightened IAcc might impair attention to external cues (landmarks), at least in virtual environments (Study 2), it could enhance real-world navigational tasks of enviroments that have been directly explored from an egocentric perspective (Study 3). However, these findings should be interpreted with caution, as the overall association across studies was weak, and warrant replication in future studies using additional measures of both interoception and navigation.
{"title":"How do individual differences in interoception influence navigation in virtual and real environments?","authors":"Erica Dolce , Maria Laura Gidari , Irene Ruffo , Anna Longo , Vittoria Siciliano , Silvia Canino , Maddalena Boccia , Fabrizia D'Antonio , Antonella Di Vita , Simona Raimo , Liana Palermo","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102814","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102814","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The possible impact of the interindividual variability in interoception on human navigation remains unexplored. However, recent theories suggest that interoceptive inputs are essential for cognition, and evolutionary perspectives link navigation to interoceptive processing related to energy regulation.</div><div>Building on this evidence, we present three studies on healthy volunteers aimed at exploring whether individual differences in conscious interoceptive dimensions (interoceptive sensibility, accuracy, and awareness) predict individual differences in spatial knowledge of both virtual (Studies 1 and 2) and real-world (Study 3) environments.</div><div>Study 1 was a web-based study in which 142 participants completed an interoceptive sensibility (ISe) questionnaire and three tasks probing route, landmark, and survey knowledge of an environment acquired from a video presentation. No significant relationship was found between ISe and environmental knowledge, as assessed using virtual navigation tasks.</div><div>Study 2 extends Study 1 by exploring other relevant interoceptive dimensions, specifically interoceptive accuracy (IAcc) and awareness (IAw), in a laboratory-based setting. In this study, 110 participants completed an ISe questionnaire and the Heartbeat Counting Task to measure IAcc and IAw, as well as desktop-based tasks probing landmark, route, and survey knowledge of a virtual environment. Results from this study provided some indication that higher IAcc could be linked to slower performance in the landmark task.</div><div>Study 3 moves from a virtual to a real-world environment. A total of 45 participants completed the IAcc, IAw, and ISe measures, as well as tasks that probed landmark, route, and survey knowledge of a real environment and involved first-person, actual navigation. The results suggest a possible link between higher IAcc and better performance in the route and survey tasks.</div><div>These findings offer new empirical evidence on the relationship between interoception and environmental navigation. Tentatively, while heightened IAcc might impair attention to external cues (landmarks), at least in virtual environments (Study 2), it could enhance real-world navigational tasks of enviroments that have been directly explored from an egocentric perspective (Study 3). However, these findings should be interpreted with caution, as the overall association across studies was weak, and warrant replication in future studies using additional measures of both interoception and navigation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48439,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Psychology","volume":"108 ","pages":"Article 102814"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145424926","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-18DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102806
Ansung Kim , Iuri Baptista , Carolin Zorell , Nicklas Neuman , Jun Niimi , Åsa Öström
This field experiment explored whether and to what extent claims about expert recommendations (i.e., those of the chef) and recommendations from other restaurant guests influenced customers' food choices in a restaurant. The menu in the study consisted entirely of vegetarian dishes, two of which were selected to be emphasised either as “Chef's choice” or as “Guests' choice” on the menu, thereby providing expert-based and social-based cues suggesting one of the dishes at different study time points. The selected dishes were a vegetarian version of a conventional Swedish meat dish (a plant-based patty) and a nonconventional dish (lentils with “zero-waste” pesto). Over four weeks, the restaurant's sales data were collected, and customers were invited to participate in a voluntary survey. This survey gathered information regarding sociodemographic characteristics and more details about the dish selection, including subjective ratings of dish liking and overall meal satisfaction. A total of 1540 dishes were sold, and 524 customers participated in the survey. The plant-based patty was the most popular choice across all weeks, and the “Chef's choice” had no additive effect, suggesting its high stability in popularity. Labelling a less popular dish (lentils with “zero-waste” pesto) with “Chef's choice” had a positive impact on its selection, while labelling it with “Guests' choice” made no difference. These results suggest that in the absence of meat options, some customers appear to transfer the concept of a meat-centric dish to a similar vegetarian dish (in this case, a plant-based patty), whereas a less popular dish with no resemblance to a conventional meat dish can become more popular when recommended by a presumable expert on the matter. However, further research is necessary to ascertain the efficacy of this effect in diverse restaurant contexts, based on designs with better possibilities to establish causality.
{"title":"A field experiment on expert- versus social-based cues on dish selection in a restaurant","authors":"Ansung Kim , Iuri Baptista , Carolin Zorell , Nicklas Neuman , Jun Niimi , Åsa Öström","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102806","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102806","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This field experiment explored whether and to what extent claims about expert recommendations (i.e., those of the chef) and recommendations from other restaurant guests influenced customers' food choices in a restaurant. The menu in the study consisted entirely of vegetarian dishes, two of which were selected to be emphasised either as “Chef's choice” or as “Guests' choice” on the menu, thereby providing expert-based and social-based cues suggesting one of the dishes at different study time points. The selected dishes were a vegetarian version of a conventional Swedish meat dish (a plant-based patty) and a nonconventional dish (lentils with “zero-waste” pesto). Over four weeks, the restaurant's sales data were collected, and customers were invited to participate in a voluntary survey. This survey gathered information regarding sociodemographic characteristics and more details about the dish selection, including subjective ratings of dish liking and overall meal satisfaction. A total of 1540 dishes were sold, and 524 customers participated in the survey. The plant-based patty was the most popular choice across all weeks, and the “Chef's choice” had no additive effect, suggesting its high stability in popularity. Labelling a less popular dish (lentils with “zero-waste” pesto) with “Chef's choice” had a positive impact on its selection, while labelling it with “Guests' choice” made no difference. These results suggest that in the absence of meat options, some customers appear to transfer the concept of a meat-centric dish to a similar vegetarian dish (in this case, a plant-based patty), whereas a less popular dish with no resemblance to a conventional meat dish can become more popular when recommended by a presumable expert on the matter. However, further research is necessary to ascertain the efficacy of this effect in diverse restaurant contexts, based on designs with better possibilities to establish causality.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48439,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Psychology","volume":"108 ","pages":"Article 102806"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145365419","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-17DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102810
John D. Adolfo
The public's response to escalating climate disasters often appears perplexing. This letter highlights research suggesting that it's not solely the experience of past extreme events, but the anticipation of more severe future events, that is a key factor in mobilizing support for climate policy. This perspective challenges communication strategies focused predominantly on recounting past events. Effective communication could benefit from framing current events as indicators of future threats, thereby making the urgency of future implications more tangible.
{"title":"The climate's nuanced truth: Why past disasters fail to ignite action","authors":"John D. Adolfo","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102810","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102810","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The public's response to escalating climate disasters often appears perplexing. This letter highlights research suggesting that it's not solely the experience of past extreme events, but the anticipation of more severe future events, that is a key factor in mobilizing support for climate policy. This perspective challenges communication strategies focused predominantly on recounting past events. Effective communication could benefit from framing current events as indicators of future threats, thereby making the urgency of future implications more tangible.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48439,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Psychology","volume":"108 ","pages":"Article 102810"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145365418","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-17DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102811
Danyelle Greene , Amit Birenboim , Anna K. Zinn , Marius Portmann , Yash Pandey , Bettina Grün , Sara Dolnicar
Setting air conditioners to unnecessarily low temperatures in summer generates substantial carbon emissions. This study aims to change air conditioner use by tourists—consumers whose sense of moral obligation is reduced, along with their level of pro-environmental behaviour. We test several interventions aimed at encouraging hotel guests to set their air conditioners to comfortable but less energy-intensive temperatures. We compare common interventions (environmental appeals and normative appeals) with anthropomorphised interventions that personify air conditioners to evoke empathy. Intervention effectiveness is assessed across a series of studies: a traditional survey experiment (to measure manipulation of target constructs), two ecologically enhanced survey experiments (measuring behavioural intentions), and a field experiment measuring air conditioner use indirectly via wireless temperature sensors. Results indicate that interventions leveraging social norms and anthropomorphism—specifically those showing negative emotions like exhaustion and anger—significantly enhance sustainable air conditioner use. A basic instructions message, which simply gave participants a suggested temperature setting range, also enhanced sustainable air conditioner use in the field. A comparison reveals that enhanced survey formats cannot replace field experiments in assessing an intervention's impact on behaviour. Our findings suggest that simple, cost-effective messaging interventions can promote more sustainable air conditioning practices in hotels, ultimately contributing to reduced carbon emissions and operational costs.
{"title":"Leveraging social norms and empathy to encourage sustainable air conditioning practices amongst hotel guests","authors":"Danyelle Greene , Amit Birenboim , Anna K. Zinn , Marius Portmann , Yash Pandey , Bettina Grün , Sara Dolnicar","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102811","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102811","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Setting air conditioners to unnecessarily low temperatures in summer generates substantial carbon emissions. This study aims to change air conditioner use by tourists—consumers whose sense of moral obligation is reduced, along with their level of pro-environmental behaviour. We test several interventions aimed at encouraging hotel guests to set their air conditioners to comfortable but less energy-intensive temperatures. We compare common interventions (environmental appeals and normative appeals) with anthropomorphised interventions that personify air conditioners to evoke empathy. Intervention effectiveness is assessed across a series of studies: a traditional survey experiment (to measure manipulation of target constructs), two ecologically enhanced survey experiments (measuring behavioural intentions), and a field experiment measuring air conditioner use indirectly via wireless temperature sensors. Results indicate that interventions leveraging social norms and anthropomorphism—specifically those showing negative emotions like exhaustion and anger—significantly enhance sustainable air conditioner use. A basic instructions message, which simply gave participants a suggested temperature setting range, also enhanced sustainable air conditioner use in the field. A comparison reveals that enhanced survey formats cannot replace field experiments in assessing an intervention's impact on behaviour. Our findings suggest that simple, cost-effective messaging interventions can promote more sustainable air conditioning practices in hotels, ultimately contributing to reduced carbon emissions and operational costs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48439,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Psychology","volume":"108 ","pages":"Article 102811"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145424980","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-15DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102809
Giulia Granato, Ruth Mugge
Contemporary communication platforms, ranging from social media to traditional news outlets, frequently present static norms, reflecting established behaviours (e.g., eating meat, drinking alcohol at parties) in combination with dynamic norms that signal evolving societal trends (e.g., adopting more plant-based diets, attending alcohol-free events). Despite the widespread exposure to such combined static-and-dynamic-norm communications, its influence on consumer behaviour remains unexplored. This research addresses this gap by conducting two laboratory experiments to investigate the impact of static-and-dynamic-norm communications on sustainable behaviour towards reduction of fast fashion consumption.
The results demonstrate that participants exposed to the combination of unsustainable static and unsustainable dynamic norms purchased significantly fewer fashion items than those in other experimental conditions. This behavioural change is affected by a process of social moral cleansing, wherein participants, upon confronting with the widespread unsustainable behaviour of others, experienced a highlighted motivation to counteract these behaviours by acting more sustainably themselves. These findings contribute to the growing literature on social normative influence in sustainable consumption contexts. By identifying a novel and effective normative communication strategy for reducing consumption, this research offers valuable insights for researchers, designers and policy makers seeking to promote sufficiency-oriented behaviour and foster long-term sustainable behavioural change.
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Pub Date : 2025-10-14DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102805
Hélène Jalin, Arnaud Sapin, Anne Congard, Abdel Halim Boudoukha
Introduction
Studies on psychological adaptation to ecological stress are still relatively rare, despite its crucial importance for both individual well-being and the future of the planet.
Method
On the basis of a preliminary qualitative study (Study 1), we developed and validated a scale to measure coping strategies in response to ecological stress (Study 2). We then used this scale to study how people coped with stress depending on their level of eco-anxiety, and carried out a network analysis to determine whether individuals used certain combinations of strategies (Study 3).
Results
The scale includes 26 items divided into ten subscales corresponding to distinct coping strategies. The most eco-anxious individuals made greater use of most coping strategies, with the exception of denial, positive reappraisal and humor. A cluster analysis revealed three distinct combinations of strategies, the first characterized by rumination and self-blame, the second on problem-solving, social support and meaning-seeking, and the last on denial and positive reappraisal.
Discussion
This research provides a valuable scale for exploring the factors influencing how individuals cope with environmental stress. By targeting certain “pivotal” strategies, virtuous circles could be set in motion, fostering both behavioral commitment to the environment and well-being.
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Pub Date : 2025-10-13DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102807
Anda-Bianca Ciocîrlan, Harriet Baird, Richard Rowe
An understanding of the relationships between pro-environmental behaviours can enable researchers to develop more holistic approaches to encourage sustainable practices and support the design of interventions that can target multiple behaviours. The present review examines the relationships between different pro-environmental behaviours. We searched Scopus, PsycInfo, and GreenFILE, conducted forward and backward citation searches, and contacted authors of included studies for expert recommendations. Twenty-six empirical studies that measured at least two pro-environmental behaviours at an individual or household level were included, which provided 1888 correlations between pro-environmental behaviours. Random-effects meta-analysis with Robust Variance Estimation (RVE) found a small overall effect size between pro-environmental behaviours (r = 0.16, 95 % CI = [0.08, 0.24]). Associations were observed both between behaviours from distinct domains of pro-environmental behaviour (e.g., energy conservation and water conservation), and within the same domain (e.g., energy conservation behaviours such as turning off lights and using efficient appliances). Behaviours that belonged to the same general domain were more strongly correlated than behaviours from distinct domains (e.g., energy conservation behaviours, r = 0.24, 95 % CI = [0.06, 0.43]; resource management behaviours, r = 0.23, 95 % CI = [0.11, 0.37]). In contrast, behaviours from distinct domains showed weaker associations, such as the correlation between energy conservation and civic actions (r = 0.11, 95 % CI = [0.06, 0.16)]. These findings suggest that there may be an underlying pro-environmental behaviour factor that interventions could target with the potential for effectiveness across multiple behaviours,. This approach may increase intervention efficiency by targeting multiple behaviours simultaneously, maximising environmental impact while reducing resource expenditure.
了解亲环境行为之间的关系可以使研究人员开发出更全面的方法来鼓励可持续实践，并支持针对多种行为的干预措施的设计。本综述探讨了不同亲环境行为之间的关系。我们检索了Scopus、PsycInfo和GreenFILE，进行了向前和向后引文检索，并联系了纳入研究的作者以获得专家推荐。在个人或家庭层面上测量至少两种亲环境行为的26项实证研究被包括在内，这些研究提供了亲环境行为之间的1888相关性。采用稳健方差估计（RVE）的随机效应荟萃分析发现，亲环境行为之间的总体效应较小（r = 0.16, 95% CI =[0.08, 0.24]）。在不同领域的亲环境行为（例如，节能和节水）和同一领域内的行为（例如，关灯和使用高效电器等节能行为）之间观察到关联。属于同一领域的行为比来自不同领域的行为相关性更强（例如，节能行为，r = 0.24, 95% CI =[0.06, 0.43]；资源管理行为，r = 0.23, 95% CI =[0.11, 0.37]）。相反，不同领域的行为表现出较弱的相关性，例如节能与公民行为之间的相关性（r = 0.11, 95% CI =[0.06, 0.16]）。这些发现表明，可能存在一种潜在的亲环境行为因素，干预措施可以针对多种行为，并具有跨多种行为有效的潜力。这种方法可以同时针对多种行为，在减少资源支出的同时最大化环境影响，从而提高干预效率。
{"title":"A systematic review and meta-analysis of the relationships between pro-environmental behaviours","authors":"Anda-Bianca Ciocîrlan, Harriet Baird, Richard Rowe","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102807","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102807","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>An understanding of the relationships between pro-environmental behaviours can enable researchers to develop more holistic approaches to encourage sustainable practices and support the design of interventions that can target multiple behaviours. The present review examines the relationships between different pro-environmental behaviours. We searched Scopus, PsycInfo, and GreenFILE, conducted forward and backward citation searches, and contacted authors of included studies for expert recommendations. Twenty-six empirical studies that measured at least two pro-environmental behaviours at an individual or household level were included, which provided 1888 correlations between pro-environmental behaviours. Random-effects meta-analysis with Robust Variance Estimation (RVE) found a small overall effect size between pro-environmental behaviours (<em>r</em> = 0.16, 95 % CI = [0.08, 0.24]). Associations were observed both between behaviours from distinct domains of pro-environmental behaviour (e.g., energy conservation and water conservation), and within the same domain (e.g., energy conservation behaviours such as turning off lights and using efficient appliances). Behaviours that belonged to the same general domain were more strongly correlated than behaviours from distinct domains (e.g., energy conservation behaviours, <em>r</em> = 0.24, 95 % CI = [0.06, 0.43]; resource management behaviours, <em>r</em> = 0.23, 95 % CI = [0.11, 0.37]). In contrast, behaviours from distinct domains showed weaker associations, such as the correlation between energy conservation and civic actions (<em>r</em> = 0.11, 95 % CI = [0.06, 0.16)]. These findings suggest that there may be an underlying pro-environmental behaviour factor that interventions could target with the potential for effectiveness across multiple behaviours,. This approach may increase intervention efficiency by targeting multiple behaviours simultaneously, maximising environmental impact while reducing resource expenditure.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48439,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Psychology","volume":"108 ","pages":"Article 102807"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145424981","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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