{"title":"Accumulation of self-reported restorative effects of natural sounds: A seven-day intervention indoors","authors":"Yasushi Suko, Kalevi M. Korpela","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102388","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This study investigated the restorative effects of repeated listening to natural sounds indoors in real-life settings. Previous studies have mainly been cross-sectional and laboratory studies. We designed an online field experiment lasting seven days, in which we assigned 166 university students to one of four intervention groups: (1) listening to natural sounds, (2) sitting in silence (i.e., another means of restoration), (3) reading news online (i.e., a prevalent but not necessarily restorative activity), or (4) no intervention (i.e., the control). Self-reported restorative experience was measured both before and after the daily intervention (but once a day in the no-intervention group), and the weekly-measured perceived stress and state mindfulness were assessed at the beginning and end of the intervention week. Linear hypothesis tests based on a linear mixed-effects model (LMM) showed that, at the day level, natural sounds were the most restorative, followed by silence, while reading news proved not to be restorative. In addition, the daily restorative effect of natural sounds was carried over to later days and its seven-day accumulation was half as great as the general daily restorative effect, although the within-day pre-post change ostensibly diminished over time. An ANCOVA and paired t-tests revealed that a reduction in the weekly-measured perceived stress and an increase in the weekly-measured mindfulness took place after listening to natural sounds or sitting in silence, with the former intervention type having stronger effects, aligning with the results for the restorative experience. Our findings suggest that the carryover effect of repeated listening to natural sounds for psychological restoration may more than compensate for the diminishing returns in within-day pre-post changes over the course of a week.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48439,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Psychology","volume":"98 ","pages":"Article 102388"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494424001610/pdfft?md5=59cdedd941d975ad06923b825e72d5a9&pid=1-s2.0-S0272494424001610-main.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Environmental Psychology","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494424001610","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This study investigated the restorative effects of repeated listening to natural sounds indoors in real-life settings. Previous studies have mainly been cross-sectional and laboratory studies. We designed an online field experiment lasting seven days, in which we assigned 166 university students to one of four intervention groups: (1) listening to natural sounds, (2) sitting in silence (i.e., another means of restoration), (3) reading news online (i.e., a prevalent but not necessarily restorative activity), or (4) no intervention (i.e., the control). Self-reported restorative experience was measured both before and after the daily intervention (but once a day in the no-intervention group), and the weekly-measured perceived stress and state mindfulness were assessed at the beginning and end of the intervention week. Linear hypothesis tests based on a linear mixed-effects model (LMM) showed that, at the day level, natural sounds were the most restorative, followed by silence, while reading news proved not to be restorative. In addition, the daily restorative effect of natural sounds was carried over to later days and its seven-day accumulation was half as great as the general daily restorative effect, although the within-day pre-post change ostensibly diminished over time. An ANCOVA and paired t-tests revealed that a reduction in the weekly-measured perceived stress and an increase in the weekly-measured mindfulness took place after listening to natural sounds or sitting in silence, with the former intervention type having stronger effects, aligning with the results for the restorative experience. Our findings suggest that the carryover effect of repeated listening to natural sounds for psychological restoration may more than compensate for the diminishing returns in within-day pre-post changes over the course of a week.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Environmental Psychology is the premier journal in the field, serving individuals in a wide range of disciplines who have an interest in the scientific study of the transactions and interrelationships between people and their surroundings (including built, social, natural and virtual environments, the use and abuse of nature and natural resources, and sustainability-related behavior). The journal publishes internationally contributed empirical studies and reviews of research on these topics that advance new insights. As an important forum for the field, the journal publishes some of the most influential papers in the discipline that reflect the scientific development of environmental psychology. Contributions on theoretical, methodological, and practical aspects of all human-environment interactions are welcome, along with innovative or interdisciplinary approaches that have a psychological emphasis. Research areas include: •Psychological and behavioral aspects of people and nature •Cognitive mapping, spatial cognition and wayfinding •Ecological consequences of human actions •Theories of place, place attachment, and place identity •Environmental risks and hazards: perception, behavior, and management •Perception and evaluation of buildings and natural landscapes •Effects of physical and natural settings on human cognition and health •Theories of proenvironmental behavior, norms, attitudes, and personality •Psychology of sustainability and climate change •Psychological aspects of resource management and crises •Social use of space: crowding, privacy, territoriality, personal space •Design of, and experiences related to, the physical aspects of workplaces, schools, residences, public buildings and public space