Good city and nice people: The impact of the perceived built environment on prosocial tendencies, flourishing, depression, and anxiety

Abstract

Numerous studies have reported that the built environment plays a key role in promoting prosocial behaviors. However, to date, the potential positive psychological mechanisms underlying the association between built environment and prosocial behaviors in urban adult residents have not been well examined. To fill this research gap, the present study explored the mediation pathway from the perceived built environment to prosocial tendencies from a positive psychology perspective. Moreover, the present study focused on the moderating effects of depression and anxiety on this mediation pathway. A sample of 1150 urban community-dwelling adults completed questionnaires that assessed the perceived built environment, flourishing, prosocial tendencies, depression symptoms, and severity of anxiety. The results of the mediation model analysis demonstrated that the positive effect of perceived built environment on prosocial tendencies was partially mediated by flourishing. Furthermore, using a moderated mediation model analysis, we found that depression and anxiety moderated the link between perceived built environment and prosocial tendencies via flourishing. More specifically, the effect of the perceived built environment on flourishing was stronger for residents who experienced high levels of depression and anxiety than for those who experienced low levels of depression and anxiety. Additionally, we found that depression and anxiety moderated the mediating effect of flourishing. Compared with residents without a risk of depression and anxiety, individuals experiencing high levels of depression and anxiety obtained more psychosocial benefits derived from the high quality of the built environment. Overall, these findings provide an empirical contribution to the human-environment interaction research field and increase the precision of urban-based interventions and policies for the promotion of human well-being in urban contexts.