Sohvi Nuojua , Sabine Pahl , Kayleigh J. Wyles , Richard C. Thompson
{"title":"The Impact of Virtual Reality Exposure on Ocean Connectedness and Consumer Responses to Single-Use Packaging","authors":"Sohvi Nuojua , Sabine Pahl , Kayleigh J. Wyles , Richard C. Thompson","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102450","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102450","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Efforts to mitigate plastic packaging pollution include behavioural strategies aimed at shifting consumer perceptions and behaviour. Connectedness to nature, and more recently ocean connectedness, has been associated with pro-environmental intentions regarding single-use packaging. Two experimental studies were conducted to examine the potential of Virtual Reality (VR) technologies in promoting ocean connectedness and shifting consumer perceptions around packaging and its environmental qualities.</div><div>To assess the influence of the VR content, in Study 1 (<em>n</em> = 94), participants were briefly exposed to an oceanic VR environment or an urban VR experience. Levels of ocean connectedness, both explicit and implicit, were measured after the VR manipulation using an Inclusion of Nature in Self (INS) measure and an Implicit Association Test (IAT). Participants then rated a variety of packaging options that were systematically manipulated in terms of type of raw material (e.g. plastic) and recyclability. The ocean VR condition showed higher levels of ocean connectedness on the adapted explicit INS measure, but not on the IAT measure, and there were no differences between the conditions in perceptions around packaging materials.</div><div>Study 2 (<em>n</em> = 118) expanded on the previous study by adding a third condition: the participants were exposed to an oceanic VR environment, a built VR environment, or a non-VR task (cognitive task). The ocean VR condition showed higher levels of explicit ocean connectedness, as measured with the INS, than the other two conditions, but again there were no differences in implicit ocean connectedness. However, the ocean VR condition showed more critical perceptions around packaging overall in comparison to the built VR condition. We conclude that a brief immersive oceanic VR experience can influence explicit ocean connectedness, as measured with the INS, but its influence on packaging perceptions was more limited.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48439,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Psychology","volume":"99 ","pages":"Article 102450"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142425926","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Home environments in an age of precarity","authors":"Daniel Stokols, Ruth Barankevich","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102447","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102447","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Environment-behavior research prior to the 2000s often portrayed homes as relatively self-contained, insular settings that provided residents refuge from the demands and distractions of the outside world—a kind of safe haven for domestic activities and family life. Residential security was viewed largely in relation to personal assets and the nearby environment, including one's capacity to afford high quality housing, defensible space design of the dwelling, and the absence of nearby threats such as fire and flood hazards, seismic risks, and undesirable land uses like oil drilling sites, landfills, and congested roadways. These proximal sources of residential precarity still play a role in people's lives, but their impacts on people are amplified nowadays by a variety of increasingly pervasive threats situated at societal and global levels such as climate change and extreme weather events, disease pandemics, rampant cybercrime, and growing worries about the spread of nuclear weapons. Also, the modern home has become a polyfunctional hub for both household and non-domestic activities, owing to the infusion of work, educational, and recreational activities into residences via their online connections to the outside world. We offer a social ecological analysis of the changing meanings and functions of home environments in the early 21st Century, and a conception of domestic precarity that highlights its links to broader existential concerns driven by societal and global forces. Future policies and environmental interventions to effectively curb residential precarity will require collaboration among individuals from multiple fields and between diverse organizations and institutions working at municipal, state, national and international levels.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48439,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Psychology","volume":"99 ","pages":"Article 102447"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142425928","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Restorative and regenerative green spaces for vulnerable communities in social housing: The impact of a community greening program","authors":"Tonia Gray, Danielle Tracey, Fiona Pigott","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102448","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102448","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Vulnerable communities represent the most at-risk populations facing inequities and negative health, economic and social wellbeing outcomes. Community gardening has emerged globally as a community-based remedy to reduce these inequities and enhance wellbeing. This paper examines the psychological, socio-cultural and health impact of social housing design that includes access to, and engagement with green spaces. The project was multi-disciplinary and used mixed-method research to examine the impact of community gardening for people in social housing. Two interrelated studies were conducted; study 1 involved 33 social housing gardeners in a pre-post program survey. Statistically significant improvements were found in participants' satisfaction with personal wellbeing, health, and community connectedness; as well as increased gardening skills, positive social experiences, and time spent in nature. Study 2 involved 34 semi-structured interviews conducted with program facilitators and partner organisation staff. Results uncovered that participant's engagement with gardening was restorative and regenerative. Four salient themes emerged from our mixed methods study: 1) connection to self; 2) connection to others, 3) connection to place; and 4) connection to purpose. The findings showcase some of the key principles of a successful social and nature prescription intervention for vulnerable people. Community gardening was shown to amplify civic pride and bolster community resilience. Our research suggests the broad impact of community gardening on participant outcomes for vulnerable populations and enhances the capacity of practitioners to translate research into policy and practice for sustainable, restorative residential communities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48439,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Psychology","volume":"99 ","pages":"Article 102448"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142426358","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Anita Paas , Hugo R. Jourde , Arnaud Brignol , Marie-Anick Savard , Zseyvfin Eyqvelle , Samuel Bassetto , Giovanni Beltrame , Emily B.J. Coffey
{"title":"Beyond the lab: Feasibility of cognitive neuroscience data collection during a speleological expedition","authors":"Anita Paas , Hugo R. Jourde , Arnaud Brignol , Marie-Anick Savard , Zseyvfin Eyqvelle , Samuel Bassetto , Giovanni Beltrame , Emily B.J. Coffey","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102443","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102443","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In human cognitive neuroscience and neuropsychology studies, laboratory-based research tasks have been important to establish principles of brain function and its relationship to behaviour; however, they differ greatly from real-life experiences. Several elements of real-life situations that impact human performance, such as stressors, are difficult or impossible to replicate in the laboratory. Expeditions offer unique possibilities for studying human cognition in complex environments that can transfer to other situations with similar features. For example, as caves share several of the physical and psychological challenges of safety-critical environments such as spaceflight, underground expeditions have been developed as an analogue for astronaut training purposes, suggesting that they might also be suitable for studying aspects of behaviour and cognition that cannot be fully examined under laboratory conditions. While a large range of topics and tools have been proposed for application in such environments, few have been used in the field. Methods and procedures for maximizing the robustness and scientific value of expedition research designs must first be developed and validated. We tested the feasibility of collecting human physiological, cognitive, and subjective experience data concerning brain state, sleep, cognitive workload, and fatigue, during a speleological expedition in a remote region. We document our approaches and challenges experienced, and provide recommendations and suggestions to aid future work. The data support the idea that cave expeditions are relevant naturalistic paradigms that offer unique possibilities for cognitive neuroscience to complement laboratory work and help improve human performance and safety in operational environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48439,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Psychology","volume":"99 ","pages":"Article 102443"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142426359","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Effects of simulated natural light brightness on visual perception in virtual reality forests: An eye-tracking study","authors":"Chang Li, Shutong Ge, Yiping Jiang","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102446","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102446","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Although natural light is essential for human health and well-being, the potential effects of different brightness levels of light on the visual perception of forests have not been discussed. Using controlled eye-tracking experiments, this study explored the impact of seven simulated natural brightness levels, from the darkest to the brightest, on the visual perception of 118 participants in a virtual reality (VR) forest environment. One of the most significant findings of this study was the marginal effect of natural light brightness levels on visual physiological stress in VR forests, with the pupillary unrest index decreasing significantly with the increase of natural light brightness; Secondly, the study analyzed the influence of natural light brightness levels in VR forests on the visual engagement behavior of eye tracking, that is, bright forest environments showed an overall trend associated with longer fixation duration, less saccade duration, and greater fixation direction ratio; Thirdly, in terms of visual perception evaluation, the study found an inverted U-shaped trend of mood, restorative perception, perceived safety, and natural light brightness level in VR forests. In addition, the study also found a significant correlation between visual physiological and psychological indicators in VR forest natural light visual perception experiments. These findings help us understand the visual perception effect of forest nature light exposure as a whole, and provided important clues and a basis for future research on improving the visual comfort of forest natural light.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48439,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Psychology","volume":"99 ","pages":"Article 102446"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142425927","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}
Julia M. Jankowski, Christopher Mlynski, Veronika Job
{"title":"Just a drop in the ocean? How lay beliefs about the world influence efficacy, perceptions, and intentions regarding pro-environmental behavior","authors":"Julia M. Jankowski, Christopher Mlynski, Veronika Job","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102445","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102445","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Climate change is a large-scale problem that might leave people paralyzed by feeling too small to make a difference. Indeed, low response efficacy has been shown to be related to low pro-environmental behavior. There have been some attempts to increase people's efficacy. However, these have often been less successful than hoped. In the present research, we suggest that response efficacy is informed by people's more fundamental understanding of how the world functions (i.e., their lay beliefs about the world): whether they think the world is changeable or fixed. In three online experiments (on samples from Austria and the USA) we manipulated participants' lay beliefs about the world and measured their response efficacy and different indicators of intentions and perceptions related to pro-environmental behavior (such as climate change belief, perceiving norms as changing and feelings of working together in pro-environmental behavior). People who were led to adopt the belief that the world is changeable (i.e., an incremental belief) reported higher response efficacy regarding climate change. There was also some indication that they had stronger pro-environmental intentions, felt more like working together with others when engaging in pro-environmental behavior, and perceived norms around pro-environmental behavior as more dynamic. These results indicate that people's global understanding of the world plays a role in how they view and tackle large-scale social problems such as climate change. Supporting an incremental belief might foster an agentic approach to such problems and promote social change.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48439,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Psychology","volume":"100 ","pages":"Article 102445"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142534625","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Grant E. Donnelly, Samantha N. Mertens, Nicole Sintov
{"title":"Increasing recycling with charitable incentives","authors":"Grant E. Donnelly, Samantha N. Mertens, Nicole Sintov","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102444","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102444","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Many businesses have moved toward a circular economy, collecting their packaging material from customers to be reintroduced into their remanufacturing processes. For these programs to be successful, individuals must voluntarily, and often effortfully, dispose of their used materials in specific ways. The goal of the present research is to evaluate the effectiveness of charitable incentives in promoting effortful recycling. We explore whether the type of charitable recipient – human or non-human – differently promotes effortful recycling, and examine how people's environmental values may moderate these effects. Five studies (<em>N</em> = 3572) utilizing real disposal decisions and consequential disposal intentions demonstrate that when individuals are informed that by recycling an item a donation will be made to a non-profit organization, effortful recycling increases—an effect that is observed for both environmental and youth recipients (Studies 1–4b). However, an environmental charitable recipient was less motivating for people who had less concern for the environment (Studies 3 and 4b). We find that an environmental charitable recipient increases effortful recycling because of an enhanced perception of making an impact, while a youth charitable recipient increases effortful recycling through greater empathy (Studies 4a and 4b). We conclude that efforts to increase material recovery using charitable incentives can be effective, and should carefully consider the values of their intended audience along with charitable recipient type.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48439,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Psychology","volume":"99 ","pages":"Article 102444"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2024-09-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142425925","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}
Daniel Farrelly , Manpal Singh Bhogal , Lee Badham
{"title":"The email conservation task: Testing the validity of an online measure of direct pro-environmental behavior","authors":"Daniel Farrelly , Manpal Singh Bhogal , Lee Badham","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102442","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102442","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>There is a need for valid measures of pro-environmental behavior, in particular ones measuring actual behavior. In response, a number of such measures have been introduced recently, however each faces limitations such as high costs, practical use and/or only measure indirect environmental behavior, limiting their scope, accessibility and inclusivity. In response, this study introduces the easily administered and low-cost Email Conservation Task (ECT), which measures direct pro-environmental behaviour (in this case, email use). Here, participants chose between personal costs (time spent on trivial tasks) or environmental costs (receiving unnecessary emails leading to CO<sub>2</sub> emissions) across multiple trials. In a pre-registered study testing the validity of the ECT, it was found (as hypothesized) that participants scored higher on the ECT (incurred more personal costs rather than receiving unnecessary emails) when personal costs to them were lower, and scored higher when the environmental costs of receiving unnecessary emails were higher. Finally, total scores on the ECT significantly correlated with scores on three self-reported indicators of pro-environmentalism. Overall, the results of this study support all three hypotheses, indicating that the ECT is a valid measure of pro-environmental behavior that can be implemented across a diverse range of research areas.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48439,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Psychology","volume":"99 ","pages":"Article 102442"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2024-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142323411","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Julian Keil , Denise O'Meara , Annika Korte , Dennis Edler , Frank Dickmann , Lars Kuchinke
{"title":"How to visualize the spatial uncertainty of landmark representations in maps?","authors":"Julian Keil , Denise O'Meara , Annika Korte , Dennis Edler , Frank Dickmann , Lars Kuchinke","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102441","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102441","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Landmark representations in maps play an important role in spatial tasks such as self-localization, spatial orientation, and navigation. By matching landmarks to their map representations, people can identify their current location and orientation within a map. However, spatial inaccuracies of landmark representations like these of pictograms in maps have been found to affect the ability to successfully match spatial environments to their map representations. These map matching difficulties could negatively affect the performance in spatial tasks. Due to the increasing number of data sources used in modern map services, for example provided by volunteers, map data quality has become more heterogeneous and uncertain. Therefore, solutions for counteracting the negative effects of spatially inaccurate landmark representations on map matching are required. Here, we report two studies that investigate whether visualizing spatial landmark uncertainty can improve map matching. Although suggestions for visualizing uncertainty exist, there is no empirical evidence whether they can intuitively communicate spatial uncertainty of landmark representations. If map users are made aware of potential spatial inaccuracies in a map, they may observe small or moderate spatial inaccuracies of landmark representations but still be able to match these to the represented landmarks. Our findings support this assumption. Using pictogram size, transparency, or circular uncertainty areas around pictograms to communicate spatial uncertainty increased the likelihood of a perceived match between 3D environments or 360° images and a corresponding map representation when landmark representations were spatially inaccurate. Furthermore, our findings indicate that, in addition to landmarks, people use spatial reference points such as road segments for map matching. Thus, if sufficient other spatial reference points are available both in the environment and its map representation, negative effects of spatially inaccurate landmark representations on map matching may be less severe.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48439,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Psychology","volume":"99 ","pages":"Article 102441"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2024-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494424002147/pdfft?md5=2f51e81560ca9d7efd03346058003fbb&pid=1-s2.0-S0272494424002147-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142314186","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Claudio D. Rosa , Lincoln R. Larson , Silvia Collado , Sandra J. Geiger , Christiana C. Profice , Marcos R.T.P. Menuchi
{"title":"Associations between well-being and nature-based recreation: A cross-sectional study among adults in the United States, Brazil, and Spain","authors":"Claudio D. Rosa , Lincoln R. Larson , Silvia Collado , Sandra J. Geiger , Christiana C. Profice , Marcos R.T.P. Menuchi","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102438","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102438","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Growing evidence suggests that engagement in nature-based recreation can improve people's well-being. However, there is a lack of information regarding which specific nature-based recreation activities are related to specific well-being indicators. We conducted a cross-sectional study to explore how different types of nature-based recreation (i.e., any nature-based activities, forest-based activities, gardening, nature-based adventure activities) related to five indicators of well-being on the WHO-5 index among American (<em>n</em> = 606), Brazilian (<em>n</em> = 448), and Spanish (<em>n</em> = 438) adults. Americans and Brazilians who reported engaging in nature-based recreation at least monthly in the last 12 months, or weekly during a typical week, were more likely to feel cheerful, relaxed, vigorous, rested after waking up, and interested in life than those who did not engage that frequently. Results in these two countries were similar across all five indicators of well-being and types of nature-based activity, except for gardening, where we observed slightly weaker correlations. In Spain, the correlation between nature-based recreation and well-being tended to be null or even negative, highlighting some variability in these relationships across countries. Further cross-country experimental work is needed to support these findings and identify the relative efficacy of specific nature-based interventions for enhancing human well-being around the world.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48439,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Psychology","volume":"99 ","pages":"Article 102438"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2024-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494424002111/pdfft?md5=226b6e408d1af42902063e0941b162bf&pid=1-s2.0-S0272494424002111-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142271526","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}