Emotions and bodily sensations evoked by natural and urban environments

<p>While the affective benefits of nature are well documented, the underlying embodied mechanisms remain elusive. Here we mapped the emotional responses and bodily sensations associated with natural versus urban environments in two experiments with a total of 587 participants. In the first experiment, participants rated videos and images of natural and urban environments for emotions and sensory qualities. In the second experiment participants reported the bodily sensations evoked by viewing the environments using topographical self-report method (emBODY). Our findings highlight that the affective impact of the environment depends heavily on arousal, which aligns with the circumplex model of affect. Low-arousal natural stimuli were experienced as the most spacious and passive and had the strongest positive valence, while highly arousing natural environments were rated as the most unpleasant and unsafe. Viewing natural environments also elicited stronger and more widespread bodily sensations than urban environments and these embodied responses may underlie the positive emotions and the restorative powers of nature as well as the negative emotional reactions.</p>