Nature in virtual reality improves mood and reduces stress : evidence from young adults and senior citizens
Large populations worldwide have been deprived from nature experiences due to mass quarantines and lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, and face a looming mental health crisis. Virtual reality offers a safe and practical solution to increase nature exposure. This research examined the effects of...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/153505 |
| _version_ | 1824453172808122368 |
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| author | Chan, Sarah Hian May Qiu, Lin Esposito, Gianluca Mai, Ky Phong Tam, Kim-Pong Cui, Jian |
| author2 | School of Social Sciences |
| author_facet | School of Social Sciences Chan, Sarah Hian May Qiu, Lin Esposito, Gianluca Mai, Ky Phong Tam, Kim-Pong Cui, Jian |
| author_sort | Chan, Sarah Hian May |
| collection | NTU |
| description | Large populations worldwide have been deprived from nature experiences due to mass quarantines and lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, and face a looming mental health crisis. Virtual reality offers a safe and practical solution to increase nature exposure. This research examined the effects of virtual nature using a within-subject design with young adults (Study 1) and senior citizens (Study 2). Results from the young adult sample showed that walking in a virtual forest reduced negative affect due to enhanced nature connectedness, and reduced stress measured by heart rate. Consistently, the senior citizen sample reported improved positive affect due to enhanced nature connectedness after the virtual nature walk. Our findings unveil the underlying mechanism of how virtual nature may improve psychological well-being and demonstrated how virtual nature can be used as an intervention to promote mental health. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T07:56:30Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/153505 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T07:56:30Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1535052023-03-05T15:34:42Z Nature in virtual reality improves mood and reduces stress : evidence from young adults and senior citizens Chan, Sarah Hian May Qiu, Lin Esposito, Gianluca Mai, Ky Phong Tam, Kim-Pong Cui, Jian School of Social Sciences Interdisciplinary Graduate School (IGS) Division of Psychology Social sciences::Psychology Nature Virtual Reality Large populations worldwide have been deprived from nature experiences due to mass quarantines and lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, and face a looming mental health crisis. Virtual reality offers a safe and practical solution to increase nature exposure. This research examined the effects of virtual nature using a within-subject design with young adults (Study 1) and senior citizens (Study 2). Results from the young adult sample showed that walking in a virtual forest reduced negative affect due to enhanced nature connectedness, and reduced stress measured by heart rate. Consistently, the senior citizen sample reported improved positive affect due to enhanced nature connectedness after the virtual nature walk. Our findings unveil the underlying mechanism of how virtual nature may improve psychological well-being and demonstrated how virtual nature can be used as an intervention to promote mental health. Ministry of Education (MOE) Nanyang Technological University Accepted version This work was supported by Singapore Ministry of Education AcRF Tier 1 Grant RG83/17 and NTU ARISE Inaugural Grant Call 2017 Seed Funding awarded to the second author. 2021-12-12T03:48:56Z 2021-12-12T03:48:56Z 2021 Journal Article Chan, S. H. M., Qiu, L., Esposito, G., Mai, K. P., Tam, K. & Cui, J. (2021). Nature in virtual reality improves mood and reduces stress : evidence from young adults and senior citizens. Virtual Reality. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10055-021-00604-4 1359-4338 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/153505 10.1007/s10055-021-00604-4 34849087 2-s2.0-85120006304 en RG83/17 Virtual Reality © 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag London Ltd., part of Springer Nature. This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Virtual Reality. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10055-021-00604-4. application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | Social sciences::Psychology Nature Virtual Reality Chan, Sarah Hian May Qiu, Lin Esposito, Gianluca Mai, Ky Phong Tam, Kim-Pong Cui, Jian Nature in virtual reality improves mood and reduces stress : evidence from young adults and senior citizens |
| title | Nature in virtual reality improves mood and reduces stress : evidence from young adults and senior citizens |
| title_full | Nature in virtual reality improves mood and reduces stress : evidence from young adults and senior citizens |
| title_fullStr | Nature in virtual reality improves mood and reduces stress : evidence from young adults and senior citizens |
| title_full_unstemmed | Nature in virtual reality improves mood and reduces stress : evidence from young adults and senior citizens |
| title_short | Nature in virtual reality improves mood and reduces stress : evidence from young adults and senior citizens |
| title_sort | nature in virtual reality improves mood and reduces stress evidence from young adults and senior citizens |
| topic | Social sciences::Psychology Nature Virtual Reality |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/153505 |
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