30th Annual Student Research Conference
Nature, Personality, and Positive Affect
Emily Searl
Dr. Yuna L. Ferguson, Faculty Mentor
Exposure to nature can increase positive emotions and help restore attentional capacity (Berto 2005; Mayer 2008). However, how the types of nature exposure or level of engagement with nature affect positive emotions has not been thoroughly researched. The current study examined whether participants who observe or interact with real nature report higher positive affect than participants who interact or observe artificial nature. Participants (n = about 100) were randomly assigned to one of four activity conditions that varied on 1) observing actual versus photographs of plants and 2) drawing/coloring plants versus simply observing them. Participants also completed a personality inventory, a nature connectedness scale, and their positive and negative affect were assessed before and after their nature activity. A 2(artificial or real nature) x 2 (observing or drawing) repeated measures ANCOVA examining changes in positive affect, controlling for nature connectedness and other personality traits, will be performed by April, 2017.
Keywords: Nature, Personality, Positive Affect
Topic(s):Psychology
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: 13-
Location: GEO - SUB
Time: