Photographs of nature and stress reduction

• Main Author: Tan, Janice Yu Jin
• Other Authors: Michael David Gumert
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2021
• Subjects: Social sciences::Psychology
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/148644
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

With evolution, the biophilia hypothesis posits that people have adapted to become more aware of the stimuli in their environment aided their survival. They have retained approach responses for nature as it often signalled the availability of food and water sources. They have also adapted to be able to restore energy in respond to nature stimuli. People are more fond of huge open spaces that are verdant and contain water sources. Many studies have focused on how exposure to nature could reduce stress. This paper looked at how natural nature photographs and man-man settings with nature photographs would affect stress levels. The findings support the existing literature and find that natural nature photographs are perceived to be more scenic.