Environmental Psychology

Abstract

We explore environmental cognition, personality traits, social norms, environmental stress, and the healing environment. Cognition is the learning process of identifying the light, sound, smell, and feel of the space around us and then forming concepts of what we sense and then create visual images in our minds of what we are perceiving. This then allows us to respond appropriately to stimuli and what we believe to be true. Therefore, we review the cognitive theory of environmental learning and then move to an exploration of the social theory associated with environmental learning and our understanding of nature. The use of different epistemological methods gradually unlocks the influencing factors of environmental behaviors, such as personality traits and social norms with the objective of explaining socialbehavior. Finally, by understanding environmental stress, it becomes apparent that humanity needs redemption and healing through the power of nature, including nourishment of phytoncide, vitamin D, and the exposure to of outdoorenvironments such as forests and oceans to reduce stress. This then helps restore our physical and mental health and strengthens our thinking and decision-making processes.