Seeing our self reflected in the world around us: The role of identity in making (natural) environments restorative

Morton, Thomas A.; Bles, Anne Marthe van der; Haslam, S. Alexander

doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2016.11.002

Cited by 44 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…Additionally, the researchers found that residents who were strongly identified with their neighbourhood had higher self-esteem,a finding which accords with previous studies that have examined the relationship between place-related identities and self-esteem (Knez, 2005;Fleury-Bahi & Marcouyeux, 2010;Twigger Ross & Uzzell, 1996). Along similar lines, other research informed by the social identity approach has shown that psychological wellbeing associated with restorative (Morton, van der Bles & Haslam, 2017), spiritual (Ysseldyk, Haslam, & Morton, 2016) and festive (Schmitt, Davies, Hung, & Wright, 2010) environments are shaped by social group identification.…”

Section: Social Identification Perceived Neighbourhood Quality and Msupporting

confidence: 81%

Neighbourhood identification and mental health: How social identification moderates the relationship between socioeconomic disadvantage and health

Fong

Cruwys

Haslam

et al. 2019

Journal of Environmental Psychology

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Locational disadvantage has negative effects on mental health, with research showing that low (vs. high) neighbourhood socioeconomic-status (SES) predicts worse outcomes. Perceived neighbourhood quality is a wellestablished mediator of this association. The present paper extends this analysis, focusing on the contribution of residents' social identification with their neighbourhood. In particular, it tests a model in which this neighbourhood identification both attenuates the effect of neighbourhood SES via perceived neighbourhood quality, and has a direct positive effect on mental health. Study 1 tested this hypothesized dual-effect neighbourhood identification model using a large nationally representative dataset (N = 14,874). Study 2 used a novel experimental design (N = 280) to investigate the causal effects of neighbourhood SES and neighbourhood identification on mental health. In line with the hypothesized model, in both studies, high neighbourhood identification attenuated the effects of neighbourhood SES on perceived neighbourhood quality, and neighbourhood identification had a direct positive impact on mental health. Additionally, and consistent with previous research, both studies also showed that perceived neighbourhood quality was the means through which neighbourhood SES affected mental health. The novel and far-reaching implications of neighbourhood identification for community mental health are discussed.

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Section: Social Identification Perceived Neighbourhood Quality and Msupporting

confidence: 81%

Neighbourhood identification and mental health: How social identification moderates the relationship between socioeconomic disadvantage and health

Fong

Cruwys

Haslam

et al. 2019

Journal of Environmental Psychology

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“…In addition, surroundings that were meaningful to individuals also triggered positive responses. This supports the idea that the nature of therapeutic and restorative outcomes arising from interactions with environments is relational (Conradson, 2005) and the idea that restoration may be contingent on additional, personrelated factors, other than the intrinsic qualities of nature (Morton et al, 2017;Korpela, 2016, 2018;Bell et al, 2015;Ratcliffe et al, 2013). Four themes were identified as potential contributors to restoration in the urban setting.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

The psychological wellbeing benefits of place engagement during walking in urban environments: A qualitative photo-elicitation study

2018

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The psychological wellbeing potential of walking in urban environments has received limited attention from scholars, despite the important public health implications of identifying characteristics of urban settings that support wellbeing and encourage behaviour change. The study is the first to explore psychological wellbeing experiences of urban walking framed by theories of restorative environments and therapeutic landscape. Self-reported psychological wellbeing experiences of walking in urban settings were investigated with an innovative application of the photo-elicited interview. Fourteen adults took individual walks in Bristol city centre and photographed their journey; photographs were then discussed during the interview. Participants reported specific engagements with place related to personal connections, the identity of place, and sense of community that resulted in psychological wellbeing benefits. The findings also support the notion that non-natural elements can promote positive affective and cognitive appraisals. Building on the finding that also urban walking can support psychological wellbeing, the findings encourage future research into the health potential of different characteristics of built environments.

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“…Restoration researchers have -amongst others -attempted to chart the positive cognitive (for a review: Ohly et al, 2016), affective (for a review: McMahan & Estes, 2015) and psychophysiological effects of nature contact (e.g., Ulrich et al, 1991;Hartig, Evans, Jamner, Davis, & Gärling, 2003;Chang, Hammitt, Chen, Machnik, & Su, 2008;Van Den Berg & Custers, 2011). Efforts have been made to determine the optimal dose (Barton & Pretty, 2010;Shanahan et al, 2016) and modality (e.g., virtual versus real nature; Pals, Steg, Dontje, Siero, & van Der Zee, 2014) of nature for restoration, while research has also demonstrated how restorative nature effects can depend on group characteristics (e.g., elderly: Ottosson & Grahn, 2005;children: Taylor & Kuo, 2008;Ulset, Vitaro, Brendgen, Bekkhus, & Borge, 2017), on individuals' salient identities (e.g., Morton, van der Bles, & Haslam, 2017) or on the life stage one is in (Scopelliti & Giuliani, 2004).…”

Section: Nature's Broken Path To Restoration a Critical Look At Attementioning

confidence: 99%

Nature's broken path to restoration. A critical look at Attention Restoration Theory

Joye

Dewitte

2018

Journal of Environmental Psychology

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Over the past three decades, a growing body of environmental psychology research has demonstrated that interacting with natural environments-and especially greenspace-can have beneficial psychological effects on human individuals. One influential and widely-cited theoretical account to explain such effects is Attention Restoration Theory (ART). ART zooms in on the cognitive benefits nature can yield, and assumes that when an individual's ability to concentrate or direct attention has become depleted, then nature is well-equipped to replenish this capacity. Nature's restorative potential is thought to especially derive from its soft fascinating characteristics; these can put an individual in an effortless mode of attention, thereby giving directed attention a relative opportunity to rest and replenish itself. Although ART has been highly influential in the field of restoration studies and continues to inspire health promotion interventions, with the current paper we aim to show that the framework has important empirical and conceptual shortcomings. We specifically aim to show (a) that some of ART's principal theoretical notions are vague (e.g., soft fascination), have remained underdeveloped, and lack a clear operationalization, (b) that the framework has failed to (adequately) test its main theoretical predictions (i.e., that nature effects are recovery effects), and (c) that there is currently little support for the ART-based assumption that restoration is-or derives from-an ancient evolved adaptive response. We conclude our paper with discussing four outstanding questions for ART, and make methodological suggestions that could potentially address some of ART's current shortcomings.

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Seeing our self reflected in the world around us: The role of identity in making (natural) environments restorative

Cited by 44 publications

References 63 publications

Neighbourhood identification and mental health: How social identification moderates the relationship between socioeconomic disadvantage and health

Neighbourhood identification and mental health: How social identification moderates the relationship between socioeconomic disadvantage and health

The psychological wellbeing benefits of place engagement during walking in urban environments: A qualitative photo-elicitation study

Nature's broken path to restoration. A critical look at Attention Restoration Theory

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