Motives and attention during recent nature visits

What is it about?

We surveyed Finnish people’s recent nature visits and found that the reasons for visiting natural environments and the focus of attention during nature visits were strongly related to how the respondents felt after the visits. Those who aimed to reduce stress before the visit reported feeling happier and more restored after the visit, whereas those whose purpose was to be alone reported lower levels of happiness and restoration. Focusing on one’s own thoughts and emotions, on the activity and on the environment –but not on other people– were all related to feeling good after the visit. Consequently, it seems that especially those in need for stress reduction feel positive after nature visits, and that nature visits can be positive even if one does not focus on nature during the visit.

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Why is it important?

Previous research has indicated that nature visits can be a good means for reducing stress and improving mood but little is known about why it is so. We cannot always modify or even choose the natural environments we visit but we can modify our own expectations and attentional focus when we visit these environments. Thus, it is important to know what kind of nature visits are beneficial for us.