Tsunetsugu Yuko, Park Bum-Jin, Lee Juyoung, Kagawa Takahide, Miyazaki Yoshifumi
Department of Wood Engineering, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan.
Nihon Eiseigaku Zasshi. 2011 Sep;66(4):670-6. doi: 10.1265/jjh.66.670.
In the present study, we aimed to clarify the psychological effects of shinrin-yoku (taking in the atmosphere of the forest) by conducting field experiments.
The experiments were conducted in 19 forested and urban areas in Japan during the 2007-2010 period. Twelve male students participated at each of the 19 areas (a total of 228 persons). Subjective ratings of "comfortable-uncomfortable", "soothing-stimulating", and "natural-artificial" feelings were conducted after each of the participants had viewed the scenery for 15 min in the forested and urban areas. A postviewing questionnaire on "stressed-refreshed" feelings was also administered and the Profile of Mood State (POMS) questionnaire was employed to assess six aspects of mood before and after viewing the sceneries.
The forest environments were perceived as significantly more "comfortable", "soothing", and "natural" than the urban environments after viewing the sceneries. The score for "refreshed feeling" was also significantly higher in the forested areas. The score for the "vigor" subscale of POMS was significantly higher after viewing the scenery in the forested areas, whereas the scores for negative feelings such as "tension-anxiety", "depression-dejection", "anger-hostility", "fatigue", and "confusion" significantly decreased.
Collectively, these results suggest that the forest environments have significant beneficial and relaxing effects on human's moods compared with the urban environments.
在本研究中，我们旨在通过进行实地实验来阐明森林浴（置身于森林氛围之中）的心理效应。
实验于2007年至2010年期间在日本的19个森林和城市地区进行。在这19个地区的每个地区，有12名男学生参与（总共228人）。在每位参与者于森林和城市地区观看风景15分钟后，对“舒适 - 不舒适”“舒缓 - 刺激”和“自然 - 人工”的感觉进行主观评分。还发放了一份关于观看风景后“压力 - 恢复活力”感觉的问卷，并采用情绪状态剖面图（POMS）问卷来评估观看风景前后情绪的六个方面。
观看风景后，森林环境被认为比城市环境明显更“舒适”“舒缓”和“自然”。在森林地区，“恢复活力的感觉”得分也显著更高。观看森林地区的风景后，POMS的“活力”子量表得分显著更高，而诸如“紧张 - 焦虑”“抑郁 - 沮丧”“愤怒 - 敌意”“疲劳”和“困惑”等负面情绪得分显著下降。
总体而言，这些结果表明，与城市环境相比，森林环境对人类情绪具有显著的有益和放松作用。
