Department of Geography and Environmental Development, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
Department of Psychology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
Sci Rep. 2022 May 11;12(1):7701. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-11619-5.
According to the attention restoration theory, exposure to nature (ETN) renews one's capacity to focus attention, which decreases cognitive fatigue and therefore may increase positive emotions. Indeed, natural settings have been associated with high prevalence of happy facial expressions (HFE). However, how universal the association is, remains unclear. We explored the ETN-HFE association in Boston, US, representing a less collectivistic culture, and Yokohama, Japan, representing a more collectivistic one. Evidence from satellite images and social network data, using geoinformatics and statistical tools, revealed that individuals from both societies exhibited more happiness when they were photographed in more natural settings. These associations varied with temporal variations expressed through weekly and annual effects. In addition, we found that the presence of others was also associated with prevalence of HFE in natural settings at Yokohama and Boston but the relation was significantly stronger in Boston. Despite some relatively minor differences between the countries, these results support the universality of the association between ETN and HFE.
根据注意力恢复理论，接触自然（ETN）可以恢复人们集中注意力的能力，从而减少认知疲劳，进而可能增加积极情绪。事实上，自然环境与高频率的快乐面部表情（HFE）有关。然而，这种关联的普遍性尚不清楚。我们在美国波士顿和日本横滨进行了 ETN-HFE 关联研究，波士顿代表的是一种不太集体主义的文化，而横滨代表的是一种更集体主义的文化。利用地理信息学和统计工具，从卫星图像和社交网络数据中得出的证据表明，当来自这两个社会的个体在更自然的环境中被拍照时，他们表现出更多的快乐。这些关联随着每周和每年的变化而变化。此外，我们还发现，在横滨和波士顿，自然环境中他人的存在也与 HFE 的出现有关，但在波士顿，这种关系要强得多。尽管两国之间存在一些相对较小的差异，但这些结果支持 ETN 和 HFE 之间关联的普遍性。
