Extraordinary nature is Powerful

Hao, Zhang, Hou, Lau, and Lau share that “extraordinary, awesome landscapes, such as the mesmerizing Arctic and mysterious underwater scene, particularly contribute to enhancing emotional well-being. . . . volunteers experienced three ordinary natural landscapes and four extraordinary natural landscapes in a virtual reality setting. . . . Results showed that: 1) Compared to ordinary nature, extraordinary nature demonstrates more significant [stress] recovery and emotional improvement effects. 2) The semantic differential scale evaluated the extraordinariness of natural landscapes across five dimensions: awe, remoteness, mystery, complexity, and uniqueness, with uniqueness being the predominant influencing factor. 3) As the extraordinariness of natural landscapes increases, the recovery effect also improves gradually. However, excessive exposure to extraordinary natural landscapes shows a diminishing therapeutic effect. These findings underscore the superior recovery effects of extraordinary nature, validated by physiological data and subjective ratings.”
Shimeng Hao, Lin Zhang, Rui Hou, Sunnie Lau, and Stephen Lau. “Research on the Physiological and Psychological Impacts of Extraordinary Nature on Emotions and Restorative Effects for Young Adults.” Journal of Environmental Psychology, in press, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102345