New research published in Journal of Environmental Psychology This suggests that watching videos of natural environments, such as forests, can help people recover from stress more effectively than watching videos of urban environments. The results of this study provide evidence that images of nature can positively influence a person’s emotional state. This provides an easy way to support mental health in spaces where real nature is out of reach.
Scientists conducted this study to test the reliability of a highly influential experiment conducted in 1991. That old experiment introduced the idea that simply looking at natural scenery could help the human body and mind recover from stress. Since this original paper was published, many hospitals, offices, and schools have used pictures of nature to calm people.
Agnes van den Bergh, an environmental psychology researcher at the University of Twente in the Netherlands, led the new collaboration. “Although the original study is still widely cited as fundamental evidence that exposure to natural environments compared to urban environments promotes stress recovery, it had never been directly replicated in multiple locations using modern methods,” van den Berg noted. “We wanted to examine how robust and reproducible these effects are today using a preregistered, multisite design with a larger and more diverse sample.”
“One of the aspects we appreciate about this project is that it contributes to the broader movement towards reproducibility and transparency in human and environmental research,” van den Bergh added. “Classic research can profoundly shape debates in science and society, so it is important to reexamine influential research findings with modern open science practices and collaborative research methods.”
Ten different research teams from the United States, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Belgium, and Sweden collaborated on this project. They recruited a total of 959 participants for the experiment. The sample was approximately evenly divided between men and women, with an average age of 22 years. The scientists assigned each participant to watch a specific series of videos while connected to a physical monitoring device.
First, all participants watched a 10-minute video designed to induce moderate stress. This video recreated an industrial accident where a person slips or hits a heavy object. Scientists added creepy background music to their videos to effectively increase stress levels in viewers.
After the stress-inducing video, the scientists randomly assigned participants to watch one of six 10-minute environmental videos. Two of these videos feature natural environments, specifically forests and streams. The other four videos show urban environments, including busy and quiet pedestrian areas, as well as busy and quiet traffic areas.
Throughout the process, researchers measured participants’ psychological and physical reactions. To track emotional states, the scientists asked participants to fill out questionnaires at three different times. They answered questions before the stress video, immediately after the stress video, and after the environmental video. The questionnaire measured emotions such as fear, anger, sadness, positive emotions, and alertness.
To track physical reactions, researchers used special monitoring devices attached to participants’ bodies. The device measured two different parts of the autonomic nervous system, the system that controls involuntary bodily functions. Part of it is the sympathetic nervous system, often referred to as the fight or flight response. This system speeds up the heartbeat and increases sweating in moments of danger or stress.
The researchers measured this fight-or-flight response by tracking changes in skin moisture and heart timing. The second part of the autonomic nervous system is the parasympathetic nervous system, often referred to as the rest-and-digest response. This system helps the body calm down after the threat has passed. The researchers measured this calming response by tracking the variation in time between heartbeats, a concept known as heart rate variability.
Researchers have found that stress videos work as intended. After witnessing an accident at work, participants reported less positive feelings and more fear, anger, and sadness. Their body sensors also showed increased fight-or-flight responses, confirming that they were experiencing a state of physical stress.
The psychological results during recovery were broadly consistent with those of the original study in 1991. Participants who observed a natural environment reported a significant increase in positive emotions compared to those who observed an urban landscape. They also experienced a significant reduction in feelings of anger and aggression after viewing the forest or river.
Physical results showed a more complicated picture. Measurements of the fight-or-flight response showed that everyone’s stress levels decreased during the recovery phase, regardless of which environmental video they watched. Unlike the original study, nature videos did not lead to a rapid reduction in this particular physical stress response.
However, physical measures related to break and digest responses showed differences based on video type. Participants who watched the forest video showed that their body’s calming system activated more quickly. This suggests that the forest environment specifically helped the body return to a physically relaxed state faster than the urban environment.
“Our findings suggest that simply looking at nature can psychologically and physiologically support recovery from acute stress,” van den Bergh told SciPost. “You don’t have to go to real nature to enjoy these effects. The effects weren’t dramatic or magical, but they were consistent across several measurements and study sites.”
“The results of this study also provide insight into the mechanisms behind the effects,” van den Bergh said. “In particular, the physiological effects appear to be caused by activation of the so-called ‘vagal brake,’ which is a feedback signal from the stress system that tells the body that everything is safe now.”
Researchers hope the public is aware that these benefits are accessible. “The broader message is that daily contact with nature, even if it’s just looking out the window or looking at a poster on the wall, can play a meaningful role in supporting mental and physical health,” van den Bergh said.
Interestingly, the rapid relaxation response was strongest during the first 3 minutes of the nature video. Van den Bergh admitted that he did not expect the physical effects to be so pronounced in today’s demographics. “To be honest, I was a little surprised that some of the research results on the physiological effects of nature appreciation are still in the books,” van den Bergh said.
“The sample consisted of nearly 1,000 students who are used to watching videos on social media such as TikTok and Instagram,” van den Bergh added. “We expected that for this ‘Gen Z’ generation, watching 10 minutes of a forest video shot from a static perspective would be pretty boring.”Despite these modern viewing habits, the physical effects remained. “In fact, the ‘everything is safe now’ response to nature was strongest in the first three minutes of watching the video,” van den Bergh said.
Natural flow videos did not have this same calming physical effect. The break and digest responses of participants who viewed the stream were very similar to those of participants who viewed a crowded street. Researchers believe this may have happened because the stream video included the sound of rushing water, which may have made participants feel anxious rather than relaxed.
Although this study provides evidence that viewing nature can help with stress recovery, the researchers note some caveats. “One important point is that this study does not suggest that nature is a substitute for medical or psychological treatment,” Van den Bergh explained. “The observed effect was a relatively modest short-term recovery effect after the experimental stressor.”
It is also important not to interpret this result as evidence that all urban environments are harmful. “It’s also important not to oversimplify the findings into a strict ‘nature is good, cities are bad’ narrative,” van den Bergh added. “Urban environments also offer a wealth of social, cultural, and psychological benefits that were not captured in the videos used in our study.”
Future research could extend these findings by testing more diverse natural and urban scenes. “Many researchers around the world are already following up on this seminal work,” van den Bergh said. “Much of this recent research has moved beyond simulated nature exposure to more ecologically realistic and long-term approaches.”
“Preliminary findings provide insight into some of the environmental features most important for recovery,” Van den Bergh explained. “For example, environmental characteristics such as biodiversity, water, soundscape, perceived safety, familiarity, and cultural meaning can all have an impact.”
Van den Bergh will focus on the individual characteristics that change an individual’s response to the natural environment. “Personally, my research interests concern the role of individual factors that may make people more open to the beneficial effects of nature, such as gender, age, levels of acute and chronic stress, early childhood experiences with nature, and connection to nature,” Van den Bergh said.
Van den Bergh shares much of his ongoing work online through his agency, Nature4People. He also contributes to a large European project called Resonate, which focuses on increasing human resilience through nature-based therapies.
The study, “Psychophysiological recovery through observation of natural and urban environments: Multisite replication,” was authored by AE Van den Berg, K. Dijkstra, D. Meuwese, F. Beute, PM Darcy, S. Dewitte, B. Gatersleben, CJ Gidlow, CM Hägerhäll, Hippäll, YJJJJJ JAW Lechner, J. Neale, Å. Ode Saint, J. Lo, DT Scheepers, K. Smolders, H. Staats, RS Steensma, K. J. Wiles, SL Kuhl.
