The association between negative mood and place preferences was studied in an adult sample. The respondents described their experiences of favorite and unpleasant places and their mood in a questionnaire mailed to the residents of three housing areas in the metropolitan area. In comparison with low negative mood scorers, high negative mood scorers were significantly more often alone in their favorite places or only with passers-by. Adults with high negative mood were also more likely to choose natural favorite places than other places. No association between the level of negative mood and type of unpleasant place or reasons for disliking that place was found. Speculatively, people with high levels of negative emotion in comparison with other people may not recognize any different negative environmental features but are more tuned for recognizing the physical environment as an opportunity to improve mood through occasional retreat to favorite settings.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Cacioppo, J. T., & Gardner, W. L. (1999). Emotion. Annual Review of Psychology, 50, 191-214.
2.
Cicchetti, D., Ganiban, J., & Barnett, D. (1991). Contributions from the study of high-risk populations to understanding the development of emotion regulation. In J. Garber & K. A. Dodge (Eds.), The development of emotion regulation and dysregulation (pp. 15-48). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
3.
Dodge, K. A., & Garber, J. (1991). Domains of emotion regulation. In J. Garber & K. A. Dodge (Eds.), The development of emotion regulation and dysregulation (pp. 3-11). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
4.
Eysenck, H J., & Eysenck, S. B. G. (1964). Manual of the Eysenck Personality Inventory. London: University of London Press.
5.
Frijda, N. (1986). The emotions. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
6.
Hammitt, W. E. (2000). The relation between being away and privacy in urban forest recreation environments. Environment & Behavior, 32, 521-540.
7.
Hart, R. (1979). Children's experience of place. New York: Irvington.
8.
Hartig, T., & Evans, G. (1993). Psychological foundations of nature experience. In T. Gärling & R. G. Golledge (Eds.), Advances in psychology, 96. Behavior and environment: Psychological and geographical approaches (pp. 427-457). Amsterdam: North-Holland.
9.
Kaplan, R. (2001). The nature of the view from home. Psychological benefits. Environment & Behavior, 33, 507-542.
10.
Kaplan, R., & Kaplan, S. (1989). The experience of nature: A psychological perspective. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
11.
Kaplan, S. (2001). Meditation, restoration, and the management of mental fatigue. Environment & Behavior, 33, 480-506.
12.
Kerr, J. H., & Tacon, P. (1999). Psychological responses to different types of locations and activities. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 19, 287-294.
13.
Korpela, K. (1989). Place-identity as a product of environmental self-regulation. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 9, 241-256.
14.
Korpela, K. (1992). Adolescents' favourite places and environmental self-regulation. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 12, 249-258.
15.
Korpela, K. (2002). Children's environment. In R. B. Bechtel & A. Churchman (Eds.), Handbook of environmental psychology (pp. 363-373). New York: John Wiley.
16.
Korpela, K., & Hartig, T. (1996). Restorative qualities of favorite places. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 16, 221-233.
17.
Korpela, K., Hartig, T., Kaiser, F., & Fuhrer, U. (2001). Restorative experience and self-regulation in favorite places. Environment & Behavior, 33, 572-589.
18.
Mäkinen, R. (1968). Sosiaalisen ja impulsiivisen ekstraversion mittaaminen EPI-lomakkeilla—uusi kyselylomake EPI-C [Measuring social and impulsive extraversion with EPI—A new inventory EPI-C] (Reports from the Department of Psychology 78). Jyväskylä, Finland: University of Jyväskylä.
19.
Mano, H. (1999). The influence of pre-existing negative affect on store purchase intentions. Journal of Retailing, 75, 149-172.
20.
Masters, J. C. (1991). Strategies and mechanisms for the personal and social control of emotion. In J. Garber & K. A. Dodge (Eds.), The development of emotion regulation and dysregulation (pp. 182-207). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
21.
Newell, P. B. (1997). A cross-cultural examination of favorite places. Environment & Behavior, 29, 495-514.
22.
Owens, P. E. (1988). Natural landscapes, gathering places, and prospect refuges: Characteristics of outdoor places valued by teens. Children's Environmental Quarterly, 5, 17-24.
23.
Parsons, R., Tassinary, L. G., Ulrich, R. S., Hebl, M. R., & Grossman-Alexander, M. (1998). The view from the road: Implications for stress recovery and immunization. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 18, 113-140.
24.
Russell, J. A., & Snodgrass, J. (1987). Emotion and the environment. In D. Stokols & I. Altman (Eds.), Handbook of environmental psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 245-280). New York: John Wiley.
25.
Solomon, R. L., & Corbit, J. D. (1974). An opponent-process theory of motivation: Temporal dynamics of affect. Psychological Review, 81, 119-145.
26.
Sommer, B. (1990). Favorite places of Estonian adolescents. Children's Environmental Quarterly, 7, 32-36.
27.
Staats, H., Gatersleben, B., & Hartig, T. (1997). Change in mood as a function of environmental design: Arousal and pleasure on a simulated forest hike. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 17, 283-300.
28.
Taylor, S. E. (1991). Asymmetrical effects of positive and negative events: The mobilization-minimization hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 110, 67-85.
29.
Thurber, C. A., & Malinowski, J. C. (1999). Environmental correlates of negative emotions in children. Environment & Behavior, 31, 487-513.
30.
Ulrich, R. S. (1979). Visual landscapes and psychological well-being. Landscape Research, 4, 17-23.
31.
Ulrich, R. S. (1983). Aesthetic and affective response to natural environment. In I. Altman & J. F. Wohlwill (Eds.), Human behavior and environment: Advances in theory and research. Behavior and the natural environment (Vol. 6, pp. 85-125). New York: Plenum.
32.
Ulrich, R. S., Simons, R., Losito, B. D., Fiorito, E., Miles, M. A., & Zelson, M. (1991). Stress recovery during exposure to natural and urban environments. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 11, 201-230.
33.
Wallenius, M. (2001). Ympäristömelun kokeminen ja terveys [The experience of environmental noise and health]. In Finnish Ministry of Environment (Ed.), Melukylä vai mansikkapaikka? [A noisy village or a safe haven?] (Report No. 467, pp. 88-122). Helsinki: Edita.
34.
Wölfing, S. (1996). The use of identity-relevant functions of things and places in the context of migration. Swiss Journal of Psychology, 55, 241-248.
