Viewing Natural vs. Urban Images and Emotional Facial Expressions: An Exploratory Study
There is a large body of evidence that exposure to simulated natural scenes has positive effects on emotions and reduces stress. Some studies have used self-reported assessments, and others have used physiological measures or combined self-reports with physiological measures; however, analysis of fa...
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doaj-8083f081cd1e4cd48f83dcc4437dabc82021-07-23T13:44:38ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health1661-78271660-46012021-07-01187651765110.3390/ijerph18147651Viewing Natural vs. Urban Images and Emotional Facial Expressions: An Exploratory StudyMarek Franěk0Jan Petružálek1Faculty of Informatics and Management, University of Hradec Králové, Rokitanského 62, 500 03 Hradec Králové, Czech RepublicFaculty of Informatics and Management, University of Hradec Králové, Rokitanského 62, 500 03 Hradec Králové, Czech RepublicThere is a large body of evidence that exposure to simulated natural scenes has positive effects on emotions and reduces stress. Some studies have used self-reported assessments, and others have used physiological measures or combined self-reports with physiological measures; however, analysis of facial emotional expression has rarely been assessed. In the present study, participant facial expressions were analyzed while viewing forest trees with foliage, forest trees without foliage, and urban images by iMotions’ AFFDEX software designed for the recognition of facial emotions. It was assumed that natural images would evoke a higher magnitude of positive emotions in facial expressions and a lower magnitude of negative emotions than urban images. However, the results showed only very low magnitudes of facial emotional responses, and differences between natural and urban images were not significant. While the stimuli used in the present study represented an ordinary deciduous forest and urban streets, differences between the effects of mundane and attractive natural scenes and urban images are discussed. It is suggested that more attractive images could result in more pronounced emotional facial expressions. The findings of the present study have methodological relevance for future research. Moreover, not all urban dwellers have the possibility to spend time in nature; therefore, knowing more about the effects of some forms of simulated natural scenes surrogate nature also has some practical relevance.https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/14/7651face reading techniquefacial emotional expressionsnatural environmentpositive emotions |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Marek Franěk Jan Petružálek |
spellingShingle |
Marek Franěk Jan Petružálek Viewing Natural vs. Urban Images and Emotional Facial Expressions: An Exploratory Study International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health face reading technique facial emotional expressions natural environment positive emotions |
author_facet |
Marek Franěk Jan Petružálek |
author_sort |
Marek Franěk |
title |
Viewing Natural vs. Urban Images and Emotional Facial Expressions: An Exploratory Study |
title_short |
Viewing Natural vs. Urban Images and Emotional Facial Expressions: An Exploratory Study |
title_full |
Viewing Natural vs. Urban Images and Emotional Facial Expressions: An Exploratory Study |
title_fullStr |
Viewing Natural vs. Urban Images and Emotional Facial Expressions: An Exploratory Study |
title_full_unstemmed |
Viewing Natural vs. Urban Images and Emotional Facial Expressions: An Exploratory Study |
title_sort |
viewing natural vs. urban images and emotional facial expressions: an exploratory study |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
issn |
1661-7827 1660-4601 |
publishDate |
2021-07-01 |
description |
There is a large body of evidence that exposure to simulated natural scenes has positive effects on emotions and reduces stress. Some studies have used self-reported assessments, and others have used physiological measures or combined self-reports with physiological measures; however, analysis of facial emotional expression has rarely been assessed. In the present study, participant facial expressions were analyzed while viewing forest trees with foliage, forest trees without foliage, and urban images by iMotions’ AFFDEX software designed for the recognition of facial emotions. It was assumed that natural images would evoke a higher magnitude of positive emotions in facial expressions and a lower magnitude of negative emotions than urban images. However, the results showed only very low magnitudes of facial emotional responses, and differences between natural and urban images were not significant. While the stimuli used in the present study represented an ordinary deciduous forest and urban streets, differences between the effects of mundane and attractive natural scenes and urban images are discussed. It is suggested that more attractive images could result in more pronounced emotional facial expressions. The findings of the present study have methodological relevance for future research. Moreover, not all urban dwellers have the possibility to spend time in nature; therefore, knowing more about the effects of some forms of simulated natural scenes surrogate nature also has some practical relevance. |
topic |
face reading technique facial emotional expressions natural environment positive emotions |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/14/7651 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT marekfranek viewingnaturalvsurbanimagesandemotionalfacialexpressionsanexploratorystudy AT janpetruzalek viewingnaturalvsurbanimagesandemotionalfacialexpressionsanexploratorystudy |
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