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A priming paradigm was used to investigate the automatic affective reaction triggered by perception of environmental scenes. Grayscale pictures of environmental scenes differing in the level of restorativeness and preference (low, medium, high) were presented as prime stimuli. The prime stimuli were followed by presentations of human facial expressions of happiness and anger as to-be-recognized target stimuli. The results showed that response times to angry faces were shorter after the presentation of negative scenes compared to positive. A reverse pattern of results was true for the response times to happy faces. As compared to the response times after baseline primers (scenes with medium restorativeness/preference), only negative scenes seemed to result in facilitation of responses to facial expressions of anger. No such facilitation was observed for expressions of happiness after positive environmental primers. The results provide preliminary support for the view that only negative environmental scenes elicit an automatic evaluative reaction. Keywords: affective priming; environmental perception; facial expressions; reaction time; restorative environments

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. Keywords: negative mood; favorite places; unpleasant places; place preferences; emotion regulation

The authors employed an affective priming paradigm to provide direct evidence for the rapid evaluation of natural and urban environments suggested in evolutionary models of environmental perception and restoration. Pictures classified as urban and nature environments differing in restorative and affective quality were presented as prime stimuli. They were followed by presentations of human vocal expressions of joy, anger, and emotional neutrality as target stimuli. The participants were required to judge the vocal one-word expressions and produce a forced-choice reaction between joy and anger. The reaction times to vocal expressions of anger were shorter after the presentation of urban scenes associated with low restorative potential and negative affect than after nature scenes associated with high restorative potential and positive affect. The reaction times to vocal expressions of joy were shorter after the presentation of a nature scene than of an urban environment. The results provide support for the rapid and automatic affective evaluations of environmental scenes.

The authors report further evidence bearing on the relations among restorative experiences, self-regulation, and place attachment. University students (n = 101) described their favorite places and experiences in them, and 98 other students described unpleasant places. Natural settings were overrepresented among favorite places and underrepresented among the unpleasant places. In open-ended accounts, frequent mention of being relaxed, being away from everyday life, forgetting worries, and reflecting on personal matters indicated a link between favorite places and restorative experience. Restoration was particularly typical of natural favorite places. Structured evaluations of being away, fascination, coherence, and compatibility indicated they were experienced to a high degree in the favorite places, although fascination to a lesser degree than compatibility. The favorite and unpleasant places differed substantially in all four restorative qualities but especially in being away and compatibility. Self-referencing appears to be more characteristic of favorite place experiences than engaging or interesting environmental properties.