THE NATURAL WAY TO UPLIFT MOOD: BIODIVERSITY ON POSITIVE AFFECT VIA RESTORATIVENESS

Abstract

The present study tested two mediation models of perceived mammal biodiversity and perceived plant biodiversity, individually, on post-walk positive affect via perceived restorativeness of the environment (while controlling for pre-walk positive affect on restorativeness and on post-walk positive affect). Participants were tasked to take a walk in a natural environment for 20 minutes and complete two online questionnaires – one before and one after the walk. It was hypothesised that perceived mammal biodiversity and plant biodiversity each has a positive effect on post-walk positive affect both directly and indirectly via increased perceived restorativeness. Expectedly, the indirect effect via restorativeness for the positive relationship between mammal biodiversity and post-walk positive affect was significant (and novel). Surprisingly, there were no significant direct effects of either mammal or plant biodiversity on post-walk positive affect, and restorativeness was not a significant mediator for the relationship between plant biodiversity and post-walk positive affect as well. The theoretical implications of these findings were discussed. Finally, landscape designs and interventions were proposed to maximally increase individuals’ positive affect, which may have beneficial impacts on their mental health.