PEOPLE-NATURE INTERACTIONS AND MENTAL WELL-BEING

Abstract

Our physical environment directly affects our health and well-being. This thesis, comprising four studies, examined how people’s well-being may be enhanced through interactions with the green spaces and nature in Singapore. Study One examined park use behavior in the general population and the association between time in parks and users’ psychological well-being. Study Two investigated the effects of therapeutic horticulture on the well-being of seniors. Study Three investigated the effects of viewing nature scenes with different landscape quality on participants’ affective well-being. Lastly, Study Four moved away from the context of outdoor nature, to examine the well-being effects of home gardening on mental resilience. The results demonstrated that the various forms of people-nature interactions positively impacted the well-being of the respective study populations. This thesis is the first comprehensive investigation of various forms of people-nature interactions in Singapore.