th
.

A thought experiment
All 3 rooms are identical (2-3 star, size, furniture, en-suite) except for the view from the balcony. Price range £40-85.
A
B
C
£60.81
£72.85
£47.96
Mean Willingness to Pay (per night) – 120 images
White, M.P., Smith, A., Humphryes, K., Pahl, S., Snelling, D. & Depledge, M. (2010) Blue space: The importance of water for preference, affect and restorativeness ratings of natural and built scenes. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 30, 482-493.

How people feel
Urban Rural Coastal
120 images controlling for content
8
7
6
10
9
5
4
3
2
1
Sig. differences between adjacent ratings shown as:
* p< .05; ** p< .01; *** p <.001; n.s. = Not significant
***
**
** n.s.
n.s.
***
*
**
Built Built-
Green
Green-
Built
Green Built-
Aquatic
Aquatic-
Built
Green-
Aquatic
Aquatic Aquatic-
Green

MENE data
Natural England’s: Monitoring Engagement with the Natural Environment (MENE)
- Face-to-face interviews with 142,031 individuals (2009-2011).
56,777 (40%) people made ≥1 nature visit in last 7 days
1) Town or city (parks) = 43%;
2) Countryside = 43%
3) Seaside and coast = 13%
- 70% of visits were local (<5miles from home)

MENE Subset (n = 4,255) asked about experiences
Stress reduction: To what extent did they feel ‘x’ after the visit:
1) Relaxed
2) Calm
3) Refreshed
4) Revitalised
Controlled for Who (Age, gender, SES) & What
(activities, duration, who with, distance travelled etc.)
MENE visit locations

Stress reduction in different natural environments
4,4
4,2
4
3,8
3,6
3,4
3,2
3
White, M.P., Pahl, S. Ashbullby, K.J., Herbert, S.& Depledge, M.H. (2013). Feelings of restoration from recent nature visits.
Journal of Environmental Psychology, 35, 40-51.

Green Space & Mental Health
British Household Panel Survey (1991-2008)
(n > 12,000 for 18 years)
Mental Ill-health: General Health Questionnaire (GHQ12) “Compared to usual how have you been feeling in the last few weeks” e.g. “able to cope”, “stressed”. The higher the score, the higher the mental distress.
Subjective well-being : Life Satisfaction (LS): “How dissatisfied or satisfied are you with your life overall?” with responses ranging from 1 (Not satisfied at all) to 7 (Completely satisfied).
% of Greenspace: Near their home (4km 2 )
White, Alcock, Wheeler & Depledge (2013). Would you be happier living in a greener urban area? Psychological Science , 24, 920-928

Green Space & Mental Health
0
-0,05
-0,1
-0,15
0,15
0,1
0,05
GHQ (mental distress)
Life Satisfaction
Error bars = 95% confidence intervals
48% (-1SD from M) 80% (+1SD from M)
% of green space in local area
White, Alcock, Wheeler & Depledge (2013). Would you be happier living in a greener urban area? Psychological Science , 24, 920-928

Green Space & Mental Health
0
-0,05
-0,1
-0,15
0,15
0,1
0,05
GHQ (mental distress)
Life Satisfaction
Error bars = 95% confidence intervals
48% (-1SD from M) 80% (+1SD from M)
% of green space in local area
White, Alcock, Wheeler & Depledge (2013). Would you be happier living in a greener urban area? Psychological Science , 24, 920-928

Blue Space & Mental Health
British Household Panel Survey (1991-2008)
(N =12,818, Obs = 87,573)
2,1
2
1,9
1,8
1,7
1,6
1,5
0-5km 6-50km
When living (x)km from the coast
50km
White, Alcock, Wheeler & Depledge (2013). Coastal proximity & health: Analysis of longitudinal panel data. Health & Place

Relative size of the effects
The impact of moving from an LSOA 1SD < M Green cover (48%) to one 1SD
>M green cover (81%)
Life Satisfaction (1-7) (N = 10,168; Obs = 56,574)
0,4
0,3
0,2
0,1
0
Green space Aged 16-25 (v. 46-55) Married No health issue Employed
White, Alcock, Wheeler & Depledge (2013). Would you be happier living in a greener urban area? Psychological Science , 24, 920-928

Census data – Cumulative impact on health?
(N = 40.8 million) Living near green space is associated with:
- decreased risk of mortality by age 65
Mitchell, R., & Popham, F. (2008). Effect of exposure to natural environment on health inequalities. T he Lancet, 372, 1655-1660.

Census Data & Proximity to the Sea
Living near the coast also seems to be good
Wheeler, White, Stahl-Timmins & Depledge (2012). Does living near the coast improve health and well-being? Health & Place, 18 , 1198-1201.

Just some of the remaining questions
1) What is the optimal dose?
2) How long do effects last? (Amanda Hignett, PhD)
3) What about the weather (With Met Office)
4) Environmental impact? (Lewis Elliot, PhD)
5) What about children? (Becky Jenkin, PhD)
6) What about other countries?
7) Comparisons to drugs (e.g. depression)?

ECEHH & Plymouth University Team: Ian Alcock, Debbie Cracknell, Michael Depledge,
Karin Tanja-Dijkstra, Lewis Elliot, Josey Field, Amanda Hignett, Rebecca Jenkin, Sabine
Pahl, Cassie Phoenix, Jo Ross, Ben Wheeler, Mat White, Kayleigh Wyles.
For further details please contact: mathew.white@exeter.ac.uk

Sunny Vs. Rainy
The weather
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0 ns
*
**
Overcast
Sunny
Built Green Blue
• Blue space most affected but still most preferred
White, M.P., Cracknell, D., Corcoran, A., Jenkinson.G. & Depledge, M.H. (2013). Do preferences for waterscapes persist in inclement weather conditions and extend to sub-aquatic scenes? Landscape Research . DOI:10.1080/01426397.2012.759919.

DRM + (in Nürnberg)
Sample:
625 Germans (61% female, 16-80yrs, 52% employed, 37% married,
33% religious, wide income range)
Episodes:
6,449 episodes (M = 10.31 per person)
18 main activity types
Positive feelings: (Pleasurable: happy, relaxed, frustrated (rev), sad
(rev), nervous (rev), impatient for it to end (rev)).
Positive thoughts: (Rewarding: focussed, engaged, competent, meaningful, helps others, achieves goals)
White, M.P. & Dolan, P. (2009). Psychological Science , 20, 1000-1008.

Relatively Rewarding ( z-scores)
1,4
Rewarding but not fun
1,2
Volunteering
1
Fun & rewarding
-0,8
Relatively
Unpleasurable
Work
0,8
Housework
-0,6 -0,4
0,6
Pray/
Meditate
Cook
Sex
-0,2
0,4
Shopping
0,2
Exercise
Time with
Children
Socialise
Read/internet
0
-0,2
0 0,2
Listen to music
0,4
Eat
Commute
Self-care
-0,4
-0,6
-0,8
TV
Rest/relax
Enjoying nature
0,6 0,8
Relatively
Pleasurable
( z-scores)
Not fun or rewarding
-1
Relatively Unrewarding
Fun but not rewarding
DRM+