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Nature lifts when feeling low: Daily high and low awe nature clips decrease repetitive negative thinking and dampening and increase subjective happiness in adults

Bogaert,L.
; 
Joye,Y.
; 
Dejonckheere,E.
; 
Goossens,I.
; 
Mertens,K.
; 
Raes,F.
Abstract
Exposure to nature can enhance mental well-being, making nature-based interventions promising for the treatment and prevention of mental health problems like depression. Given the decreased self-focus and sense of self-diminishment associated with awe, the present study investigated the impact of exposure to awe-evoking nature on two key risk and maintenance factors of depression—repetitive negative thinking (RNT) and dampening of positive feelings—and on subjective happiness. In a randomized controlled trial, we tested the effects of exposure to awe-evoking nature clips through a 1-week intervention, consisting of watching a 1-min clip on a daily basis of either aweevoking (n high awe = 108) or more mundane nature scenes (n low awe = 105). Before, immediately after (post-intervention) and 1 week after the intervention (follow-up), participants completed self-report scales probing RNT, dampening, and subjective happiness. Results indicated significant decreases in these outcomes at post-intervention and follow-up in both groups. We discuss study limitations, touch upon future research ideas, and reflect upon the role of nature for clinical applications.
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2024
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Tilburg University Research Output Collection
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Keywords
awe, dampening, nature, repetitive negative thinking, subjective happiness
Citation
Bogaert, L, Joye, Y, Dejonckheere, E, Goossens, I, Mertens, K & Raes, F 2024, 'Nature lifts when feeling low : Daily high and low awe nature clips decrease repetitive negative thinking and dampening and increase subjective happiness in adults', Applied Psychology-Health and Well Being, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 2099-2115. https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12578
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14602/81509
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