Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

The purpose with the paper is to theoretically investigate how sensory experience and positive affect in contact with outdoor environment can promote health by 1) develop a model of the sensory and emotional processes based on multiple code theory (Bucci, 1997) and 2) examine if this model can increase understanding of the processes that takes place in outdoor recreation, the way this is described in environmental psychology research and theory.

The paper starts by introducing research and perspectives concerning outdoor recreation.
Different theories of nature's health promoting effects are described. These include the
restoration theories of Roger Ulrich and Steven and Rachel Kaplan, theories more concerned
with outdoor activities and a theory combining these two perspectives called instorative
theory.

After this sensory and emotional information processing is examined through the works of
Wilma Bucci and Jean Ayres. Antionio Damasio's theories of emotion and Daniel Stern's
concept of vitalityaffects are than introduced to extend this reasoning. Finally an integrated model of the emotion process is presented.

This model of sensory and emotion processing is then applied to the theories of outdoor
recreation to see if it can increase the understanding of human-nature interaction. The result of this is that the model of sensory and emotion processing can shed new light on some aspects of the health promoting effects of outdoor recreation.