Feeling Stressed and Ugly? Leave the City and Visit Nature! An Experiment on Self-and Other-Perceived Stress and Attractiveness Levels

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Nov 17;17(22):8519. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17228519.

Abstract

Natural environments, compared to urban environments, usually lead to reduced stress and positive body appreciation. We assumed that walks through nature and urban environments affect self- and other-perceived stress and attractiveness levels. Therefore, we collected questionnaire data and took photographs of male participants' faces before and after they took walks. In a second step, female participants rated the photographs. As expected, participants felt more restored and attractive, and less stressed after they walked in nature compared to an urban environment. A significant interaction of environment (nature, urban) and time (pre, post) indicated that the men were rated by the women as being more stressed after the urban walk. Other-rated attractiveness levels, however, were similar for both walks and time points. In sum, we showed that the rather stressful experience of a short-term urban walk mirrors in the face of men and is detectable by women.

Keywords: attractiveness; face perception; natural environment; stress; urban environment.

MeSH terms

  • Body Image
  • Cities
  • Emotions*
  • Environment*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Stress, Psychological*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Walking*