Effects of the COVID-19 lockdowns on aesthetic and affective evaluations of natural and urban scenes

Felisberti, Fatima M. and Harrison, Neil R. (2022) Effects of the COVID-19 lockdowns on aesthetic and affective evaluations of natural and urban scenes. PsyEcology, 13 (3). pp. 377-408. ISSN 2171-1976

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Abstract

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent UK lockdowns restricted mobility, altered access to the outdoors and led to changes in the environment (e.g., reduced traffic, pollution and crowding). This likely altered the way people evaluated outdoor environments. Here we investigated aesthetic and emotional responses (liking, openness, relaxation) to paintings and photographs depicting landscapes and urban scenes in three UK cohorts: pre-lockdown, spring 2020 lockdown, and winter 2021 lockdown. Participants (N = 334) reported higher levels of liking, openness and relaxation for landscapes and urban scenes during the two lockdown periods compared to pre-lockdown levels. Importantly, evaluations in the lockdown groups were influenced by the types of places visited most frequently. These findings aid our understanding of the psychological effects of lockdowns on evaluations of outdoor environments and are relevant to the development of policies for the promotion of wellbeing, including the design of more open and relaxing urban spaces.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information and Comments:	This is an Author's Original Manuscript of an article whose final and definitive form, the Version of Record, has been published in PsyEcology, September 2022 [copyright Taylor & Francis], available online at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/21711976.2022.2096278
Faculty / Department:	Faculty of Human and Digital Sciences > School of Psychology
Depositing User:	Neil Harrison
Date Deposited:	04 Jul 2022 13:38
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 12:17
URI:	https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/3564

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