Nature‐based Recreation, mood change, and stress restoration

Abstract

Abstract People recreating outdoors (at an urban, park) and people recreating indoors (in their homes) assessed their moods at the start, middle, and end of their brief (less than 2‐hr) leisure experiences. Moods changed slightly but significantly, and some of these changes were consistent with predictions that leisure reduces stress. Contrary to expectations, recreating near nature produced no more restoration than did recreating indoors, away from nature.