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Can Urban Forest Settings Evoke Positive Emotion? Evidence on Facial Expressions and Detection of Driving Factors

Author

Listed:
  • Ping Liu

    (College of Forestry, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang 110866, China)

  • Mengnan Liu

    (College of Forestry, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang 110866, China)

  • Tingting Xia

    (College of Forestry, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang 110866, China)

  • Yutao Wang

    (College of Forestry, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang 110866, China)

  • Hongxu Wei

    (Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130102, China
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China)

Abstract

There is increasing interest in experiences of urban forests because relevant studies have revealed that forest settings can promote mental well-being. The mental response to a forest experience can be evaluated by facial expressions, but relevant knowledge is limited at large geographical scales. In this study, a dataset of 2824 photos, detailing the evaluated age (toddler, youth, middle-age, and senior citizen) and gender of urban forest visitors, was collected from Sina Weibo (a social media application similar to Twitter in China) between 1–7 October 2018, in 12 randomly chosen cities in China. Happy and sad expressions were rated as scores by FireFACE software V1.0, and the positive response index (PRI) was calculated by subtracting sad scores from happy scores. Regional environmental factors were collected to detect driving forces using regression analyses. Happy scores were higher in forests than in urban settings, while sad scores for toddlers were lower in forests than in promenades and squares. Females showed more positive emotional expressions than males. Increases in happy scores were driven by the increase of daily minimum temperature; while PRI declined with increases in latitude. Overall, an urban forest experience can evoke positive emotions, which is likely due to comfortable feelings in warm temperatures.

Suggested Citation

  • Ping Liu & Mengnan Liu & Tingting Xia & Yutao Wang & Hongxu Wei, 2021. "Can Urban Forest Settings Evoke Positive Emotion? Evidence on Facial Expressions and Detection of Driving Factors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-16, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:16:p:8687-:d:607980
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Wei, Hongxu & Hauer, Richard J. & He, Xingyuan, 2021. "A forest experience does not always evoke positive emotion: A pilot study on unconscious facial expressions using the face reading technology," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
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    4. Pihel, Johan & Ode Sang, Åsa & Hagerhall, Caroline & Nyström, Marcus, 2015. "Expert and novice group differences in eye movements when assessing biodiversity of harvested forests," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 20-26.
    5. Jessica Pykett & Tess Osborne & Bernd Resch, 2020. "From Urban Stress to Neurourbanism: How Should We Research City Well-Being?," Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 110(6), pages 1936-1951, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Fei Yu & Jianfeng Deng & Xiaogang Ding & Hongyan Ma, 2022. "Interpolated Stand Properties of Urban Forest Parks Account for Posted Facial Expressions of Visitors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-22, March.
    2. Marek Franěk & Jan Petružálek & Denis Šefara, 2022. "Facial Expressions and Self-Reported Emotions When Viewing Nature Images," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-16, August.
    3. Henry Lippert & Ingo Kowarik & Tanja M. Straka, 2022. "People’s Attitudes and Emotions towards Different Urban Forest Types in the Berlin Region, Germany," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-21, May.
    4. Hongxu Guo & Zhuoqiao Luo & Mengtian Li & Shumin Kong & Haiyan Jiang, 2022. "A Literature Review of Big Data-Based Urban Park Research in Visitor Dimension," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-17, June.

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