Impact of nature window view on high school students stress recovery

Although a number of studies demonstrate that direct or indirect exposure to green space is associated with reduced symptoms of stress(Grahn & Stigsdotter, 2003; R. S. Ulrich et al., 1991),few studies have investigated the impact of a view ofnature from school classroom windows on students’ stress recovery. We donot know whether a natural classroom window view has significant impacts on students’ stress recovery. Does a natural window view help students recover from stress faster than a barren window view or no window view? In this thesis, 94 participants wererandomly assigned to three different window view conditions in high school classrooms: 1) nature window view, 2) barren window view, and 3) nowindow.Then participants completed the standard Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) to induce stress. We measured stress three times throughout the experiment by asking students to self-rate their stress levels using a visual analog scale (VAS) questionnaireand by taking skin conductance and temperature measurements. Analyses revealed that classroom window view has a significant influence on students’ stress recovery. Even though the participants’ self-reports do not show a relationship between the window view conditions and stress recovery, the two physiological measurements revealed a significant relationship between window views and stress recovery. The findings indicate that a natural window view has a stronger impact on stress recovery than barren or nowindow views.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.L.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Landscape Architecture

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Chen, Chen

Contributors dc:contributor

• Sullivan, William C.

• landscape
• high school
• stress
• nature window view

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2014 Chen Chen

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/72897

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/72897