The impact of Biophilic Built Environment on Psychological Restoration within student hostels
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.13135/2384-8677/3534Abstract
The students of technical educational streams are exposed to many aspects of stress and anxiety which burdens their psychological persona and puts them in a state of mental fatigue. Although it is not entirely possible to eliminate the sources of stress and anxiety in regular life of students, several attempts are made to introduce students to certain natural environments which can recover their depleted mental resources and improve fatigued cognitive functions. Attention Restoration Theory (ART) and the Biophilia Hypothesis provided a stable base as Biophilic Design for this aspect of human psychology to be explored with respect to nature. Individual researches have presented evidence in favour of these propositions and this paper examines the impact and the significance of each Biophilic Environment Variable in Psychological Restoration of students within the built environment of hostels. To address this question, student hostel rooms at two institutes (105 km apart) of National importance in foothills of Himalayas (India), were surveyed under major categorisation of Biophilic Environment Variables: Nature in the Space, Natural Analogues and Human Nature Relationship alongside the dwelling student’s response on Plutchik’s emotional stability wheel and the aspects of Perceived Restorativeness: Being Away, Fascination, Extent and Compatibility. Results stipulate that the students in Hostel rooms which have higher qualitative and quantitative score of biophilic environment variables (connection with nature) report greater Perceived Restorativeness and also possess better self-reported emotional stability.
References
Bakó-Biró, Z., Clements-Croome, D. J., Kochhar, N., Awbi, H. B., and Williams, M. J. (2012). Ventilation rates in schools and pupils’ performance. Building and Environment, 48, 215-223.
Berto, R., & Barbiero, G. (2017). The Biophilic Quality Index. A Tool to Improve a Building from “Green” to Restorative. Visions for Sustainability, (8).
Browning, W. D., Ryan, C. O., and Clancy, J. O. (2014). Patterns of biophilic design. New York: Terrapin Bright Green, LLC.
Carlson, J. A., Sallis, J. F., Conway, T. L., Saelens, B. E., Frank, L. D., Kerr, J., ... & King, A. C. (2012). Interactions between psychosocial and built environment factors in explaining older adults' physical activity. Preventive medicine, 54(1), 68-73.
Chua, S. J. L., Ali, A. S., and Lim, M. E. L. (2016). Physical environment comfort impacts on office employee’s performance. In MATEC Web of Conferences (Vol. 66, p. 00124). EDP Sciences.
Deb, S., Strodl, E., & Sun, J. (2015). Academic stress, parental pressure, anxiety and mental health among Indian high school students. International Journal of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 5(1), 26-34.
Evans, G. W. (2003). The built environment and mental health. Journal of urban health, 80(4), 536-555.Fayazi, N. (2014). Investigating Interactive Biophilic Wearable Objects (Doctoral dissertation, Carleton University Ottawa).
Evans, G. W., & McCoy, J. M. (1998). When buildings don’t work: The role of architecture in human health. Journal of Environmental psychology, 18(1), 85-94.
Fang, L., Wyon, D. P., Clausen, G., and Fanger, P. O. (2004). Impact of indoor air temperature and humidity in an office on perceived air quality, SBS symptoms and performance. Indoor air, 14, 74-81.
Hartig, T., Böök, A., Garvill, J., Olsson, T., & Gärling, T. (1996). Environmental influences on psychological restoration. Scandinavian journal of psychology, 37(4), 378-393.
Hartig, T., Korpela, K., Evans, G. W., & Gärling, T. (1997). A measure of restorative quality in environments. Scandinavian housing and planning research, 14(4), 175-194.
Holt, N., Christian, J., & Larkin, M. (2012). Maintaining connectedness: Exploring the experiences of older homeless men living in hostel accommodation. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 22(6), 485-501.
Ivarsson, C. T., & Hagerhall, C. M. (2008). The perceived restorativeness of gardens–Assessing the restorativeness of a mixed built and natural scene type. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 7(2), 107-118.
Kamaruzzaman, S. N., and Sabrani, N. A. (2011). The effect of indoor air quality (IAQ) towards occupants’ psychological performance in office buildings. Journal Design+ Built, 4(1), 49-61.
Kaplan, R. (1984). Impact of urban nature: A theoretical analysis.
Kaplan, R. (1993). The role of nature in the context of the workplace. Landscape and urban planning, 26(1-4), 193-201.
Kaplan, R., & Kaplan, S. (1989). The experience of nature: A psychological perspective. CUP Archive.
Kaplan, R., Kaplan, S., and Brown, T. (1989). Environmental preference: a comparison of four domains of predictors. Environment and behavior, 21(5), 509-530.
Kaplan, S. (1995). The restorative benefits of nature: Toward an integrative framework. Journal of environmental psychology, 15(3), 169-182.
Kaplan, S. (2001). Meditation, restoration, and the management of mental fatigue. Environment and behavior, 33(4), 480-506.
Kellert, S. R. (2004). Beyond LEED: From low environmental impact to restorative environmental design. Green Roof Infrastructure Monitor, 6(1).
McGee, B., & Marshall-Baker, A. (2015). Loving nature from the inside out: a Biophilia matrix identification strategy for designers. HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal, 8(4), 115-130.
NCRB, (2016). Crime in India Statistics. National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.
Pal, S. K., Sharma, A., Sehgal, A., Kaushik, N., & Rana, A. (2016). Hanging suicides in himachal pradesh: an analysis of forensic cases. International Journal of Forensic Science & Pathology, 4(11), 297-304.
Pegas, P. N., Alves, C. A., Evtyugina, M. G., Nunes, T., Cerqueira, M., Franchi, M. and Freitas, M. C. (2011). Seasonal evaluation of outdoor/indoor air quality in primary schools in Lisbon. Journal of Environmental Monitoring, 13(3), 657-667.
Plutchik, R. (2001). The nature of emotions: Human emotions have deep evolutionary roots, a fact that may explain their complexity and provide tools for clinical practice. American scientist, 89(4), 344-350.
Rai, S., Asim, F., Shree, V. (2019). The Significance of Biophilic Architecture in Perceived Restorativeness: Cases of Colonial Churches of Himachal Pradesh. Proceedings - National Seminar on Green Building & Rating System 2019, 2019040134 (doi: 10.20944/preprints201904.0134.v1).
Seidman, M. D., and Standring, R. T. (2010). Noise and quality of life. International journal of environmental research and public health, 7(10), 3730-3738.
Seppanen, O., Fisk, W. J., and Lei, Q. H. (2006). Effect of temperature on task performance in office environment. The Indoor Environment Group, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.
Takki, T., Villberg, K., Hongisto, V., Kosonen, R., and Korpi, A. (2011). A Continuous and Proactive Process to Enhance Well-being Indoors. In Sick Building Syndrome (pp. 353-370). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Ulrich, R. S. (1983). Aesthetic and affective response to natural environment. In Behavior and the natural environment (pp. 85-125). Springer, Boston, MA.
Ulrich, R. S. (1986). Human responses to vegetation and landscapes. Landscape and urban planning, 13, 29-44.
Ulrich, R. S., Simons, R. F., Losito, B. D., Fiorito, E., Miles, M. A., and Zelson, M. (1991). Stress recovery during exposure to natural and urban environments. Journal of environmental psychology, 11(3), 201-230.
Waghachavare, V. B., Dhumale, G. B., Kadam, Y. R., & Gore, A. D. (2013). A Study of Stress among Students of Professional Colleges from an urban area in India. Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal, 13(3), 429.
Wargocki, P., and Wyon, D. P. (2006). Research report on effects of HVAC on student performance. ASHRAE journal, 48(10), 22.
WHO (2016). Mental Health: Suicides. WHO Global Health Estimates. World Health Organization.
