远离“城嚣”:自然对人的积极作用、理论及其应用

Far from the “madding crowd”:The positive effects of nature,theories and applications

人类大部分进化时间都是在自然环境中发生的,自然在人的身心健康、认知功能等方面都有积极作用。3个主要的理论揭示了自然对人的积极作用:亲生命性假设认为亲近自然是人类的天性,并且会使人变得更健康和快乐;注意恢复理论认为人处于自然中使用的无意注意能对有意注意疲劳起到恢复作用;压力恢复理论认为接触自然能够激活人类的积极情绪,从而对压力有缓解作用。目前自然对人的积极作用已经在园艺疗法和自然环境疗法得到广泛应用。未来还可以从其他的心理学视角解释自然对人的积极作用,实证研究可以关注真实自然环境和虚拟自然环境的作用差别,还可以考察视觉以外的其他感觉通道接触自然的作用,并结合认知神经科学考察自然积极作用的神经机制。

Most of the history of human evolution took place in natural environment. Nature played an important role on human physical and psychological health, cognitive function, and other aspects. Three theories explained the underlying mechanism behind： Biophilia Hypothesis stated that the tendency for interaction with nature was hereditary and promoted human health and happiness; The Attention Restoration Theory stated that the involuntary attention used in natural settings could replenished the voluntary attention fatigue; The Stress Recovery Theory stated that exposure to nature invoked positive emotion, which might resulted in psycho-physiological stress recovery. Practical applications included Horticultural Therapy and Natural Environments Therapy. In the future, other psychological theories could be used to explain the effects of nature. Future research could investigate the differential effects between real nature interaction and virtual nature interaction. Research could also investigate the effects exposure to nature through other sensory channels beyond vision. Research in cognitive neuroscience could provide a better understanding of the neural mechanisms behind human nature interaction.