![]() While the literature is new, science is pointing to several possible explanations. As we learn increasingly more about the positive benefits of engaging with nature, researchers are beginning to ask how nature is having this effect on us. For younger viewers the affects were even more pronounced, with participants in the 16-24 age group more likely to experience significant positive sifts in emotion following the consumption of natural history content.īelief in the positive effects of nature has been a part of cultures around the world for centuries seen in everything from indigenous rites of passage, “forest bathing” in South Korea and Japan to the musings and creations of philosophers and artists, but it is only recently that scientific papers have started to document the benefits of being outdoors and viewing nature. “If people experience feelings of awe, they are more likely to display empathetic and charitable behaviours and have been shown to be better able to handle stress,” he adds. Professor Dacher Keltner of the University of California, Berkeley, says the shifts in emotion demonstrated in the study are significant as wonder and contentment are the foundations of human happiness. ![]() ![]() The results showed watching footage from Planet Earth II resulted in significant increases in feelings of awe, contentedness, joy, amusement and curiosity as well as a reduction in feelings of tiredness, anger and stress while facial mapping data revealed high levels of ‘happy’ on the faces of those watching natural history clips. Using their device’s webcam, their ‘micro facial expressions’ were mapped to quantify the extent each viewer was feeling one of six emotions – happiness, surprise, puzzlement, fear, anger and rejection. They also underwent facial mapping to analyse changes in their facial expressions while watching the videos. Participants were asked a series of questions to chart their emotions and stress levels before and after watching one of five clips. Each participant was randomly assigned one of five clips – either a scene from Planet Earth II (the swimming sloth or the extended trailer), a collection of news stories from US television networks, a scene from a major drama series, or, as a control, an excerpt from an instructional DIY video. In total, 7500 respondents from across the US, UK, India, Australia, South Africa and Singapore took part in the detailed online study.
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