Environmental aesthetics and psychological well-being: relations between urban landscape preference judgements and other relevant affective responses

Abstract

In the general field of Enviromental Psychology, a growing number of studies have pointed to the increase of subjects general well-being as aresult of contact with environments considered to have a high aesthetical value, The present study has attempted to study the effects the contemplation of every-day landscapes could have on citizens” emotional welfare, identifying some of the main affective responses that can be found in association with aesthetic judgments of urban landscapes. Relevant data have been obtained with an photographic questionnaire individually administered to a representative sample of adolescents residing in the city of Seville. Results place acsthetic appraisal responses in a privileged sitution from an affective point of view. This is due to the fact that these responses are elosely associated to the variables most important «according to different studies- for the configuration the two fundamental dimensions (pleasure and arousal) in the global significance of physical environments.