Affective Responses to Natural Areas Near Cities

ABSTRACTABSTRACTIn an exploratory study of emotions in recreation, visitors to three Audubon nature centers in Massachusetts completed a questionnaire to measure their moods at the beginning and at the end of their on-site visits. Entering levels of negatively valued moods were quite low, and decreased significantly during the visit. Entering levels of positively valued moods were moderately high, but these also decreased slightly during the visit. The moods of the visitors appeared to be unrelated to background characteristics. To account for these findings, a process emphasizing anticipation is postulated, and areas for future research are suggested.KEYWORDS: Moodmotivationnatural areasoutdoor recreationpsychological effectrecreational behavior