First Advisor

Todd Allen, PhD

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Thesis

Date Created

5-1-2022

Department

College of Education and Behavioral Sciences, Psychological Sciences, SPS Student Work

Abstract

College students’ emotional, mental, and physical health have seen a steady decline over the last decade. Research suggests that exposure to nature such as interacting with wildlife, hearing nature sounds, or programs where individuals are directedly involved in their experience with nature, allow for the individual to experience lower levels of stress, raise moods, and can help aid in the treatment of some of the most common mental illnesses such as Major Depressive Disorder and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. However, there is little research that examine other variables such as personality that may influence the outcome of the nature exposure effect. This study aims to provide more information and insight into how the nature exposure effect is modulated among different personality types. This study examines how personality influences the outcomes of the nature exposure effect among college aged people through the use of the Big Five Inventory and the Perceived Stress Scale. This study did not find any significant differences among personality through the nature exposure effect (p>.05) but did find that those with low nature exposure scores had significantly higher perceived stress (p = .045). More research is required to fully understand how personality influences the effects of nature exposure.

Rights Statement

Copyright is held by the author.

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