AbstractsPsychology

Although a number of studies demonstrate that direct or indirect exposure to green space is associated with reduced symptoms of stress(Grahn & Stigsdotter, 2003; R. S. Ulrich et al., 1991),few studies have investigated the impact of a view ofnature from school classroom windows on students??? stress recovery. We donot know whether a natural classroom window view has significant impacts on students??? stress recovery. Does a natural window view help students recover from stress faster than a barren window view or no window view? In this thesis, 94 participants wererandomly assigned to three different window view conditions in high school classrooms: 1) nature window view, 2) barren window view, and 3) nowindow.Then participants completed the standard Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) to induce stress. We measured stress three times throughout the experiment by asking students to self-rate their stress levels using a visual analog scale (VAS) questionnaireand by taking skin conductance and temperature measurements. Analyses revealed that classroom window view has a significant influence on students??? stress recovery. Even though the participants??? self-reports do not show a relationship between the window view conditions and stress recovery, the two physiological measurements revealed a significant relationship between window views and stress recovery. The findings indicate that a natural window view has a stronger impact on stress recovery than barren or nowindow views.