Landscape exposure and exercising for health: exposure to natural versus urban landscapes promotes walking for health
Objective A common tendency among humans is the devaluation of remote, larger benefits in favour of immediate, smaller gains, a phenomenon known as temporal discounting. Exercising for health necessitates focusing on long-term health benefits while minimising perceived obstacles. Recent studies have...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2025-12-01
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| Series: | Australian Journal of Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/00049530.2025.2450351 |
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| author | Hui-Ju Wu Yevvon Yi-Chi Chang Wen-Bin Chiou |
| author_facet | Hui-Ju Wu Yevvon Yi-Chi Chang Wen-Bin Chiou |
| author_sort | Hui-Ju Wu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objective A common tendency among humans is the devaluation of remote, larger benefits in favour of immediate, smaller gains, a phenomenon known as temporal discounting. Exercising for health necessitates focusing on long-term health benefits while minimising perceived obstacles. Recent studies have demonstrated that experiencing nature may reduce the discounting tendency. We conducted a behavioural experiment to investigate whether exposure to natural environments could decrease temporal discounting, thereby enhancing the inclination to walk for health.Method In total, 140 participants were randomly assigned to view images of either natural or urban landscapes. They completed a measure of discounting and participated in a pedometer-based task. In this task, the selection of a meeting point at a greater or lesser distance, along with the additional distance walked, were used as indicators of health-oriented walking behaviour.Results Participants exposed to natural settings were more likely to choose a distant meeting point for returning the pedometer and engaged in greater additional walking than those exposed to urban settings. Temporal discounting played a mediating role in these effects.Conclusions These findings offer an explanation for the reduced propensity towards health-related exercise among urban residents, and provide a novel strategy for promoting exercise motivation in contemporary lifestyles. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a6902006edd84078b90901677400a2e8 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0004-9530 1742-9536 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Australian Journal of Psychology |
| spelling | doaj-art-a6902006edd84078b90901677400a2e82025-01-20T01:31:37ZengTaylor & Francis GroupAustralian Journal of Psychology0004-95301742-95362025-12-0177110.1080/00049530.2025.2450351Landscape exposure and exercising for health: exposure to natural versus urban landscapes promotes walking for healthHui-Ju Wu0Yevvon Yi-Chi Chang1Wen-Bin Chiou2Center for Teacher Education, Cheng Shiu University, Kaohsiung, TaiwanInternational Business Administration Program, Tunghai University, Taichung, TaiwanInstitute of Education, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, TaiwanObjective A common tendency among humans is the devaluation of remote, larger benefits in favour of immediate, smaller gains, a phenomenon known as temporal discounting. Exercising for health necessitates focusing on long-term health benefits while minimising perceived obstacles. Recent studies have demonstrated that experiencing nature may reduce the discounting tendency. We conducted a behavioural experiment to investigate whether exposure to natural environments could decrease temporal discounting, thereby enhancing the inclination to walk for health.Method In total, 140 participants were randomly assigned to view images of either natural or urban landscapes. They completed a measure of discounting and participated in a pedometer-based task. In this task, the selection of a meeting point at a greater or lesser distance, along with the additional distance walked, were used as indicators of health-oriented walking behaviour.Results Participants exposed to natural settings were more likely to choose a distant meeting point for returning the pedometer and engaged in greater additional walking than those exposed to urban settings. Temporal discounting played a mediating role in these effects.Conclusions These findings offer an explanation for the reduced propensity towards health-related exercise among urban residents, and provide a novel strategy for promoting exercise motivation in contemporary lifestyles.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/00049530.2025.2450351Exercising for healthexposure to naturehealth behaviourtemporal discountingurban landscape |
| spellingShingle | Hui-Ju Wu Yevvon Yi-Chi Chang Wen-Bin Chiou Landscape exposure and exercising for health: exposure to natural versus urban landscapes promotes walking for health Australian Journal of Psychology Exercising for health exposure to nature health behaviour temporal discounting urban landscape |
| title | Landscape exposure and exercising for health: exposure to natural versus urban landscapes promotes walking for health |
| title_full | Landscape exposure and exercising for health: exposure to natural versus urban landscapes promotes walking for health |
| title_fullStr | Landscape exposure and exercising for health: exposure to natural versus urban landscapes promotes walking for health |
| title_full_unstemmed | Landscape exposure and exercising for health: exposure to natural versus urban landscapes promotes walking for health |
| title_short | Landscape exposure and exercising for health: exposure to natural versus urban landscapes promotes walking for health |
| title_sort | landscape exposure and exercising for health exposure to natural versus urban landscapes promotes walking for health |
| topic | Exercising for health exposure to nature health behaviour temporal discounting urban landscape |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/00049530.2025.2450351 |
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