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http://dx.doi.org/10.9715/KILA.2018.46.3.092

Effects of the Number of Visits and Length of Stay in Urban Forests on Subjective Well-Being - A Case Study of Seoul -  

Hong, Sung-Kwon (Dept. of Forestry and Landscape Architecture, Konkuk University)
Kim, Jong Jin (Dept. of Forestry and Landscape Architecture, Konkuk University)
Kim, Ju Mi (Dept. of Environmental Science, Graduate School, Konkuk University)
Publication Information
Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture / v.46, no.3, 2018 , pp. 92-102 More about this Journal
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate if subjective well-being could be improved by visiting urban forests near residential areas. Because visiting an urban forest is not an intense positive experience, this research is focused on frequency of affective experience rather than intensity. The independent variables are number of visits and length of stay. The dependent variables are positive affect, negative affect, and life satisfaction. A polling agency was employed to select 600 respondents by quota sampling, and data was collected by online survey. The results of ANOVA showed that there was no interaction between the number of visits and length of stay. Regardless of the number of visits, the subjective well-being of visitors of urban forests was enhanced: (a) positive affect of respondents who had visited in the past 2 weeks was increased while negative affect was decreased, and (b) life satisfaction for those who had visited at least 1 time per month was enhanced among usual visitors. The stay of length, however, had little effect on the increase or decrease of these three variables. The results of this study support the existing theory that one could reset their genetically determined happiness set point to a higher level by participating in intentional activities such as visiting urban forests that offer ways to achieve long-lasting changes in well-being. This means that it would be a valuable government investment to construct and maintain urban forests for improving citizens' welfare. A few comments were suggested regarding data collection and inclusion of influencing variables to make future subjective well-being studies more reliable.
Keywords
Positive Affect; Negative Affect; Life Satisfaction; Pleasant Experience;
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