Exploring experiences in wild versus manicured natural environments and their relationship to the trait ‘connectedness to nature’ Imagine you are walking along a pebbled pathway in a traditional manicured English Garden -- to your right and left are lawns

Research has overwhelmingly shown that spending time in nature can be beneficial. Yet the field is dominated by studies which compare built and manicured natural environments. Therefore relatively little is known about experiences in wild or untamed natural environments and what personal factors may affect these experiences. This study compares visitor experiences, measured as affective appraisals and transcendence, in two distinct natural environments (wild cliffs and manicured gardens), and how the trait ‘connectedness to nature’ may influence these experiences (N=253). Significant differences were found between visitor’s experiences at the wild cliffs (disturbing, aweinspiring and diminutive transcendence) and the manicured gardens (calming, boring, and deep flow transcendence). Regression analysis revealed three significant interactions and two significant non-linear results. High levels of ‘connectedness to nature’ at the cliffs positively predicted transcendence and a sense of awe; at the gardens, similarly high levels predicted a sense of calm. Nonlinear analyses revealed a convex (U) relationship between the trait of ‘connectedness to nature’, and experiencing an environment as calming, as well as a concave (inverted U) relationship with experiencing an environment as disturbing. The need to broaden experiential research content and ground research methods is discussed.