Neuropsychology Unit, Fondazione Santa Lucia, I.R.C.C.S, Rome, Italy, Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy, Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Magna Græcia University of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy, Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evaston, IL, U...

BACKGROUND Substantial research has been done on the relationship of physical environments to active living, much of it using observational measures of physical properties. Although this research is important, it produces an incomplete picture. Perceptions of environmental factors may affect physical activity. There is particular value in learning about people's perceptions of environmental fac...

Inquiry into how people experience environmental conditions at work is a growing area of study. Until the 1980s, there was insufficient research on ‘workspaces’ –and on office environments in particular – to warrant review. Since that time, the range and number of studies of workspace have burgeoned. This paper will identify and review the main themes and findings of this area of research with ...

Environmental psychology research has demonstrated that exposure to mundane natural environments can be psychologically beneficial, and can, for instance, improve individuals' mood and concentration. However, little research has yet examined the psychological benefits of extraordinary, awe-evoking kinds of nature, such as spectacular mountain scenes or impressive waterfalls. In this study, we a...

The concept of sustainable development has become the organizing framework for much economic, social and environmental policy because it meets a policy need. Specifically, it has the potential to address environmental issues in a way that is more consistent with economic and social aspirations than the emphasis on ‘limits to growth’, which was characteristic of much environmental thinking in th...

Over recent decades, the study of psychological restoration has attracted a considerable amount of interest within and without the boundaries of environmental psychology, with most of the work focused on analyzing restoration in natural contexts. However, little attention has been paid to the (possible) restorative potential of urban settings, as they have usually been expected not to be restor...

Questions of 'who we are' are often intimately related to questions of 'where we are', an idea captured in the environmental psychological concept of place-identity. The value of this concept is that it attends to the located nature of subjectivity, challenging the disembodied notions of identity preferred by social psychologists. The topic of place identity would thus seem to be a productive p...