Efectos do ambiente percibido sobre a capacidade de restauración e o benestar psicolóxico. Un estudo con realidade virtual

Abstract

A exposición a contornas simuladas con realidade virtual ten o potencial de mellorar a capacidade de restauración psicolóxica e o benestar percibido. Aínda que escasa, a literatura previa apunta incluso a un posíbel rol mediador da capacidade de restauración. Neste traballo estudamos o efecto de distintas contornas naturais, clasificadas como paletas de cor, sobre o estado de ánimo e a vitalidade subxectiva a través da capacidade de restauración. Contamos coa participación dunha mostra de conveniencia formada por 50 estudantes de grao e mestrado, con idades comprendidas entre os 18 e os 46 anos (M = 24.52, DT = 6.24). Deseñamos un experimento intersuxeitos aleatorizado, no que as participantes foron asignadas a unha das catro condicións experimentais, tres paisaxes naturais e unha condición control, a contorna de actividade cotiá. En cada condición visualizaban imaxes de 360 graos, proxectadas mediante un dispositivo de realidade virtual, durante un tempo de 5 minutos. As variables de interese rexistráronse concorrentemente, mediante a implementación de medidas estandarizadas en Microsoft Forms. Comprobouse a homoxeneidade das condicións en canto a idade, experiencia previa con realidade virtual, estado de ánimo e sensación de presenza na contorna virtual. Realizáronse análises de mediación simple coa macro Process 4.2 para SPSS, con categorización ficticia e estimación mediante bootstrapping do efecto indirecto relativo de cada condición experimental. Os resultados amosaron efecto indirecto da exposición á natureza virtual sobre a mellora do estado de ánimo. A mediación da capacidade restaurativa procurou unha mellora do estado de ánimo superior en cada paisaxe natural respecto da condición control. Ademais, comprobamos que este efecto se debía fundamentalmente aos compoñentes de fascinación e extensión. Porén, o modelo de mediación non resultou significativo para a variable dependente de vitalidade subxectivaExposure to simulated virtual reality environments has the potential to enhance psychological restoration and perceived well-being. Although scarce, previous literature even points to a possible mediating role of restorativeness. In this paper we studied the effect of different natural environments, classified as palettes of colour, on mood and subjective vitality through restorativeness. We collected a convenience sample of 50 Bachelor's and Master's students, aged between 18 and 46 years old (M = 24.52, DT = 6.24) who agreed to take part in the study. We designed a randomized between-subject experiment, in which participants were assigned to one of four experimental conditions, three natural landscapes and one control condition, the everyday activity environment. In each condition they viewed 360-degree images, projected through a virtual reality device, for 5 minutes. The variables of interest were concurrently recorded by implementing standardized measures in Microsoft Forms. We verified the homogeneity of conditions in terms of age, previous experience with virtual reality, mood and sense of presence in the virtual environment. Simple mediation analyses were performed using the SPSS macro Process 4.2 version, with dummy categorization and bootstrapping estimation of the relative indirect effect of each experimental condition. Results showed an indirect effect of exposure to virtual nature on mood enhancement. The mediation of the restorative capacity led to an improvement in mood in each natural landscape compared to the control condition. Furthermore, we found that this effect was mainly due to the components of fascination and extension. However, the mediation model was not significant for the dependent variable of subjective vitality