Landscape extraordinariness and visitors' psychological restoration in national park settings: a chain mediation model of awe, construal level, and connectedness to nature
Zhiyue Zhu, Jinhe Zhang, Xiaoxin Chen, Anzhi Li, Han Song · 2026
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Description
Zhiyue Zhu and four co-authors ask how extraordinary landscapes restore national park visitors, tracing the path through awe. Their 2026 study surveys 457 visitors at Sanjiangyuan and Qinghai Lake parks in China. A chain model links how striking the scene feels to awe, then to how broadly people think, then to felt closeness with nature.
More extraordinary scenes came with more awe, more closeness to nature, and stronger restoration. Awe itself lifted broad thinking and closeness, and closeness in turn lifted restoration. Statistical resampling backed the chain, with the direct scene effect only partly explained by the links. The authors advise park designers to stage the moments that spark awe, since awe starts the whole chain. The study extends earlier work from plain green space to grand wild settings.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Zhiyue Zhu, Jinhe Zhang, Xiaoxin Chen, Anzhi Li, Han Song |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 65 KB |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |