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- Info
Coping with poverty: impacts of environment and attention in the inner city
| Author: |
Kuo, Frances E. |
| Date: |
2001 |
| Periodical: |
Environment and Behavior |
| Link: |
http://web.aces.uiuc.edu/herl/docs/Kuo_2001.pdf
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| Abstract: |
Considerable evidence suggests that exposure to 'green' environments
can enhance human effectiveness and make life's demands seem manageable. Does
this phenomenon extend to poor inner cities, where green space is minimal and life's
demands may be overwhelming? In 145 urban public housing residents randomly
assigned to buildings with and without nearby nature, attentional functioning and
effectiveness in managing major life issues were compared. Residents living in buildings
without nearby trees and grass reported more procrastination in facing their
major issues and assessed their issues as more severe, less soluble, and more longstanding
than did their counterparts living in greener surroundings. Mediation tests and
extensive tests for possible confounds supported the attention restoration hypothesis';
that green space enhances residents'; effectiveness by reducing mental fatigue. These
findings suggest that urban public housing environments could be configured to
enhance residents’ psychological resources for coping with poverty. |
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