TY - JOUR
T1 - Coping with poverty. Impacts of environment and attention in the inner city
AU - Kuo, F. E.
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2007 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2001
Y1 - 2001
N2 - 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.
AB - 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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U2 - 10.1177/00139160121972846
DO - 10.1177/00139160121972846
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0035121765
SN - 0013-9165
VL - 33
SP - 5
EP - 34
JO - Environment and Behavior
JF - Environment and Behavior
IS - 1
ER -