NATURE DEL BENESSERE. GLI EFFETTI PSICOLOGICI DELL'AMBIENTE NATURALE IN UNA PROSPETTIVA BIO-CULTURALE.

The research in Environmental Psychology stated that visit or simply perceive natural landscapes is clearly linked with some positive psychological outcomes on stress, attention restoration, cognitive functioning. These effects have been poorly investigated in wider perspective, favouring a limited evolutionary orientation that attempting to establish universal processes. Our contribution criticizes this mainstream view, suggesting that the results of recent researches indicate the relevance of other factors: positive emotions, identification and place attachment, optimal experiences, social ties, cultural belonging. A new bio-cultural framework is proposed, linking these different factors in a systemic perspective, encompassing natural areas, evolutionary needs, positive place experiences and cultures. The model is tested by two studies. The first states the importance of attachment, familiarity and flow in influencing the preferences for different biomes and their perceived restorativeness. The second replicates the first introducing as a causal factor the cultural differences between two groups.