If human affection for and longing to be close to early living environments—emerging after the transition from natural to built settings—can be regarded as a form of “ancient nostalgia” rooted in evolutionary history, then a person’s preference for and yearning toward nature-dominated rural environments experienced during early life—emerging after moving to urban areas—may be viewed as a form of “recent nostalgia” within the course of individual life. Grounded in China’s long-standing agrarian history and cultural context, this study proposes that the natural environment in rural form—as a key component of early-life experience for the Chinese individuals—may carry nostalgic emotional qualities. Building on this, the study further focuses on the interdisciplinary intersection between nature and nostalgia within their respective research domains related to well-being, aiming to explore whether historical nostalgia for nature influences its restorative effects on well-being, and which features of the natural environment are most likely to evoke nostalgic emotions, thereby potentially enhancing its restorative benefits for well-being.
This study selected urban parks and rural greenspaces in Zhejiang Province, China, as case study sites. It employed a repeated measures experimental design and semi-structured interviews, using heart rate variability and subjective mood as key indicators of stress recovery. Quantitative data were analysed using linear mixed models and simple effects analysis, while qualitative data were examined through content and thematic analysis. Together, these analyses produced the following key findings:
1)Both urban and rural greenspaces are associated with individuals’ nostalgic states, with rural greenspaces demonstrating greater breadth and depth in this association.
2)Sensory environmental features, compared with affordance-related and atmospheric features, have broader applicability in eliciting nostalgic experiences, although their inducement strength is relatively weaker.
3)Nostalgic states exhibit an overarching mediating role between experiences of the natural environment and psychological restoration, while also showing context-specific synergistic effects with natural environments under certain conditions.
