Nature Soundscapes
One of the prevailing psychological theories about why immersion in nature feels so calming, rejuvenating, and just plain good is the Attention Restoration Theory. This theory says that nature is one of the few places in today’s world that allows our brains to slip into what researchers call “soft fascination”; a state in which we’re resting the part of our brains we use at work for things like problem solving and decision making, and settling instead into our 5 senses. For many of us, all of our senses become active, and even heightened when we enter the natural world, helping to quiet other mental noise.
In this article, let’s turn up the volume on one of these important senses and explore nature sounds and soundscapes.
Sound Matters
You need only recall the score to your favorite movie, or be jolted out of concentration at the sound of an annoying coworker’s voice to know intuitively that sound has a profound impact on our mood and ability to perform at our best. Sound pollution is one of the biggest distractions in the modern workplace, and people use everything from headphones to noise machines and even creative flooring and furniture to block unwanted interruptions. One of my favorite workplace soundtracks are nature soundscapes like a forest river or a meadow full of birds: is this because I’m a hiker and gravitate toward those sounds as a matter of preference, or is there something deeper and more universal about the human response to the sounds of nature?
To explore this topic, let’s review a 2021 meta analysis of psychology studies, which included an exploration of both quantitative and qualitative research.
Nature sounds enhance the feeling of immersion in the natural environment; a necessary element of restoration.
In Attention Restoration Theory, one of the required conditions to adequately rest our brains is “being away;” away from the hustle and noise our daily lives, away from the sights and sounds that make up our familiar environment. Entering fully into nature - wandering in the woods, traipsing a meadow, etc. - is one of the best ways of “being away,” and the more complete our sensory experience can be, the more “away” we feel.
For many people, sound is an essential component to their enjoyment of nature. When people describe the “peace and quiet of nature,” they generally don’t mean total silence; instead, they’re talking about the presence of pleasant sounds like water, wind, and birds, and/or the absence of unpleasant sounds like traffic and cell phone yapping. In studies that ask people what they find enjoyable about spending time outdoors, a lot of people will say, “the sounds of nature,” or the feeling of all their senses coming alive.
A study in Sweden tested this concept: one group of participants was shown photographs of naturescapes with accompanying nature sounds, while another group saw just the photographs alone. The people who looked at the nature photographs without sound not only missed the sound, but some even said that the silence felt lonely. In a similar study, participants experienced a virtual reality forest as “unsettling” when there was no sound accompanying the visual.
Nature sounds are more pleasing than human-made sounds, but not all natural sounds are pleasing: compatibility matters.
Quantitative studies from the U.S. and Canada showed that participants rate the sounds of wind, water, and fauna (birds and insects) as pleasing and agreeable compared to the sounds of people and technology. Still, that doesn’t mean that all such sounds are automatically enjoyable.
A series of studies in the UK found that people often differentiate between bird sounds on a sliding scale from pleasant to unpleasant (think songbirds vs. seagulls), and according to a Chinese study, the presence of less appealing bird sounds—like those from crows—caused most participants to view the natural environment as less restorative
But maybe you know someone who enjoys the sound of crows. Or bees. Or really strong waves. When it comes to nature soundscapes, there’s no accounting for taste, and a team of scientists in Australia proved this. These researchers were interested in studying how nature soundscapes might ease the stress impacts of COVID-19. One of the findings of this study was that the more participants felt the sounds around them matched their needs, the more rejuvenating they found the environment to be.
Nature sounds can help us feel better when we’re stressed.
Those are some of the findings from studies of people experiencing nature outdoors; but what happens when we bring nature sounds indoors?
A group of researchers in the U.S. were curious whether sound alone could help with stress recovery. To test this, they stimulated discomfort and a negative mood in their subjects by showing them a graphic video of hand tendon surgery. Once they were sufficiently stressed out, the participants were exposed to one of four sound conditions:
natural sounds of birdsong and rustling leaves
natural sounds plus traffic
natural sounds plus voices
no sound at all
The results showed that the participants in the first condition - those who listened to pure nature sounds - showed the greatest improvement in their mood.
Another U.S. experiment measured muscle tension and pulse rate as participants sat in a waiting room. While they waited, some participants listened to nature sounds (ocean waves), others listened to classical music (Mozart), and a third group listened only to silence. The participants who listened to the nature sounds had significantly reduced pulse rate and muscle tension than the other two groups, and this after just 7 minutes in the waiting room.
The results of these two experiments not only prove that sound has the power to lift our spirits, but that a pure, unadulterated nature soundscape is the best thing to hear when stressed.
Workplace noise contributes to feelings of fatigue and demotivation, and nature sounds can help counteract some of those effects, especially when paired with nature visuals.
Existing research confirms what many of us intuitively know: noisy work environments have a negative impact on our cognitive performance and acute stress; in particular, noise hampers our working memory in various ways, impacting tasks like proofreading, mental math, and reading comprehension. Using that as a baseline, a group of Swedish researchers wondered: can exposure to pleasant sounds help counteract those negative effects?
After working for 2 hours in a simulated open-air office, participants were asked to take a break accompanied by one of four experiences:
Watch a video of a river with river sounds
Listen to river sounds
Listen to silence
Continue listening to the office noise
The participants who continued listening to the noise during their break were the least motivated to get back to work, while the participants who felt most rejuvenated by their break were those who had watched the river video.
For Further Exploration
Much like research on nature as healer in general, the investigation into the effects of nature sounds and soundscapes is far from complete, and the studies that do exist are not necessarily uniform in their findings. Studies that look at the physical measures of nature sounds on things like stress recovery, cognitive performance, and cognitive restoration are the most inconsistent: some studies find that nature soundscapes have a positive impact on these indicators, while others find the differences negligible. More work still needs to be done on things like duration of sound exposure, singular sounds vs soundscapes, and sound alone vs multi-sensory experiences.
In comparison, studies that examine restorative perceptions of nature sounds are generally consistent in finding positive connections, though more work still needs to be done on how our learned associations and imaginations influence these perceptions. In some cases, believing is hearing. For example, in a Swedish study, researchers played an identical white/pink noise sounds for three different groups:
The first group was told they were listening to a waterfall
The second group was told they were listening to a machine
The third group wasn’t told anything about the origin of the sounds.
When asked to report their level of fatigue, participants in the first group - the ones who believed they were listening to a waterfall - reported feeling more rejuvenated than the other groups.
Practical Applications of Nature Soundscapes
How can you apply lessons from the empirical data about nature sounds toward better ways of working? Here are some ideas.
Idea #1
The experience of nature is more restorative and enjoyable when it’s immersive: the next time you walk through a park on your lunch break, or go on a weekend hike, try leaving the headphones behind.
Idea #2
Natural sounds are more rejuvenating than human-made sounds: if you work in a setting where customers are likely to be stressed, try playing nature sounds rather than music in your waiting area.
Idea #3
Listening to the noise of a busy work place is taxing on your energy and motivation; rather than blocking it out with a podcast or music, try playing a nature soundscape: a lot of meditation and focus-based apps include options for these, and you can find tons of free versions on YouTube. Just remember to pick sounds that feel most compatible to what you’re trying to do.
Idea #4
Nature sounds are even more pleasing and replenishing when they’re paired with nature visuals: if you’re lucky enough to work near nature, like a park or a forest, try opening a window to allow the sights and sounds to team up for maximum nourishment. If you’re like me, and have limited access to nature visuals at work, try queuing up a YouTube video of a natural environment with audio.
Sources
Ratcliffe, Eleanor. (2021). Sound and Soundscape in Restorative Natural Environments: A Narrative Literature Review. Frontiers in Psychology, Volume 12 - 2021. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.570563
Kaplan, Stephen. (1992). The restorative environment: Nature and human experience. In D. Relf (Ed.) The role of horticulture in human well being and social development. Portland, OR: Timber Press. Pp. 134-142.
