Attenborough’s nature shows are proven to make people ‘happier’
MANY of us already know that the soothing tones of Sir David Attenborough are a guaranteed way to relieve boredom or recover from a bad day.
But his nature programmes are now scientifically proven to be good for your mood.
A study by the University of Exeter found that people watching coral reef footage shot by the Blue Planet II crews, complete with an explanatory voiceover, felt happier and less bored than they did before.
The team divided 96 participants into three groups who watched the film either on television, on a video virtual reality headset or by using immersive computer-generated technology that allowed them to “touch” their surroundings using hand-held controllers.
The voiceover was re-recorded by a member of the study’s staff but followed the documentary-style format pioneered by the 94-year-old broadcaster.
Before viewing the nature footage participants were shown a four-minute video of someone explaining their role in an office supply company in order to induce boredom.
However, after watching the fiveminute nature clip all three groups reported lower levels of negative feelings such as sadness and a rise in positivity, with the immersive technology giving an extra boost to happiness and feelings of connection with nature.
“One of the most striking implications of this study was how effective a five-minute segment of the Blue Planet II series, as shown on a standard television, was in reducing boredom and negative affect, as well as increasing nature connectedness and positive affect,” the study concluded. The paper, published in the Journal of Environmental Psycholog y, concluded that watching nature programmes on the television could be a good alternative to experiencing it in real life for people who are unable to do so through illness or disability.
Study co-author Alex Smalley said he was planning to do further research on the importance of Attenborough-style voiceovers when combined with nature footage, in an effort to explore how they boosted engagement and made viewers feel more involved. “That importance of narrative and that intersection between nature and narrative is really important,” he said.
The positive mental health impacts of spending time in nature are well-documented, with green spaces associated with greater childhood well-being and they are even prescribed by doctors in NHS pilots.
“It’s really positive for us to be able to show that there can be benefits of experiencing nature at home just through a really simple mechanism like watching it on television,” he added.