The production of a perceived restorativeness soundscape scale

Abstract

This paper presents the development and testing of a Perceived Restorativeness Soundscape Scale (PRSS). The scale is designed to assess perceptions of a soundscape's potential to provide psychological restoration. In study one, 123 participants were presented with audio-visual recordings from a UK urban, urban park and rural environment, which they rated using the created PRSS. A series of factor analyses resulted in a two factor solution consisting of a General Factor and a Being-Away-To and Coherence Factor to represent PRSS results and its theoretical components. An urban soundscape was perceived as lower in restorative potential than an urban park soundscape, which was perceived as lower in restorative potential than the rural soundscape. In study two, 194 participants used the developed PRSS to rate the soundscape of a UK urban park they had just visited. Factor analyses resulted in a General one Factor solution. The PRSS was able to differentiate between soundscapes from different urban parks. The success of considering a positive benefit of soundscapes, psychological restoration, via the PRSS is discussed. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.