The relation between characteristics of forest sounds and psychological impression

Abstract

In recent years, the effects of forests on the psychological and physiological aspects of human beings have been identified, and effects such as relaxation, stress reduction, and health promotion have been clarified. On the other hand, there are still many unclear points about what elements of the forest environment have a relaxing effect and a stress-reducing effect on humans. Therefore, as one of the elements of them, this study focused on the sounds of the forest environment, extracted characteristics from the measurement data of forest sounds, and investigated the psychological impression of forest sounds. As a result of this study, we found that the sound of the forest is quiet; the sound sources contain high-frequency components, and these sources are fluctuating. Moreover, sounds with this tendency were found to be comforting, open/active, and related to a sense of relaxation. This result suggests that the sound of a forest environment is one of the factors that have a relaxing effect on humans.