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Journal of Behavioral Health and Psychology

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Viewing the outdoors during indoor walking may yield no additional exerciseinduced affective benefit

Breanna Wade, Meghan K. Edwards, Paul D. Loprinzi

Abstract

Objective: We examined the experimental effects of two different indoor environmental conditions [blinds up (visible view of the outdoors) or blinds down] during an acute bout of walking on participants’ affect. Methods: Participants (N = 30, mean age = 20.5 years) completed a 15 minutes walking bout on two different days—one when participants walked in front of windows with a view of the outdoors (including natural sights such as trees, flowers, etc.) and one when participants walked in front of the same windows with the blinds down and no outside view. We counterbalanced the order of these conditions, and treadmill speed was matched across the two visits. Results: There were no significant differences in affect change scores (post walk−baseline) between outdoor view and no outdoor view conditions. Both acute bouts of walking demonstrated positive affective changes. Conclusion: While this slight modification to the environment did not appear to alter exercise-induced hedonic responses during moderate-intensity walking, future research should continue to investigate any effects of other modifications and the extent to which biological, psychological, and/or environmental mechanisms may or may not interact.