Study on Emotional Perception of Hangzhou West Lake Scenic Area in Spring under the Influence of Meteorological Environment

Abstract

Human perception of the meteorological environment is an important research area in the context of global climate change. Human physical and mental health can be affected by the meteorological environment, which can manifest in emotional responses. The experiment was conducted at spring in Hangzhou West Lake Scenic Area (China). Three types of weather circumstances were examined by four emotional measures. The purpose of this study was to examine how meteorological parameters influence an individual’s emotional perception, such as air temperature, ground temperature, wind direction, precipitation, and relative humidity. Box plots were used to examine the distribution of scores on each emotional scale index. Perceptual models of positive, negative, regenerative, state anxiety, trait anxiety, and subjective vitality were developed using multiple linear regressions. The results indicate that meteorological conditions have a significant impact on human emotions: (1) there are other meteorological factors that affect individual emotions, besides precipitation; (2) the meteorological factors do not affect negative emotions; and (3) on sunny days, subjective energy and positive emotions are stronger, and on rainy days, perceptions of recovery are more favorable.