Personality and spatial familiarity interact to shape affective responses in urban parks: a VR study

With rapid urbanization, mental health issues among urban residents have become increasingly prominent, and urban parks as important green spaces hold potential value for promoting public mental health. However, prior research has largely focused on environmental physical characteristics, overlooking how the interaction between spatial familiarity and individual personality traits shapes affective experiences. This study employed virtual reality (VR) technology, wherein 72 participants experienced two urban parks differing in familiarity, assessing affective responses via the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and heart rate variability (HRV). The findings revealed that personality traits significantly predicted affective responses. Extraversion was associated with higher positive affect (PA), whereas neuroticism was associated with higher negative affect (NA). Spatial familiarity also showed a main effect, with lower familiarity associated with increased NA. Crucially, significant interaction effects indicating that spatial familiarity moderated the influence of personality traits on NA. In less familiar parks, individuals with higher neuroticism exhibited more NA, while greater conscientiousness and openness alleviated these negative responses (p < 0.05). Multiple linear regression analysis confirmed neuroticism and openness as strong predictors of negative affect in low-familiarity parks (R-squared = 0.260, p < 0.01). HRV measurements demonstrated that urban parks consistently reduced affective arousal levels in participants, regardless of familiarity. These findings highlight the multilevel interaction between personality and environmental experience in affective restoration, advancing understanding of psychological mechanisms underlying urban park exposure and emphasizing the role of human factors in shaping emotional responses.