The restorative effects of natural environments on health and well-being are well-established, yet applied psychology must continue to explore innovative and accessible pathways to restoration in increasingly urbanised societies. One promising direction lies in the use of natural soundscapes, which may provide low-cost, scalable interventions for enhancing well-being in settings where immersive contact with nature is limited.
This study examined the impact of auditory environments on cognitive performance, affect and physiological responses. Participants (n = 80) completed a 40-minute cognitive task battery while passively listening to one of three conditions, natural soundscapes, urban soundscapes or silence. Following this, participants underwent a 10-minute restoration period where they listened to natural soundscapes, before repeating a cognitive task. Measures included performance on sustained attention tasks, self-reported mood and arousal, as well as physiological indices of restoration (electrodermal activity and heart rate).
Preliminary analyses revealed limited effects of soundscape condition on sustained attention. However, affective and physiological outcomes indicate participants in the natural soundscape condition reported greater increases in happiness and calmness post-task and show reduced electrodermal activity relative to the urban and silence conditions.
These findings suggest that while soundscapes may not directly enhance cognitive performance in the short term, they play a meaningful role in buffering against negative mood shifts and promoting emotional and physiological restoration. This highlights the need for further investigation into the emerging field of soundscapes and their potential to promote well-being and sustainability in urban contexts, where access to restorative natural environments is often unequal.