Validating the Measures of Perceived Restorativeness in Obudu Mountain Resort, Cross River State, Nigeria

Henry I. Ojobo^1,2*, Sapura Mohamad^1*, Ismail Said^1*

¹Department of Landscape Architecture, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor, Malaysia.
²Department of Architecture, Benue State Polytechnic, Ugbokolo, Benue State, Nigeria.

DOI: 10.4236/jss.2014.211001                

Abstract

Several studies suggest that contact with natural environments enhance restoration of directed attention better than experience of other environments devoid of nature. This study attempts to validate the self-report measures of the components of a restorative environment and perceived stress through an exploratory study of the multi-stimulus Obudu mountain resort environment. Twenty-two respondents randomly co-opted at the study site had their perception of stress measured by the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) while their perceived restoration was measured by the Perceived Restorativeness Scale (PRS). Results indicate an acceptable stable and consistent coefficient alpha across the scores. We found that perceived stress is significantly related to fascination and age while being away, extent, compatibility and length of days were not significant. The results support the reliability and constructs of the PSS and the PRS in a mountain environment. The finding is a further indication of the universality of the underlying postulates behind restorative environments, human response and wellbeing.

Keywords

Directed Attention, Stress, Restoration, Mountain Environments, Nigeria

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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