TITLE:
Validating the Measures of Perceived Restorativeness in Obudu Mountain Resort, Cross River State, Nigeria
AUTHORS:
Henry I. Ojobo, Sapura Mohamad, Ismail Said
KEYWORDS:
Directed Attention, Stress, Restoration, Mountain Environments, Nigeria
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.2 No.11,
November
24,
2014
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.