133
© The Author(s) 2019
M. R. Marselle et al. (eds.), Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate
Change, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02318-8_7
Chapter 7
Theoretical Foundations of Biodiversity
and Mental Well-being Relationships
Melissa R. Marselle
Abstract This chapter briefly describes six frameworks that offer perspective on
the relationships between biodiverse natural environments and mental well-being.
The aim of this chapter is to provide an overview of these frameworks to enable
theoretical grounding of future biodiversity and mental well-being studies. The
frameworks are largely from the field of environmental psychology and represent
the majority of theories used in biodiversity and health research (The Preference
Matrix; fractal geometry; the Biophilia Hypothesis; Stress Reduction Theory;
Attention Restoration Theory; and Ecosystem Service Cascade Model). A general
overview of each framework discusses its conceptualisation of biodiversity and
mental well-being outcomes, with supporting empirical research. The chapter then
summarises the six frameworks with regard to their hypotheses for biodiversity and
mental well-being.
Keywords Mental well-being · Biodiversity · Theory · Ecosystem services ·
Attention restoration theory · Stress reduction theory
Highlights
• Six frameworks provide perspective into biodiversity and mental well-being
relationships.
• There is no single framework to describe biodiversity and mental well-being
relationships.
• Further research is needed to test these frameworks using biodiverse environments or stimuli.
M. R. Marselle (*)
Department of Ecosystem Services, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ,
Leipzig, Germany
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig,
Leipzig, Germany
e-mail: melissa.marselle@ufz.de
© The Author(s) 2019
M. R. Marselle et al. (eds.), Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate
Change, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02318-8_7
Chapter 7
Theoretical Foundations of Biodiversity
and Mental Well-being Relationships
Melissa R. Marselle
Abstract This chapter briefly describes six frameworks that offer perspective on
the relationships between biodiverse natural environments and mental well-being.
The aim of this chapter is to provide an overview of these frameworks to enable
theoretical grounding of future biodiversity and mental well-being studies. The
frameworks are largely from the field of environmental psychology and represent
the majority of theories used in biodiversity and health research (The Preference
Matrix; fractal geometry; the Biophilia Hypothesis; Stress Reduction Theory;
Attention Restoration Theory; and Ecosystem Service Cascade Model). A general
overview of each framework discusses its conceptualisation of biodiversity and
mental well-being outcomes, with supporting empirical research. The chapter then
summarises the six frameworks with regard to their hypotheses for biodiversity and
mental well-being.
Keywords Mental well-being · Biodiversity · Theory · Ecosystem services ·
Attention restoration theory · Stress reduction theory
Highlights
• Six frameworks provide perspective into biodiversity and mental well-being
relationships.
• There is no single framework to describe biodiversity and mental well-being
relationships.
• Further research is needed to test these frameworks using biodiverse environments or stimuli.
M. R. Marselle (*)
Department of Ecosystem Services, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ,
Leipzig, Germany
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig,
Leipzig, Germany
e-mail: melissa.marselle@ufz.de