AI Insight
This study examined the psychological benefits of outdoor landscape sketching among 350 Chinese art students using an extended Stimulus-Organism-Response framework. The research found that emotions experienced in natural and cultural environments during outdoor sketching courses are associated with perceived emotional healing and personal growth, with artistic creation serving as a key mediating mechanism. Natural environments directly influenced both artistic creation and emotional healing, while cultural environments primarily affected emotional healing indirectly through artistic creation.
Why it matters
The findings provide evidence-based support for integrating outdoor landscape sketching into art education curricula as a means to enhance students' emotional well-being and personal development. This research offers practical guidance for art educators seeking to maximize the psychological benefits of experiential learning activities beyond traditional skill development.
Understand the Science
IntroductionOutdoor landscape sketching is widely used in higher art education to develop students’ artistic skills and aesthetic perception. However, its potential psychological benefits and the mechanisms linking environmental experiences with students’ emotional and developmental outcomes remain insufficiently understood. This study extended the Stimulus–Organism–Response (SOR) framework by incorporating perceived emotional healing and perceived personal growth, proposing a dual-pathway model in which artistic creation mediates the relationships between environmental emotions and perceived psychological benefits.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted among 350 undergraduate art and design students from three higher education institutions in China who had participated in outdoor landscape sketching courses. Data were collected using an adapted five-point Likert questionnaire measuring emotions in natural environments, emotions in cultural environments, artistic creation, perceived emotional healing, and perceived personal growth. Exploratory factor analysis and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) were used to analyze the data.ResultsEmotions in natural environments were positively associated with artistic creation (β = 0.351, p < 0.001) and perceived emotional healing (β = 0.197, p = 0.002). Emotions in cultural environments were positively associated with artistic creation (β = 0.495, p < 0.001) but were not directly associated with perceived emotional healing (p = 0.497). Artistic creation was positively associated with perceived emotional healing (β = 0.692, p < 0.001), which in turn was positively associated with perceived personal growth (β = 0.879, p < 0.001). In addition, artistic creation significantly mediated the relationships between environmental emotions and perceived emotional healing in both natural and cultural environments.DiscussionThe findings suggest that artistic creation represents an important mechanism through which environmental experiences are associated with students’ perceived emotional healing and personal growth during outdoor landscape sketching courses. By extending the SOR framework with a dual-pathway mediation model, this study advances understanding of the psychological value of arts-based educational activities and provides practical implications for integrating experiential landscape sketching into higher art education to support students’ emotional well-being and personal development.