A walk through the trees might make you feel more creative, but the latest study from Murdoch University shows that it might not result in more creative outcomes, so don’t reach for that paintbrush just yet.

Dr Amy Lim, from Murdoch University’s School of Psychology, and her team examined the effects of nature and non-natural stimuli on creative performance and intentions.

“Nature has long been anecdotally linked to creativity, yet there has been scant experimental research comparing nature to other environments in influencing creative performance,” Dr Lim said.

“Human connection to nature has declined as much as 60% in the past 200 years, so this decline in contact with nature prompts the need to understand its psychological consequences.”

The study tested the impact of nature on creativity, alongside non-natural environments, such as building and abstract art, in three experiments.

“We found that exposing people to nature-based stimuli might influence how they perceive their level of creativity, but it does not necessarily translate into improved creative performance.”

The study showed creative performance to be similar with natural and non-natural environmental stimuli and indicated that the relationship between nature and creativity may be more complex than can be induced by exposure level alone.

Built stimuli produced slightly greater levels of stress response than natural stimuli, but this stress did not necessarily hamper creativity.

“Living in built environments is associated with heightened threat-detection and elevated stress and anxiety, however, these psychological and physiological outputs may prompt action and creative problem-solving aimed at managing or mitigating perceived threats,” Dr Lim said.

“Although we found that nature exposure did not have a unique effect on creativity, exposure to nature still has many other positive impacts, including reducing mental fatigue and stress.”

The full study, titled Nature versus non-natural environments: Effects on stress and creativity was published in The Journal of Environmental Psychology.