Aggression and Violence in the Inner City

TLDR

Mental fatigue can increase anger and violence, and contact with nature may mitigate these effects. The study examined whether proximity to nature lowers aggression among inner‑city public‑housing residents. Researchers compared aggression in 145 residents assigned to buildings with varying levels of nearby trees and grass, measuring attentional functioning as an index of mental fatigue. Residents in barren buildings reported higher aggression and mental fatigue, and mediation analysis showed that the effect of nature on aggression was fully mediated by attentional functioning.

Abstract

S. Kaplan suggested that one outcome of mental fatigue may be an increased propensity for outbursts of anger and even violence. If so, contact with nature, which appears to mitigate mental fatigue, may reduce aggression and violence. This study investigated that possibility in a setting and population with relatively high rates of aggression: inner-city urban public housing residents. Levels of aggression were compared for 145 urban public housing residents randomly assigned to buildings with varying levels of nearby nature (trees and grass). Attentional functioning was assessed as an index of mental fatigue. Residents living in relatively barren buildings reported more aggression and violence than did their counterparts in greener buildings. Moreover, levels of mental fatigue were higher in barren buildings, and aggression accompanied mental fatigue. Tests for the proposed mechanism and for alternative mechanisms indicated that the relationship between nearby nature and aggression was fully mediated through attentional functioning.