Naturalness Bias Revisited: Effect of Source Attribution on the Restorative Potential of Abstract Dynamic Light Patterns With Natural and Non-Natural Movement

Literature shows that we prefer lighting that we consider to be natural, exhibiting a "naturalness bias". It was also shown that attributing the source of an ambiguous audio stimulus to nature may increase the restorative potential of the stimulus compared when the source is attributed to a non-natural origin. The current study examines the influence of source attribution on the perceived restoration potential of abstract light patterns with natural and non-natural movement. To this end, we conducted an online experiment with 121 participants using videos depicting dynamic light patterns projected on the wall of an office environment and instructed participants that the dynamic light patterns came from nature or a computer algorithm. Results show that natural movement led to higher perceived restoration potential compared to non-natural movement, although both conditions were rated very low in perceived naturalness. On the other hand, neither source attribution nor its interaction with movement influenced the perceived restoration potential. However, when only the natural movement data stimuli were analyzed, source attribution did significantly (negatively) affect the preference and perceived stressfulness ratings, and marginally influenced perceived restoration potential. These findings suggest that the mere cognitive attribution of an abstract dynamic stimulus to a natural source is not sufficient to increase its restorative potential.