How does the likelihood of encountering wildlife affect residents’ expectations about psychological restoration when visiting a local natural setting, and their choices among settings for future recreation? Do urban and rural residents differ in such expectations and choices? We addressed these questions in a web-based experiment with 223 adult residents randomly sampled from urban and rural areas in each of three regions in Sweden. Residents in all six areas can encounter fear-irrelevant wildlife (roe deer, squirrel) near the home, but the presence of fear-relevant wildlife (wolf, wild boar) differs across the areas. The respondents read scenarios concerning encounters with each of these four animals during recreational visits to a nearby natural setting. The scenarios varied in how frequently the person could expect to encounter each animal across visits (never, sometimes, often). For all 12 scenarios, respondents answered questions about anticipated experiences and restoration outcomes, and the effect of encounter likelihood on future recreational setting choices. Across all areas, with all outcomes, increased likelihood of encounters with the wolves and wild boar detracted from anticipated restorative potential, whereas increased likelihood of encounters with roe deer and squirrel enhanced anticipated restorative potential. A similar pattern showed in recreational setting choices. A domination wildlife value orientation moderated the effects of encounter likelihood for wolf and wild boar, whereas a mutualistic orientation moderated the effects of encounter likelihood for squirrel and roe deer. Our results suggest that wildlife management and public health practice could work together not only to address the fears of residents, but also to enhance the restorative quality of local natural settings by protecting wildlife.

中文翻译：

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野生动物和自然环境的恢复潜力

遇到野生动物的可能性如何影响居民在参观当地自然环境时对心理恢复的期望，以及他们对未来休闲环境的选择？城乡居民的这种期望和选择是否存在差异？我们在一项基于网络的实验中解决了这些问题，实验对象是从瑞典三个地区的城乡地区随机抽取的 223 名成年居民。所有六个地区的居民都可能在家附近遇到与恐惧无关的野生动物（狍子、松鼠），但与恐惧相关的野生动物（狼、野猪）的存在情况在各个地区有所不同。受访者阅读了在附近自然环境休闲游览期间与这四种动物相遇的情景。这些场景因人们预计在访问期间遇到每种动物的频率而异（从不、有时、经常）。对于所有 12 个场景，受访者回答了有关预期体验和恢复结果的问题，以及遭遇可能性对未来娱乐环境选择的影响。在所有地区，无论结果如何，与狼和野猪相遇的可能性增加都会降低预期的恢复潜力，而与狍子和松鼠相遇的可能性增加会增强预期的恢复潜力。休闲环境的选择也显示出类似的模式。统治野生动物价值取向调节了狼和野猪遭遇可能性的影响，而共生取向调节了松鼠和狍子遭遇可能性的影响。我们的结果表明，野生动物管理和公共卫生实践可以共同努力，不仅可以解决居民的恐惧，还可以通过保护野生动物来提高当地自然环境的恢复质量。