Interaction of emotional regulation and outdoor thermal perception: A pilot study in a cold region of China

Abstract Emotions affect cognition, perception, and response to the external world. In this study, six open spaces on a university campus in Xi'an, China were selected to detect emotional responses to thermal perceptions from 516 staff and students. Respondents' emotional changes and subjective thermal sensation vote (TSV) were recorded as they completed a stressful task. Responses were rated using a Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and thermal comfort questionnaires. Respondents' subjective thermal sensation changes, emotional responses, and influence factors on thermal sensation under different physiological equivalent temperature (PET) ranges were analyzed. Results showed that: (1) As air temperature (Ta), globe temperature (Tg) and mean radiation temperature (Tmrt) increased, positive affect (PA) varied as an inverted V-shaped trend, but negative affect (NA) showed the opposite trend. Sky view factors were negatively related to PA, and positively related to NA in summer. Visible green index was negatively related to PA in winter. (2) Neutral PET, neutral PET ranges, preferred PET and thermal acceptable ranges were 19.4 °C, 12.2–26.6 °C, 25.2 °C and 12.9–33.9 °C before a stressful task, 16.3 °C, 8.1–24.5 °C, 24.3 °C and 11.2–33.5 °C after the stressful task, and 20.0 °C, 12.7–27.3 °C, 25.3 °C and 14.1–36.3 °C after recovery, respectively. (3) Wind speed (Va) and Tmrt were the primary meteorological parameters that influenced respondents' thermal sensation. TSV approached to neutral as PA increased; increasing NA may increase TSV. Additionally, the influence of emotional regulation on TSV varied as the range of PET changed.