Previous research has proposed that everyday favorite places can be used as restorative
niches to support emotional self-regulation and enhance subjective well-being. The
study aimed to investigate how perceived physical characteristics of favorite places
and emotional experiences in the place form meaningful configurations. Appraisals
of favorite place attributes and place-related emotional experiences of Finnish and
Hungarian participants (N = 259 and 290, respectively) were collected via online assessment.
Joint factor analysis of the favorite place appraisals provided two factors of physical
attributes (natural and urban characteristics) and two factors of emotional experiences
(self-recovery and distress). Content analytically detected types of favorite places
differed meaningfully across the four factors and between the two nationalities. Latent
profile analyses of the factors in the two samples yielded four types of person-environment
fit in the favorite place in the Finnish and five in the Hungarian sample. Beyond
subgroups with restorative place experiences ("self-restoration in nature"), some
subgroups showed ambivalent place characteristics. These included "places of distress"
and "environments for distress and recovery" at home and in nature. Results indicate
a novel phenomenon called "distress-related" or "ambivalent place preference." These
results highlight the complexity of environmental self-regulation strategies relating
to favorite places and the need for cross-cultural studies and dynamic, process-oriented
research approaches.
