Environmental psychology theories among students at Save University, Massinga Extension, Mozambique

Abstract

The relational process of academic geographic space is developed through the perception of mental images associated with feelings, emotions and meanings, constructed through the reading and interpretation of the landscape (natural and humanized). This study was based on the assumption that the environment is primarily responsible for the formation of the basic characteristics of man and his intellectual capacity. The objective of the research was based on the analysis of landscape theories and their influence on students at the Save Extension University of Massinga (UniSave). To operationalize the proposed objectives, a review of the literature and theoretical framework was carried out, combining the following theories of environmental psychology: evolutionary; habitat by Gordon H. Orian; perspective and refuge by Jay Appleton; affective by Roger Ulrich and information processing by Stephen & Rachel Kaplan. The results showed that the lack of natural or mixed landscapes generates less environmental affection for students who live and study in an urban municipal geographic space, negatively affecting their emotions and desires for well-being and happiness or favorable conditions for academic success, which normally occur together with other phenomena of daily life. There is a common desire to seek improvements in the environment/landscapes of UniSave, whose characteristics further strengthen the positive affective feeling towards academic life, which has not been the best for academic success and continuity in postgraduate studies.