Cafés, coffee shops, and students’ restorative place preferences

Cafés and coffee shops were among the places students associated with psychological restoration in Narae Lee’s 2022 study. The research examined the potential benefits of ordinary built environments alongside the more familiar role of urban parks.

An online survey of 722 University of California, Irvine students combined an open-ended question with photo-based questions. Students evaluated settings that included parks and eating and drinking places. The findings suggested that cafés and coffee shops could offer perceived benefits resembling those of urban parks. A large-chain coffee shop was also a preferred, pleasant setting for rest.

Preferences varied with personal dispositions and with how restorative and pleasant participants perceived a setting to be. The study concerns these reported perceptions, rather than a measured improvement in mental health following visits.

Lee’s contribution is to include everyday commercial places in the study of restorative environments. A setting’s potential for rest can be considered through the experience people associate with it, alongside its physical category.

Sources

Lee, N. (2022). Third place and psychological well-being: The psychological benefits of eating and drinking places for university students in Southern California, USA. Cities, 131, 104049.