IMIS

Marine joined VLIZ after having earned her Master’s in Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology from the Universite Catholique de Louvain. Her main research interest is human well-being and particularly, innovative sources of well-being such as music, mindfulness, and now, the coast. The research project Blue Psychology represents the integration of the discipline of psychology into the Oceans and Human Health field. Rather than looking at the risks present in the interaction between oceans and humans, we will instead investigate how coastal environments benefit our psychological wellbeing. It has become increasingly clear that coastal environments positively impact our general health but underlying mechanisms remain unknown. We will argue that coastal environments give rise to the emotions of awe and nostalgia, which in turn help reduce stress from everyday life. Both emotions can be considered “ambivalent”, a mix of positive and negative affect, and potentially present a way to cope with stress, through meaning-making processes. The project’s methodology will include qualitative, experimental, and interventional designs, and each study will go through a pre-registration process.