The Psychological Wellbeing Index measures the percent of Puget Sound residents who experience inspiration and stress reduction while in nature. The Index will help us understand whether the natural environment contributes to the psychological dimensions of human wellbeing.

• We measure Psychological Wellbeing by asking survey respondents how often they have felt inspiration and reduced stress as a product of spending time outdoors.
• 3.98 was the average response in 2022, which equates to participants experiencing inspiration or stress reduction from the outdoors “regularly” on a five-point scale. This is consistent with responses in 2018 and 2020.
• 43 percent of residents report experiencing reduced stress due to time outdoors at least once a week. 65 percent of residents report experiencing inspiration due to time outdoors at least once per week. See Interpretation of Results for more information. 
• The experience of psychological wellbeing in nature is slightly higher for counties in the north and west Puget Sound.