Digital art exhibitions and psychological well-being in Chinese Generation Z: An analysis based on the S-O-R framework

作者：Yanqing Xia, Yili Deng, Xuanyu Tao, Sainan Zhang, Chengliang Wang · 发表于：Humanities and Social Sciences Communications · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1057/s41599-024-02718-x · 被引用次数：42 · 研究领域：Technology Use by Older Adults、Creativity in Education and Neuroscience、Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts

Abstract In the post-pandemic era, there has been a heightened global focus on the mental health challenges facing individuals, with a particular emphasis on innovative and effective therapeutic approaches. Despite the extensive body of research within the realm of art therapy addressing individual psychological healing, the potential of digital mediums in this field has been largely overlooked. This gap is especially pronounced in studies targeting the unique demographic of Generation Z, known as ‘digital natives.’ This study aims to investigate the role of engagement in online digital exhibitions as a potential restorative intervention for enhancing the mental well-being of Generation Z users. Grounded in the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework and the theory of restorative environments, this research examines the psychological responses of Generation Z participants to online digital art exhibitions, particularly from the perspective of website aesthetics. The impact of these responses on users’ place attachment and loyalty behaviors is also explored. Utilizing a structural equation modeling approach, an online digital art exhibition was deployed on the ZEPETO app, a platform popular among Chinese Generation Z users. Participants were subsequently invited to partake in an online survey post-exhibition, yielding a dataset of 332 valid responses. The findings reveal that: (1) the four design elements of website aesthetics (coherence, novelty, interactivity, immersion...