Abstract
The ASBA (Anxiety, Stress, Brain-friendly Museum Approach) project focuses on studying museums as spaces that promote cultural, physical, and psychological wellbeing. Since 2022, we have been collecting data thanks to the collaboration of several Italian museums, and the participation of 390 volunteers (aged 18 - 83, M = 45.55; Female = 300). We employed standardised questionnaires, analogue scales, and qualitative items to gather both quantitative and qualitative data on perceived stress, state anxiety, mood, and subjective experience. Our research protocol includes several methods aimed at eliciting wellbeing in museum contexts, particularly mindfulness, art therapy, Visual Thinking Strategies, Nature+Art, and guided tours. Using a pre-post research design, we assessed the impact of each technique on personal wellbeing. Additionally, we gathered data on trait parameters, such as trait anxiety and personality. All the treatments employed achieved the primary goal of reducing state anxiety. Mindfulness produced the most significant effect, with a reduction of nearly 25% between pre- and post-intervention. This decrease was especially notable in participants with high levels of state anxiety and stress. Art therapy also showed significant results, although to a slightly lesser extent (approximately 20%). A notable finding concerns guided tours, which not only reduced anxiety to a degree slightly below that of art therapy, like Nature+Art, but also proved effective regardless of participants’ initial levels of stress and anxiety. Thanks to this broad set of data, we can support the hypothesis that museums may be considered privileged spaces for fostering wellbeing.
Presenters
Claudio LucchiariAssociate Professor, Philosophy, Università degli studi di Milano, Milano, Italy Annalisa Banzi
Researcher, CESPEB, Italy Vincenza Ferrara
Expert of High Qualification - Contract Professor, Nursing, Sapienza University of Rome, Agrigento, Italy Raffaella Folgieri
Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Università degli Studi di Milano, MI, Italy Maria Elide Vanutelli
Assistant Professor, Psychology, University of Milan-Bicocca, Italy
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2025 Special Focus—Emotional vs Artificial Intelligence: A Paradigm Shift in Healthcare?
KEYWORDS
Anxiety, Stress, Brain-friendly Museum Approach
