A preliminary experimental framework for visual emotionscape research in built environments

Abstract The relationship between the built environment and human emotional experience has received increasing attention in architectural and urban research. This study aims to collect fundamental background data from a selected case study area before the implementation of a visual emotionscape experiment. The collected data focus on participants’ personality characteristics and behavioral perceptions related to their environmental experience in the Kitakyushu area. The study applies a preliminary experimental framework developed through discussion and evaluation of previous pilot project findings. A multilingual online questionnaire was conducted with 64 participants to obtain emotional self-reports, environmental preferences, and perceptual experience information. The analysis emphasizes the structuring of emotional scaling, normalization, and personality-weighted interpretation as preparatory components for subsequent experimental design. Internal consistency of emotional variables was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha (α) analysis based on participants’ indoor/outdoor preference responses across emotion item pairs, yielding acceptable overall reliability (α = 0.661) with the Happiness subscale demonstrating satisfactory reliability (α = 0.742). Rather than examining causal cognitive relationships, this research evaluates the feasibility and internal consistency of emotional variables as foundational inputs for future experiments. The outcomes of this framework study are used to define methodological boundaries and limitations for the next stage of experimental research, integrating visual stimuli observation and neurophysiological measurement tools. This study contributes to the systematic methodological development of emotionscape-oriented research in architectural and environmental studies.