Firelight, attention, and relaxation: Physiological responses to simulated hearth environments

Previous research found that viewing a fire video with sound produced a relaxation response, suggesting that domestic fire may facilitate psychophysiological restoration. The current study replicated and extended this work using an electric fireplace. In a randomized crossover design, 101 adults (18–60 years) completed four conditions: audiovisual fire, visual fire only, fire sounds only, and a control condition. Blood pressure, mean arterial pressure (MAP), and heart rate (HR) were measured before and after each condition. Across conditions, participants exhibited modest reductions in cardiovascular activity, particularly systolic blood pressure and HR. Mixed-effects and Bayesian analyses provided limited evidence for strong condition-specific effects after covariate adjustment, although posterior estimates suggested small reductions in systolic blood pressure and HR across several fire-related sensory conditions. Absorption showed little moderating influence, whereas hypnotizability demonstrated a trend-level interaction with MAP responses. These findings suggest that fire-related sensory environments may modestly promote relaxation through passive attentional engagement and restorative responses to naturalistic stimuli.