Perceived interdependencies between settings as constraints for self-reported restoration

•Behavior setting theory complements attention restoration theory.•Being away is significantly constrained by strong setting interdependencies.•Interdependencies between settings impair self-reported health and well-being.

Being away is considered a key requirement for restoring depleted cognitive resources. However, it is unclear which human-environment transactions promote or constrain the sense of being away. This study examines whether perceived interdependencies between cognitively demanding and leisure-time settings can reduce the perceived sense of being away. The results from an online survey of German adults indicated that self-reported health-related outcomes after leisure time were related to the perceived sense of being away during leisure time. Both the perceived sense of being away and self-reported health-related outcomes were impaired when people perceived more interdependencies between cognitively demanding and leisure-time settings. The findings suggest that people report a stronger sense of being away and increased health and well-being when perceived setting interdependencies are reduced. This application of behavior setting theory in the restorative environments framework provides a more sophisticated understanding of human-environment transactions that may constrain or promote health and well-being.