Relationships between Plants, Behavior, and Attitudes in an Office Environment

Abstract

<jats:p>The effects of plants in the workplace on the opinions and attitudes of workers was assessed. Attitudes of employees regarding plants were favorable, and most surveyed agreed that plants in the office made it a more desirable place to work. Office workers were aware of the benefits, such as improving air quality, that plants provide. No behavioral changes in response to the addition of plants to the office environment were demonstrated. There were no significant differences between gender, position in the corporation, and age regarding perceptions of plants in the office environment.</jats:p>

Psychological Benefits of Indoor Plants in Workplaces: Putting Experimental Results into Context

“…Those outcomes include psychophysiological stress responses, task performance, emotional states, and room assessments (Adachi et al, 2000;Chang and Chen, 2005;Coleman and Mattson, 1995;Kim and Mattson, 2002;Larsen et al, 1998;Liu et al, 2003;Lohr et al, 1996;Shibata and Suzuki, 2001, 2004. In addition, some studies have investigated attitudes toward plants in the workplace (Shoemaker et al, 1992), and the effects of indoor plants on health and discomfort symptoms related to the sick building syndrome (Fjeld, 2000;Fjeld et al, 1998Fjeld et al, , 1999.…”

“…With the exception of four field studies (Fjeld, 2000;Fjeld et al, 1998Fjeld et al, , 1999Shoemaker et al, 1992), the previous studies on the psychological benefits of indoor plants have been experiments conducted in laboratories or simulated settings. Laboratory experiments offer important advantages for making claims about causality.…”

Consumer Horticulture Advancement: Identifying Critical Research Areas and Cultivating Collaborations

“…I lluminating the many beneficial roles of plants in human lives, diets, and environments requires interdisciplinary study in a variety of scientific fields. A large body of research addresses human-plant-nature interactions and includes contributions from medicine, public health, human nutrition, social science, and environmental psychology (Bratman et al, 2015b;Bringslimark et al, 2009;de Vries et al, 2003;Dorn et al, 2018;Goldman, 2014;Kaplan and Kaplan, 1989;Simon, 2014) as well as early work in this field by horticulturists (Lohr and Relf, 2000;Lohr et al, 1996;Relf, 1990Relf, , 1992Relf and Lohr, 2003;Shoemaker et al, 1992). Recent research has been summarized here to provide an overview of the physical, mental, and social benefits of human interaction with plants, nature, and green environments (Bowler et al, 2010;Cameron, 2014;de Vries et al, 2013;Hartig et al, 2014;Keniger et al, 2013;Lohr, 2011;Thompson, 2011; van den Berg and van den Berg, 2015).…”

“…Previous research focused on health and human issues in horticulture (HIH) and established the beneficial role of plants and the practice of horticulture in a range of therapeutic, educational, and workplace settings (Relf, 1992;Shoemaker et al, 1992;Ulrich, 1984;Waliczek and Zajicek, 1999). This period of horticulture research was built on both horticultural therapy and environmental psychology.…”

“…This period of horticulture research was built on both horticultural therapy and environmental psychology. Positive health and wellbeing benefits have been shown to reach varied populations, with effects on stress, productivity, attitude, concentration, and cognitive performance being documented (Lohr et al, 1996;Mooney and Nicell, 1992;Relf and Dorn, 1995;Shoemaker et al, 1992).…”