Plants in offices make workers happier, more productive

Posted on September 2, 2014

Photo: flickr

The international team, from the University of Exeter in the UK, the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and the University of Queensland in Australia, writes about the findings in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied.

Theirs is not the first study to show the benefits of making environments greener. There is evidence, for instance, that moving to greener areas improves mental health, and that green spaces boost wellbeing in cities.

Also, lab studies show that greener work environments make people more productive, but this is the first time scientists have carried out a long-term study of the effect in real work environments.

They compared the effect of "lean" and "green" offices on worker's perception of air quality, concentration, and workplace satisfaction, and also on objective measures of productivity. The study lasted for several months and took place in two large commercial offices in The Netherlands and the UK.

The results showed the effect of introducing plants into the lean work environments improved all the measures - boosting productivity by 15%.

Alex Haslam, co-author and professor in the School of Psychology at the University of Queensland, suggests a green workplace helps office workers be more physically, mentally and emotionally involved in their work.

"Employees from previously lean office environments experienced increased levels of happiness, resulting in a more effective workplace," he says.

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Category(s):Adult psychological development, Happiness, Workplace Issues

Source material from Medical News Today