Potential of a Small Indoor Plant on the Desk for Reducing Office Workers’ Stress
In modern society, stress reduction in the workplace is a pressing issue. Although many studies have been done on the psychological and physiological effects of indoor plants, the majority of them have been conducted in laboratory or quasi-office settings. The objective of this study was to verify t...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS)
2019-12-01
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| Series: | HortTechnology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.ashs.org/horttech/view/journals/horttech/30/1/article-p55.xml |
| _version_ | 1818176401731223552 |
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| author | Masahiro Toyoda Yuko Yokota Marni Barnes Midori Kaneko |
| author_facet | Masahiro Toyoda Yuko Yokota Marni Barnes Midori Kaneko |
| author_sort | Masahiro Toyoda |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In modern society, stress reduction in the workplace is a pressing issue. Although many studies have been done on the psychological and physiological effects of indoor plants, the majority of them have been conducted in laboratory or quasi-office settings. The objective of this study was to verify the stress reduction effects of the presence of small indoor plants on employees in a real office setting. We investigated the changes in psychological and physiological stress before and after placing a plant on a worker’s desk. Sixty-three office workers at an electric company in Japan were the participants of this study. The participants were directed to take a 3-minute rest while sitting at their desk when they felt fatigue. There were two phases of the study: a control period without plants and an intervention period when the participants were able to see and care for a small plant. We measured psychological stress in the participants using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). As an index of physiological stress, the participants measured their own pulse rate throughout the study. STAI scores decreased significantly after the intervention period (P < 0.05). The ratio of the participants whose pulse rate lowered significantly after a 3-minute rest increased significantly during the intervention period (P < 0.05). Our study indicates that having opportunities to gaze intentionally at nearby plants on a daily basis in the work environment can reduce the psychological and physiological stress of office workers. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T20:15:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cd3f9b51a32b4004b0ad53d9ce4fb8b5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1943-7714 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T20:15:37Z |
| publishDate | 2019-12-01 |
| publisher | American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | HortTechnology |
| spelling | doaj.art-cd3f9b51a32b4004b0ad53d9ce4fb8b52022-12-22T00:52:12ZengAmerican Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS)HortTechnology1943-77142019-12-013015563https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTTECH04427-19Potential of a Small Indoor Plant on the Desk for Reducing Office Workers’ StressMasahiro Toyoda Yuko Yokota Marni Barnes Midori Kaneko In modern society, stress reduction in the workplace is a pressing issue. Although many studies have been done on the psychological and physiological effects of indoor plants, the majority of them have been conducted in laboratory or quasi-office settings. The objective of this study was to verify the stress reduction effects of the presence of small indoor plants on employees in a real office setting. We investigated the changes in psychological and physiological stress before and after placing a plant on a worker’s desk. Sixty-three office workers at an electric company in Japan were the participants of this study. The participants were directed to take a 3-minute rest while sitting at their desk when they felt fatigue. There were two phases of the study: a control period without plants and an intervention period when the participants were able to see and care for a small plant. We measured psychological stress in the participants using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). As an index of physiological stress, the participants measured their own pulse rate throughout the study. STAI scores decreased significantly after the intervention period (P < 0.05). The ratio of the participants whose pulse rate lowered significantly after a 3-minute rest increased significantly during the intervention period (P < 0.05). Our study indicates that having opportunities to gaze intentionally at nearby plants on a daily basis in the work environment can reduce the psychological and physiological stress of office workers.https://journals.ashs.org/horttech/view/journals/horttech/30/1/article-p55.xmlinvoluntary attentionmental healthpulse ratestaistate-trait anxiety inventorywork environment |
| spellingShingle | Masahiro Toyoda Yuko Yokota Marni Barnes Midori Kaneko Potential of a Small Indoor Plant on the Desk for Reducing Office Workers’ Stress HortTechnology involuntary attention mental health pulse rate stai state-trait anxiety inventory work environment |
| title | Potential of a Small Indoor Plant on the Desk for Reducing Office Workers’ Stress |
| title_full | Potential of a Small Indoor Plant on the Desk for Reducing Office Workers’ Stress |
| title_fullStr | Potential of a Small Indoor Plant on the Desk for Reducing Office Workers’ Stress |
| title_full_unstemmed | Potential of a Small Indoor Plant on the Desk for Reducing Office Workers’ Stress |
| title_short | Potential of a Small Indoor Plant on the Desk for Reducing Office Workers’ Stress |
| title_sort | potential of a small indoor plant on the desk for reducing office workers stress |
| topic | involuntary attention mental health pulse rate stai state-trait anxiety inventory work environment |
| url | https://journals.ashs.org/horttech/view/journals/horttech/30/1/article-p55.xml |
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