Human Response to Window Views and Indoor Plants in the Workplace

The purpose of this paper was to report the effects of window views and indoor plants on human psychophysiological response in workplace environments. The effects of window views and indoor plants were recorded by measuring participant’s electromyography (EMG), electroencephalography (EEG), blood volume pulse (BVP), and stateanxiety. Photo Impact 5.0 was used to simulate the environment in an offi ce, where six conditions were examined: 1) window with a view of a city, 2) window with a view of a city and indoor plants, 3) window with a view of nature, 4) window with a view of nature and indoor plants, 5) offi ce without a window view, and 6) offi ce without a window view and indoor plants. Participants were less nervous or anxious when watching a view of nature and/or when indoor plants were present. When neither the window view nor the indoor plants were shown, participants suffered the highest degree of tension and anxiety. Environmental psychology, horticulture, outdoor recreation, and other human–environment interaction fi elds of study have long been interested in the infl uence of nature and plants on human well-being. In the 1970s, researchers exploring the psychological role of nature applied psychometric measures to investigate the environmental perception and cognitive states of human subjects in natural environments (Kaplan, 1973; Ulrich, 1979). Since the 1970s, however, some researchers have begun to investigate the effects of landscapes and/or views of nature on the participants’ biological, as well as psychological responses to different environments (Ulrich, 1981, 1983, 1986; Ulrich and Simons, 1986). Studies found that exposure to environments with plants can have both physiological and psychological benefi ts (Hartig et al., 1991; Ulrich and Simons, 1986; Ulrich, 1981; Ulrich, 1991; Ulrich and Parsons, 1992). In addition, experiences in nature and/or wilderness environments can help with stress management and be restorative (Kaplan and Kaplan, 1989). The soft beauty in nature enhances mental health in terms of recovery from mental fatigue, and generates opportunities for cognitive restoration (Herzog et al., 1997). Traditionally, research methods for evaluating environmental perception, cognition, and other human–environment interaction effects have been based upon psychology. Visual stimuli studies have shown that different landscapes (i.e., urban versus natural) and scenes of various environments can induce different psychological and physiological effects in viewers (Ulrich, 1983). Compared to participants in urban and nonnatural environments, those who are immersed in nature or surrounded by plants tend to receive more positive psychological stimulation and exhibit abilities to recover faster from illness ing environment. Kaplan (1995) points out that employees’ with views of nature, such as fl owers and trees, are more satisfi ed and less stressed than those who see only buildings outside their windows or lack window views entirely. A small portion of nature in the view is often suffi cient to help (Honeyman, 1992). The duration of viewing nature does not have to be long, either. Even viewing artifi cial nature helps with stress and anxiety relief (Ulrich, 1991). To measure biological response to workplace and other environments, biofeedback is monitored to detect the physiological conditions of research participants. Biofeedback is a result of monitoring a bodily function, such as muscle tension, skin temperature, brain waves, skin electric reaction, blood pressure, and heart rate. It is used in biofeedback therapy, a process of treating illness by revitalizing body functions. For example, emotional and cognitive responses are initiated by the cerebral cortex and limbic system, which in turn stimulate the hypothalamus–pituitary gland and lead to reactions of the autonomic nervous system, thus producing physiological reactions. However, the physiological reactions to the environmental stimuli may be undetectable by human consciousness or observation. Biofeedback instrumentation measures used in psychological studies can identify certain changes and conditions of body functions and well-being that may be outside the conscious awareness of human beings and therefore, may not be identifi ed or assessed with validity using only verbal and observational measures (Ulrich, 1986). Biofeedback testing is necessary to objectively detect and monitor the direction and intensity of these physiological reactions (Shiu and Wang, 1993). An index measure of state-anxiety was selected to determine change in psychological condition. State-anxiety is a short-term emotional state stimulated by a certain situation or environment (Spielberger et. al., 1983). Its occurrence and intensity are mainly related to a person’s cognitive response that corresponds to the stressful and nervous feelings caused by certain stimuli. The discontinuousness of stateanxiety is associated with the disappearance of stimuli. As a result, state-anxiety seems an appropriate index measure of participants’ psychological reaction caused by visual stimuli that is changed (stimulated) within a study environment (i.e., offi ce workplace).