Most people agree that modern employees are feeling more stressed than ever. Work anxiety has prompted employers and companies to try out a variety of tranquil activities for their employees, from morning meditation sessions to video games in the break room.
Now, a new study recognizes an attractive and simple solution. Researchers from the University of Hyogo in Japan say that small potted plants around the office can go a long way towards relieving employee stress.
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It is a proven fact that spending time around nature can do wonders for one’s overall mental health. Frequently, office work makes it difficult for the average employee to spend time outdoors. So, the research team wanted to investigate just how beneficial indoor plants can be for employees who are inside all day.
The study’s authors conducted their experiment in a real-life office setting and with actual employees, instead of a more scientifically traditional lab setting. Specifically, researchers wanted to determine just how much relief workers felt after intentionally looking at an indoor plant whenever they started to feel tired on the job. Passive interaction with the plants was also considered. Study author Masahiro Toyoda explains:
“At present, not so many people fully understand and utilize the benefit of stress recovery brought by plants in the workplace. To ameliorate such situations, we decided it essential to verify and provide scientific evidence for the stress restorative effect by nearby plants in a real office setting.”
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The research team examined workers’ psychological and physiological stress levels before and after a small plant was placed on each one of their desks. A total of 63 Japanese office employees took part in the research. They were each instructed to take a short three-minute break whenever they started to feel unusually tired or fatigued while at work.
The experiment consisted of two parts. The first part was a control phase where employees worked as usual with no plants on their desks. The second part was an experimental phase, where each employee was given a plant for their desk and was told to maintain its health.
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Researchers then used a standard test to measure employees’ psychological stress levels. An overwhelming majority of employees presented significantly lower pulse rates after taking a three-minute break and interacting with their desk plant, indicating a noticeable drop in stress levels.
Researchers separated participating employees’ interactions with their plants into two categories, active (caring for their desk plant, intentionally looking at / interacting with it whenever they felt stressed) and passive (simply having the plant near their computer monitor throughout the work day). The authors found that just the sight of a plant alone has the power to help soothe an employee.
As far as which plants were placed on employees’ desks, each participant had a choice of six different options: bonsai plants, san pedro cactus, foliage plants, kokedama, echeveria, or air plants.
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Overall, employees’ anxiety levels dropped considerably after the plants were introduced into the office. These findings remained true across all age groups, and it didn’t seem to matter which type of plant the employees had on their desks.
So, if you find your job to be stressful on the mind, head to your local nursery. A little foliage friend just might work wonders.
