Employees make 43% fewer mistakes in the presence of plants and greenery

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Apart from fewer mistakes made, participants in the presence of greenery were also shown to have increased levels of happiness hormone oxytocin.

If you've been searching for ways to brighten up your office space, the findings of this Finnish research may help. The small-scale, two-day experiment shows that employees make 43% fewer mistakes when performing "stress-inducing cognitive tasks" when they're working amidst plants and other types of biophilic design. 

Conducted by Naava, the study consisted of a two-day test in which 12 participants performed hand-written, cognitive word association tests. On day one, these were performed in a room with biophilic, air-purifying green walls, and on day two, in a room with no green walls.  

The word association task comprised a set of 20 words, from which the subjects had 10 minutes to write up to 30 words they associated with each. Mistakes were defined as clear misspellings, corrections, or words that were crossed over or against the given instructions. It was found that participants made 28 mistakes on average in the control room, which was reduced to 12 mistakes on average when in the biophilic environment.

Experimental data was collected before and after performing the cognitive tasks, including from a self-report questionnaire gauging mood, environmental comfort, anxiety, and fear, as well as measurements of heart rate and body temperature. In addition, blood and saliva samples were taken, and hormonal analyses were performed to measure oxytocin and cortisol levels pre- and post-task.

Apart from fewer mistakes made, participants in the presence of greenery were also shown to have increased levels of happiness hormone oxytocin, and reduced levels of stress hormone cortisol during the experiment.  

"We are much more creative and smarter outdoors. In nature, we think more clearly, solve problems more efficiently, and are less prone to stress factors. Still, we choose to spend 22 hours a day indoors," said Aki Soudunsaari, Co-founder at Naava.

"On the contrary, most workplaces today are entirely uninspiring at best, and, at worst, they are actually detrimental to our health. They bombard our senses with stress-inducing stimuli like unnatural lighting and artificially sterilised air – we’re starved of the therapeutic effects of nature that we as humans are genetically programmed to thrive in."

As such, incorporating biophilic design in the workplace could help employers create more comfortable, human-friendly working environments.

"Plants have been a sign of food, water, and shelter, and, therefore, indicate a safe environment. This allows our minds to rest when we see nature around us: it has an unconscious effect on our attention, enabling us to concentrate on the task instead of being alert to the environment," Soudunsaari concludes.

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Lead image / Naava