Tokyo: People who often feel stressed in office, please take note. Researchers have found that small plants situated within easy viewing at your workplace linked to various stress-reducing benefits. For the study the research team explored the practical use of indoor plants to boost mental health among employees typically removed from exposure to healthy green environments.
“At present, not so many people fully understand and utilise the benefit of stress recovery brought by plants in the workplace”, said study researcher Masahiro Toyoda from University of Hyogo in Japan. For the findings, the research team investigated changes in psychological and physiological stress before and after placing a plant on the workers’ desks. Sixty-three office workers in Japan were the participants of this study.
The participants were directed to take a 3-minute rest while sitting at their desks 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. The researchers measured psychological stress in the participants using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. The ratio of the participants whose pulse rate lowered significantly after a 3-minute rest with interaction with their desk plant proved definitive.
The researchers considered that intentionally gazing at the plant was, though not involving physical movement, an active interaction with plants that office workers could do quickly and easily at their desks. The study suggests that placing small plants within close sight contributed to psychological stress reduction across the board.
—IANS
