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Franssila and Kirjonen studied links between activity-based working and user performance. They found that “Most of the facets of self-assessed productivity and all of the well-being facets did not change because of the adoption of ABW. ABW change had a positive impact on group work effectiveness but negative effect on perceptions of the facilities as conducive for efficient working. ABW change had an enhancing effect on the routine of protecting one’s concentration from software-induced interruptions and decreasing effect on using mobile technologies to work during idle times and using technology to avoid unnecessary traveling. ABW change made telework more acceptable.”
Helja Franssila and Aleksi Kirjonen. 2022. “Impact of Activity-Based Work Environments on Knowledge Work Performance – Quasi-Experimental Study in Governmental Workplaces.” Journal of Corporate Real Estate, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 190-207, https://doi.org/10.1108/JCRE-01-2021-0001
Abdulkarim and Nasar continue to publish research on public plazas. In their latest article they report that they “manipulated four scenarios for fountains (accessible, inaccessible, floor, nothing) and two for storefronts (present, absent) using slides of three plazas each manipulated to present one of the eight scenarios. [Participants] rate[d] the slides on the Perceived Visitability Scale. Fountains and storefronts increased visitability. Accessible water improved visitability for people between the ages 25 and 44. Participants between 18 and 24 and those 45 and older judged plazas with floor fountains as less visitable, suggesting varying effects of certain design elements across age groups.”
Dina Abdulkarim and Jack Nasar. “A Splash and a Crowd: Do Water Fountains and Storefronts Improve Plaza’s Visitability?” Environment and Behavior, in press, https://doi.org/10.1177/00139165221131262
Is it worth the effort to go on a walk during the winter? Yes! Researchers have determined that “spending time in snowy surroundings can improve how you feel about your body. . . . Before and after walking in a snowy woodland in the Silesia region of Poland [people walked in small groups], the participants [all women] completed a measure of their body appreciation. . . . The study found that spending a short amount of time in nature – in this case approximately 40 minutes – results in greater body appreciation.”
“The Real Benefits of Walking in a Winter Wonderland.” 2022. Press release, Anglia Ruskin University, https://aru.ac.uk/news/the-real-benefits-of-walking-in-a-winter-wonderl…
Nieuwenhuijsen and team identify mental health benefits of urban green spaces. They share that “Recently a new 3-30-300 rule of thumb for urban forestry and urban greening has been proposed. . . . The rule requires that every citizen should be able to see at least three trees from their home, have 30 percent tree canopy cover in their neighbourhood and not live more than 300 m away from the nearest park or green space. . . . Residential surrounding greenness, but not tree window view or access to major green space, was significantly associated with better mental health, less medication use, and fewer psychologist or psychiatrist visits. Meeting the full surrogate 3-30-300 green space rule was associated with better mental health, less medication use, and fewer psychologist or psychiatrist visits, but only for the latter combined the association was statistically significant.”
Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, Payam Dadvand, Sandra Marquez, Xavier Bartoll, Evelise Barboza, Marta Cirach, Carme Borrell, and Wilma Zijlema. 2022. “The Evaluation of the 3-30-300 Green Space Rule and Mental Health.” Environmental Research, vol. 215, 114387, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2022.114387
Researchers continue to study annoying sounds. Mueller-Trapet reports that “Whether it's the constant stomping of feet or the thump from dropping something . . . ‘impact sounds,’ are one of the main causes for complaints in multi-unit residential buildings and can negatively impact occupants' health and work. . . . According to Mueller-Trapet, long-term exposure to such unwanted sounds may potentially lead to cardiovascular problems and sleep disturbance. . . . [the research team] provided a living room-like situation and recorded impact sounds of objects dropping and people walking. Using different playback techniques and virtual reality, they presented the recordings to study participants. In addition to laboratory experiments, the group created an online survey to expand their sample. . . . Impact sounds are impulsive, meaning that they consist of one or more almost distinct sounds of short duration. This likely makes impact sounds more annoying in general than continuous sounds, such as music or speech.”
“Why Those Sounds From Your Upstairs Neighbor Are So Annoying #ASA183.” 2022. Press release, Acoustical Society of America, https://www.newswise.com/articles/why-those-sounds-from-your-upstairs-n…
Motoki and teammates have found that opinions of brands can influence perceived tastes; it is possible that their findings can be applied more broadly. The investigators determined that “Sincerity as a brand personality trait is reliably associated with sweet tastes, regardless of culture. . . . Moreover, brand sincerity is positively associated with sweet food sales.”
Kosuke Motoki, and Takanobu Nakahara, and Carlos Velasco. “Tasting Brands: Associations Between Brand Personality and Tastes.” Journal of Business Research, vol. 156, 113509, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.113509
Sadeghi and colleagues link feeling crowded to believing that time is passing more slowly than it actually is. They report that they learned via having people take a virtual subway ride that “increased crowding decreased pleasantness and increased the unpleasantness of a trip. Virtual crowding also lengthened perceived trip duration.”
Saeedeh Sadeghi, Ricardo Daziano, So-Yeon Yoon and Adam Anderson. 2022. “Affective Experience in a Virtual Crowd Regulates Perceived Travel Time.” Virtual Reality, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10055-022-00713-8
Burro recently lead a study linking personality and preferences for various wines; it is possible that this team’s findings are applicable more broadly (but can be useful for planning end-of-year parties, regardless). The researchers determined that “extroverts prefer more acidic wines, sociable people like wines characterized by a high alcohol content and with a more complex bouquet, people with high emotional stability prefer tannic, persistent, full-bodied wines and open-minded people favor wines with a persistent flavor and high levels of tannicity but are sapidity averse.”
Roberto Burro, Erika Branchini, Elena Capitani, Veronica Barnaba, Arianna Fermani, Carita Paradis, and Ivana Bianchi. “Is There an Association Between Consumers’ Personality Traits and the Sensory Characteristics They Look for in Wine?” Food Quality and Preference, in press, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2022.104767
Dang and team studied how people spend time on green roofs. They report that their research focused on a green roof space in Sydney, Australia which included “a garden, a concrete open space and a raised grass area amounting to 1,200 m2, [that] is above parts of the university’s library and classrooms, and is easily accessible by staff, students, and members of the public. . . . users, most commonly, relaxed or socialised on the green roof, with exercise a far less frequent activity. Further, those who frequented the green roof once a week or more reported significantly greater social well-being and attachment to place than those who visited less. Likewise, those who visited the green roof for periods of 30 min or more also reported greater social wellbeing. . . . [so] green roofs have similar social and place-attachment benefits to those observed of green spaces in the literature. Given that green roofs can fit in places that parks or other open spaces often cannot, their implementation should be encouraged to promote social well-being.”
Hoai-Anh Dang, Rupert Legg, Aila Khan, Sara Wilkinson, Nicole Ibbett, and Ahn-Tuan Doan. 2022. “Social Impact of Green Roofs.” Frontiers in Built Environments, https://doi.org/10.3389/fbuil.2022.1047335