Liu and colleagues evaluated the implications of scenting office spaces. They studied the “effects of ambient bergamot scent on the stress levels of office workers by exposing them to the scent while stressors persisted as the workers continued to work on the office tasks. . . . The change in heart rate variability revealed that bergamot scent increased stress among males but not for females. The reported pleasantness and comfort followed the same trend.
Rosa and teammates probed links between gardening and depression and their findings should support developing and maintaining spaces for gardening. The team conducted a literature review and learned that “some horticultural interventions plus usual care (i.e., continuing normal routine for healthy people or treatment for unhealthy ones) may reduce depressive symptoms more than usual care alone, with most studies suggesting a moderate . . . or large effect. . .
Lee and Yoon studied the effects of natural design elements on the experiences of people waiting in healthcare emergency departments. They report their “findings offer empirical evidence for the positive impact of including natural elements in these waiting areas. We created four high-fidelity virtual environments that incorporated natural elements in three ways, i.e., the presence of plants, the use of nature images and natural materials, and a combination of those two, in addition to a controlled environment without natural elements.
Success factors identified
Improving lives wherever it's used
Boosting positives, minimizing negatives
Open or dense, different effects
Green spaces where people and nature flourish.
Xu and Ding studied how experiencing nature in some way influences how people respond to the need to wait to receive something that is currently unavailable. They report that “exposure to nature will lead consumers to be more patient in their waiting decisions. . . . marketers can reduce customer churn during peak or out-of-stock periods by decorating the store with potted plants or playing background music with natural elements. . . . marketers should minimize natural elements when they want to exploit consumers’ impatience to promote services. . . .
Arbuthnott’s work verifies the positive consequences of experiencing nature in some way. Arbuthnott found via a literature review that “Nature exposure increases prosocial behavior, decreases antisocial behavior, and increases ratings of social connection and satisfaction. Prosocial and antisocial behavior effects are observed with brief nature exposure, both actual and virtual. Social connection effects are observed with long-term nature exposure, such as neighbourhood greenspace. . . .