Improve Mood/Increase Feelings of Wellbeing

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.

Donaldson and others probed the factors linked to the popular PERMA framework at an organizational level: positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishments.  They share that “empirical evidence suggests that positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishments (PERMA) may be a robust framework for the measurement, management and development of wellbeing. . . . recent meta-analyses and systematic literature reviews showed that . . . physical work environments . . .

Chalmin-Pui and colleagues evaluated the implications of gardening in a front yard.  Their work “explores why people garden in front gardens, how social cohesion may emerge from front gardening activities, and the health benefits of the presence of front gardens for residents and passersby. Front gardens played a key role in supporting participants’ personal identity and self-expression. Maintaining a front garden was seen as making a positive and satisfying contribution to their local area and to others’ pleasure.

Bailey, Anderson, and Cox wanted to learn more about the psychological implications of walking.  Their work “explores the mechanisms of active and passive leisure influence through real-time tracking of mental states while incurring a standard ‘dose’ of social media and walking. Results indicate that social media induces anxiety and mental focus, while walking enhances relaxation and meditative state.

Hooyberg and colleagues studied human responses to being in different sorts of spaces via virtual reality and it seems likely that their findings can also be applied in other settings. The investigators report that “beaches caused lower breathing rates than urban environments and lower SCR [skin conductance responses] than green environments. . . .  the heart rate, HF-HRV [high-frequency heart rate variability], and MAP [mean arterial pressure] did not react differently to the beach than to the urban and green environments. . . .