architecture psychology

Accommodations and Creativity (07-03-20)

Man, Zhu, and Sun investigated how workplace accommodations influence employee creativity.  As the researchers report, “In the workplace, not only employees with disabilities ask for workplace accommodation to better perform in the job but also the older workers, pregnant women, and employees with religious needs and with family responsibilities need workplace accommodations.”  Workplace accommodations were defined by Man, Zhu, and Sun as they were by Colella and Bruyere (2011, p.

Battling Loneliness (07-02-20)

Abeyta, Routledge, and Kaslon’s work indicates how design may be used to counter loneliness, to some extent.  The team found that “Loneliness is difficult to overcome, in part because it is associated with negative social cognitions and social motivations. We argue that nostalgia, a positive emotional experience that involves reflecting on cherished memories, is a psychological resource that regulates these maladaptive intrapsychic tendencies associated with loneliness. . . .

Walkability and Longevity (07-01-20)

Researchers linked living in walkable neighborhoods to living longer.  A study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, based on data collected in Washington state, written by Amram, Bhardwaj, Amiri, and Buchwald, determined that people “who live in highly walkable, mixed-age communities may be more likely to live to their 100th birthday.

Safer Schools (06-30-20)

The AIA has released a report “detailing strategies that can reduce risk of COVID-19 transmission in K-12 facilities.”  It is available at the web address noted below.  As the  AIA website noted below continues: “The report and 3D models were developed by a team of architects, public health experts, engineers and facility managers as part of AIA’s initiative, ‘Reopening America:  Strategies for safer buildings.’  The team used emerging research and public health data to develop the strategies, which can be implemented immediately.”        

Thinking About Disease and Making Decisions (06-29-20)

Huang and Sengupta studied how thinking about disease influences decisions made.  They investigated “how exposure to disease-related cues influences consumers’ preference for typical (vs. atypical) product options. . . . we predict that disease salience decreases relative preference for typical versus atypical options, because typical products are implicitly associated with many people, misaligning them with the people-avoidance motive triggered by disease cues. . . .

Designing for Outdoor Play (06-26-20)

Brussoni and colleagues studied children (10- to 13-years old) in three diverse urban neighborhoods in Canada engaged in unsupervised outdoor activities (UOA), which in the words of the researchers “are key for thriving children and societies.”  Data were collected via interviews.  The investigators determined that “There has been increasing recognition of the importance of children's outdoor play and independent mobility for thriving children, neighbourhoods, cities and society. . . .

Trees and Mortality (06-25-20)

Kondo and colleagues studied links between tree cover and human longevity.  They report that “greenspaces in urban environments have been associated with physical and mental health benefits for city dwellers. . . . We did a greenspace health impact assessment to estimate the annual premature mortality burden for adult residents associated with projected changes in tree canopy cover in Philadelphia between 2014 and 2025. . .

City Lessons (06-24-20)

People designing and managing cities today can benefit from learning about life in ancient settlements. A research group headed by Schott Ortman at the University of Colorado Boulder published a study in Science Advances:  “Ortman and Jose Lobo from Arizona State University took a deep dive into data from the farming towns that dotted the Rio Grande Valley between the 14th and 16th centuries. Modern metropolises should take note: As the Pueblo villages grew bigger and denser, their per capita production of food and other goods seemed to go up, too.

Virtual Offices (06-23-20)

Stich used a broad definition of virtual offices to study the implications of remote work, for people who work at the office and away from it.  Stich found that “Virtual offices give employees the ability to work anytime, anywhere, using information and communication technologies. . . . three threats that virtual offices create for organizations and office managers: (1) changed social relationships, (2) poorer communication, and (3) deviant behaviors. . . .

Understanding Choices Made (06-22-20)

Jung, Moon, and Nelson studied how people think about the experiences of other people.  They determined that “people overestimate the valuations and preferences of others. This overestimation arises because, when making predictions about others, people rely on their intuitive core representation of the experience (e.g., is the experience generally positive?) in lieu of a more complex representation that might also include countervailing aspects (e.g., is any of the experience negative?). . . . the overestimation bias is pervasive for a wide range of positive . . . and negative experiences.

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