The Impact of Landscape Type on Urban Office Workers' Stress and Cognitive Performance - Comparison between Natural and Urban Landscape -
2006; Volume: 33; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
2288-9566
Autores Tópico(s)Urban Green Space and Health
ResumoThe purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of natural landscapes in the context of work environments. The study examined the impact of natural landscapes on urban office workers' stress reduction and cognitive performance, using physiological, psychological, and cognitive measures. One-hundred-twenty urban office workers participated in the experiments. The physiological measures used were GSR (galvanic skin response) and IBI (interbeat interval), and the psychological measure was ZIPERS (Zucherman Inventory of Personal Reactions). Cognitive performance was measured using a mental arithmetic test that had been developed by a pretest. The results from the physiological, psychological, and cognitive measures converged to indicate that the natural landscape had more beneficial effects in relieving both psychological and physiological stress and in enhancing cognitive performance of the of office workers than the city landscape. The results suggest wide applications in the fields of workers' well-being and landscape research. First, the results can provide reliable information for promoting natural landscaping in work places in order to relieve worker stress and enhance cognitive performance. Second, the results provide an example for future empirical landscape research using multiple measurements, such as psychological, physiological, and cognitive tests. Third, they can foster experimental research to investigate the relationship between stress reduction and natural landscapes.
Referência(s)