To Decorate or Not to Decorate: Where Personality & Productivity Meet

Knight, C., & Haslam, S. (2010). The relative merits of lean, enriched, and empowered offices: An experimental examination of the impact of workspace management strategies on well-being and productivity. Journal Of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 16(2), 158-172. doi:10.1037/a0019292

Craig Knight and Alexander Haslam from the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom look at the possible impacts of workplaces and office decoration, where well-being and productive are observed. The principles of lean management are explored due to the tight control of an office space and the workers. However, new developments have allow for workers to create and embrace their social identity through other space management strategies: decorated by the experimenter with plants and art, self-decorated, or self-decorated and then redecorated by others. The experiment examines the outlines in relation to well-being and productivity, where positive benefits are seen - challenging the dominant practice of lean management in history. The lean approach has strong roots in Taylorism, a tightly control management style that has a certain approach to office spaces: 1) the removal from the workplace of everything except materials required to do the job at hand, 2) tight managerial control, and 3) standardization of managerial practices and workplace design. The results show a strong correlation between involvement, autonomy, quality of workplace, psychological comfort, organization identification, job satisfaction, and physical comfort all have positive outcomes when employees within an office are empowered to design their own spaces versus having it created for them. The rising popularity for these approaches and with the psychological needs based with decision making are associated with social identity of a workplace increasing workplace productivity. The research and article has little biases, emphasizing the positives off all four management strategies but replies on statistical data and a heavy use of references to come to a sound conclusion.The style and vocabulary of Knights work would make the article of interest to any reader due to the subject, however the use of visuals and the representation of effect though numerical data would better suit an audience with an understanding of ANOVA/statistics.

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One Light Doesn't Fit All

Juslén, H., & Tenner, A. (2005). Mechanisms involved in enhancing human performance by changing the lighting in the industrial workplace. International Journal Of Industrial Ergonomics, 35(9), 843-855. doi:10.1016/j.ergon.2005.03.002

Henri Juslen from the Helsinki University of Technology and Ariadne Tenner from Philips Lighting LTD seek to address the question, “What is happening when we change the lighting at an industrial workplace?” The research looks for a new approach for looking at the effects of a change in lighting on performance. Performance is measured with an array of mechanisms: visual performance, visual comfort, visual ambience, interpersonal relationships, biological clock, stimulation, job satisfaction, problem solving, and change process. Stimulation seems to show little effect and requires more research that would allow for this mechanism to have specific connections between physical and psychological effects of light simulation that would separate it from the regular ten listed. Due to individual preferences and effects there is a difficulty in defining ambiance that works for all individuals. Factors such as gender, cultural background, life style, family situation, genetics, and personality play important roles and show that lighting changes have a range of positive and negative effects from person to person and task to task. The style and vocabulary of Juslen’s work would make the article of interest to any reader, and his call for more field studies shows the possible impacts are worth the investment for both workplaces and lighting professionals. Juslen’s format of the article is easy to comprehend and uses convenient listing styles to summarize major points. Researchers and practitioners would benefit highly from the research in their efforts in the fields of industrial lighting and productivity.

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Anxious to Depressed - Cool & Warm Colours in the Office

Kwallek, N., Lewis, C. M., & Robbins, A. S. (1988). Effects of office interior color on workers' mood and productivity. Perceptual And Motor Skills, 66(1), 123-128. doi:10.2466/pms.1988.66.1.123

Nancy Kwallek from the University of Texas researches the Effects of Interior Environments on Individuals with concentration on the ambiance of colour on office workers. Kwallek’s background experience involves extensive research for interior design and this article focuses specifically on an interior's colour on mood and productivity. The experiments focused specifically on the effects of red and blue on tasks and mood. Through a twenty minute typing exercise thirty-six participants worked in either red or blue rooms. After subjects were asked to complete a questionnaire addressing the eight categories of: anxiety, stress, depression, regression, fatigue, guilt, extraversion, and arousal - in relation to their work experience in the designated room. Participants were then moved or stayed in their original rooms to complete another typing exercise followed again by the questionnaire. Correlations between arousal was noticed for participants who switched offices. Anxiety and depression played a unique role - being associated with red and blue and participants noticed significant differences when working between the two coloured rooms. Effects were also noted in those who made a switch between rooms which resulted in high levels of anxiety and were more prone to making errors. However, the group that moves from blue to red made a significantly greater number of errors than red to blue, red to red, and blue to blue. The results do suggest a correlation between warm and cooler tones with ties to anxiety and depression. The research shows little bias, drawing heavily on external references. Based on the level of difficulty, the style and vocabulary would make this article of high interest to any reader. Due to small nature of the article, it is also important to draw further on the references mentioned.

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Why Warm May Always Be Better

#5 Hawes, B. K., Brunyé, T. T., Mahoney, C. R., Sullivan, J. M., & Aall, C. D. (2012). Effects of four workplace lighting technologies on perception, cognition and affective state. International Journal Of Industrial Ergonomics, 42(1), 122-128. doi:10.1016/j.ergon.2011.09.004

Coming from the United States Army Natick Soldier Research for Development and Engineering Center in Massachusetts, Breanna Hawes, Tad Brune, Caroline Mahoney, John Sullivan with Christian Aall from the Department of Psychology at Tufts University in Medford Massachusetts investigate the implications of LED technologies on worker performance. With the result rise of technology and use of Light-emitting diodes (LED), the use of advanced technology is believed to promise visual cognitive efficiency and increased alertness. The experiment was conducted with twenty-four participants within a climate-controlled military shelter where temperature was regulated at 70 degree Fahrenheit while four lighting technologies were used. The lighting technologies covered a spectrum of colour temperatures: fluorescent, LED 1, LED 2, and LED 3. Participants were then tasked with tests designed to measure visual acuity, colour recognition, mood state, and cognitive performance. Followed by these tests were three cognitive tasks which 1) allows for participants to adapt to lighting conditions, 2) to challenge verbal working memory and procedural learning, and then, 3) to challenge spatial working memory performance through response time and accuracy. In a colour hue test, LED 3 (warmer light) showed marginally faster completion times versus the other lighting technologies while the acuity task showed no difference between the four. For mood measurements, subscales were based on the factors of : tension/anxiety, depression, anger/hostility, vigor/activity, fatigue, and confusion/bewilderment. Through experiment one the conclusions presented that: tasks with colour recognitions showed faster performance in higher colour temperatures, that higher colour temperatures led to higher arousal rates which describes depression and that the higher colour temperature led to faster cognitive task performance and improved mood state. The results suggest that an increase in LED technologies within an industrial environment will have positive implications on worker performance, that with the warmer colour temperatures of LED, LED supports positive mood, speed performance, and extended wakefulness. The style and vocabulary of Hawes’ article is well explained and will be of high interest to any reader.

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Light Up Your Mood!

Knez, I. (1995). Effects of indoor lighting on mood and cognition. Journal Of Environmental Psychology,15(1), 39-51. doi:10.1016/0272-4944(95)90013-6

Igor Knez, professor of cognitive, emotion and environmental psychology at the University of Gavle in Sweden explores the possible connections between warm/cool lighting and the effects of mood and cognition. The study was conducted over two experiments: 1) light that induced the least negative mood which enhanced performance in recall, recognition and problem solving, and 2) light used for the preservation of positive mood resulted with enhanced performance in recall tasks and problem solving. The first experiment examined three independent variables: illuminance levels, colour temperatures, and then by participant gender. The hypothesis was: the luminous milieu (social environment) may act as a mood inducer, and that cognitive process will be affected by said moods. The findings verified that with the colour temperature of light, a positive mood yielded no significant results while for females negative mood decreased in warm and increased in cool lighting versus males whose negative moods increased in warm and decreased with cool. In the second experiment, the object was to investigate the cognition affected by mood in luminous environments. Experiment was housed within the same environmental setting, apparatus, design, independent, dependent variables and procedures as experiment one. The results on positive mood were opposite between genders: cool white light at low illuminance versus warm white light at high illuminance which preserved a positive mood. This articles provides a small but concise research on the correlations of colour temperature, illuminance and mood. Given the moderate use of statistical data, this article is suited well for audience with some basic understandings of collected data.

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The Science (& Art) of Light and Colour

Küller, R., Ballal, S., Laike, T., Mikellides, B., & Tonello, G. (2006). The impact of light and colour on psychological mood: A cross-cultural study of indoor work environments. Ergonomics, 49(14), 1496-1507. doi:10.1080/00140130600858142

Rikard Kuller, from the Department of Environmental Psychology for the School of Architecture at the Lund Institute of Technology in Sweden leads the study with Seifeddin Ballal, Thorbjorn Laike, Byron Mikellides and Graciela Tonello. The study explores the linkages of between indoor lighting, and colour on the effects of moods of those working in doors. The research was conducted in real work environments throughout different seasons in different countries. Participants were asked to report on their emotional well being through answering “How did you feel most of the time during the last few days?” Answers were recorded over twelve different scales: rested/tired; alert/drowsy; awake/sleepy; interested/bored; efficient/inefficient; devoted/indifferent; secure/anxious; friendly/angry; happy/sad; confident/hesitant; independent/dependent; and strong/weak. Participants were then asked to appraise their work environments in three categories of current lighting conditions (measured also through calibrated luxmetres), interior decoration in terms of colour, and then the estimated physical distance from workspaces to the nearest windows.  The researched concluded that inter-correlations between estimated of the visual environment and seasons were low, however emotional status was higher throughout the year for those in colourful work environments. The connection between light and colour influenced emotions in a similar way with workers feeling more alert, confident, friendly, and interested. In the months of darker outdoor light, February, there was a negative influence with mood and that while light may have moderate, the simple view function has a positive impact for workers. Between the research in the four countries studied: UK, Sweden, Argentina, Saudi Arabia should that light and colour had a strong influence on mood while illumination had no significant impact. The study concluded that the use of colour, not necessarily high-saturated tones, increases emotional well-being for workers, and even in the lack of light brighter colours still had an effect. This article provides detailed research for understanding the effects of colour, available light and window light on emotion. Given the detailed use of statistical data and language, this article is best suited for an advanced audience. However, the article established strong correlations, and should be of high interested to any reader in creating effective and productive environments.

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When Context Becomes Limited

Elliot, A. J., & Maier, M. A. (2014). Color psychology: Effects of perceiving color on psychological functioning in humans. Annual Review Of Psychology, 6595-120.

Andrew Elliot, a professor of Psychology at the University of Rochester, and Markus Maier, a professor of Psychology at the University of Munich, explain the associations that colours may have based on previous conditions and experiences and how that has an impact of cognition and behaviour. References to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe are mentioned, for his research on the influence of color on perception on emotional experiences. Research in 2006 argued that colour associations are linked to hemoglobin on a red-green and blue-yellow axis, that associations with positive perceptions or even vegetable consumption could used to judge attractiveness. In 2012, Elliot and Maier were able to find connections in colour meanings with biological experiences and the various contexts that can associated with the colour red: signs/signals, failure, avoidance, or sexual desire). Elliot and Maier make numerous references to previous works focusing on colour and cognition, drawing on conclusion of colour associations however all research focuses exclusively on the colour red. The colours green and blue have been considered for more research but supporting literature is limited. Literature on the influence of colour on psychological functioning is expansive, and is often studied by designers, advertisers for influencing consumer behaviour. Common colour associations include the strong use of blue in logos for it’s believed linked perceptions of competence. Consumer research shows strong associations with red for savings, while it also can represent luxury items. However, Elliot notes that researches refrain on statements regarding colours and consumer behaviour are influenced by context-free influences such as country, sex, or age. Another area of research includes the influence of colour on food experiences, where colours are associated with specific flavour and that the colour of servingware as a perceived chance in favour intensity or amounts consumed -- however it is believed that these effects are linked to color contrast, with no associations to color context. This article provides broad research for understanding the effect of colours in clothing, sales, but also food through taste and consumption. Given the wide scope of references, research, and historical context paired with the style and vocabulary of Elliot and Maier, this article should be high interest to any reader.

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