Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio State University, 1983. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 91-95). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2009. / Open access. Includes bibliographical references (p. 89-94). Print copy also available.

A research project submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MA by coursework and Research Report in the field of Organisational Psychology in the Faculty of Humanities. University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. March 2016 / There is international growing evidence to support the notion that indoor planters positively impact employees’ emotional states, personal health, work engagement as well as their overall perceptions of their work environment and ultimately impacting employee productivity. However this ground-breaking research has never been conducted within a South African Work Environment. Consequently the following study adopts a quasi-experimental study in order to investigate the impact that indoor plants may have on employee physical well-being, psychological well-being, work engagement and their overall perception of their work environment. Furthermore, the researcher aimed to assess whether the employees connectedness to nature influenced the impact the plants had on them, thus assessing how this covariate may impact the relationship between the absence and presence of plants and the above mentioned dependent variables. A Sample of 32 Global Service Management Centre (GSMC) employees from an internationally recognised organisation, Business Connexion, were assessed over a period of 12 weeks. The first assessment was conducted in the no plant condition, while the final assessment was conducted once the plants were installed in the whole office area. Additionally, SE Controls were positioned throughout the office area in order to measure the fluctuations of the air quality once the planters were installed. The results of a series of Wilcoxon Sign Rank Tests as well as Spearman’s Rank Order Correlations indicated no significant results; however upon closer evaluations of the individual scale items the researcher identified several statistically significant results that were unpacked and discussed. The readings from the SE Controls indicated either an improvement or stabalisation of the air quality variables that were being assessed in the current study. / GR2017

A research project submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MA by coursework and Research Report in the field of Industrial Psychology in the Faculty of Humanities. University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. February/May 2017 / Much evidence exists with regard to indoor plants and their positive effect on psychological perceptions as well as environmental air quality. However, this type of research has only ever been conducted once in a South African setting, which can be argued, is different to international contexts, in terms of climate and financial status. Indoor plants and their positive effects may have monumental effects on employees. This research assessed the presence of plants, on a sample of 34 employees at Discovery VitalityLife, consisting of Human Resources workers and call centre agents, on psychological perceptions (work engagement; psychological well-being; physical well-being and aesthetics) and on environmental factors (Total Volatile Organic Compounds; Benzene; Xylene; Carbon Dioxide (CO2); temperature and relative humidity). This research was conducted over a period of approximately three months whereby at Time 1 plants were absent and Time 2 plants were present. The same questionnaires were administered at both times. So too were Volatile Organic Compounds measured weekly and three measurement devices were installed in the workplace taking measurements of CO2, humidity, and indoor temperature every hour. The results found were that there were no statistically significant differences for the psychological perceptions from Time 1 to Time 2. This was concluded to be a result of the context in which this research took place. Total Volatile Organic Compounds, Benzene and relative humidity levels statistically significantly decreased at Time 2. Xylene levels statistically significantly increased at Time 2. There was no evidence to suggest statistically significant differences for CO2 and temperature from Time 1 to Time 2. / MT2018

A research project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MA by coursework and Research Report in the field of Organisational Psychology in the Faculty of Humanities. University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, November 2017 / The current study utilized the Attention Restoration Theory to investigate whether plants in an office context produced restorative effects that enable employees to perform better. The Attention Restoration Theory asserts that individuals will experience increased concentration after spending time in or viewing nature. This study was one of the first attempts to empirically investigate the effect of indoor plants on experiences of performance outcomes and perceptions of Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) within South Africa. The researcher aimed to assess whether the individual’s nature identity moderated the impact of the plants. Most previous studies on the outcomes of indoor plants have been conducted in Western, Northern hemisphere contexts. In this experimental study, 120 participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (1) no plants or pictures of plants; (2) only plants; (3) only canvas pictures of plants. The rooms were identical in every other respect. Participants completed two tasks (a card-sorting task and a reading task) and two questionnaires, namely the connectedness to nature scale to assess participant’s nature identity and a previously developed questionnaire that aimed to assess task performance. Additionally, SE controls IEQ monitors were positioned in each office to measure fluctuations of air quality (i.e. temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide levels) in order to assess IEQ. The results from a series of ANOVA’s demonstrated a reduction in participants’ errors (F (2, 117) = 7.137, p = 0.001), a positive reaction to the given task (F (2, 117) = 8.904, p = 0.000), as well as a reduction in participants’ task completion time (F (2, 117) = 43.422, p = 0.000) in the plants condition. These results demonstrated a statistically significant effect on performance in the presence of plants as well as an improvement in air quality through a reduction of carbon dioxide (F (2, 117) = 6.429, p = 0.000). The results revealed that the plants condition was statistically significantly different from that of the pictures of plants and the control condition with regards to the performance outcomes. The result from the two-way ANOVA’s demonstrated that nature identity did not moderate the above relationships (Errors: F (1, 114) = 2.060, p = 0.132; Completion time: F (1, 114) = 0.967, p = 0.383; Reaction to the task: F (1, 114) = 0.017, p = 0.983). This study enhances knowledge regarding indoor plants within the South African context as well as practically influencing working environments where employees are expected to be productive. / MT 2019

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between windows and interior design preferences in enclosed office spaces. The research sample consisted of forty executives from NASA. Subjects were asked to plan the interior design of an executive office space (simulated with a scale model) in response to four different window types and then asked to choose one of the four window types for the space. Subjects' reactions were observed and questioned throughout the experiment, to study the relation between windows and interior design preferences. Window functions and configurations, subjects' age, sex, country of origin, activity, and interaction levels were investigated as independent variables influencing the dependent variable perception of the relation between windows and interior design preferences. The data was analyzed by means of descriptive statistics and in-depth theoretical analysis of individual responses. Subjects' consciousness of the relation between windows and interior design preferences increased as activity and interaction levels increased. Window configurations and functions influenced interior· design preferences, especially furniture arrangement and color selection preferences. Interior design preferences influenced the choice of a window type to a considerable extent, perhaps as much as view and daylight. An overview of the study indicates that windows and interior design preferences are parts of a cyclic inter-relationship where each factor influences the other and therefore should each be considered with equal importance by both architects and interior designers. / Master of Science