Explaining the influence of biophilic design on employee well-being

C. Valor, R. Redondo, I. Carrero

Scientific Reports Vol. 14, pp. 32090

Summary:

Biophilic workplace design has been proposed as an effective strategy to increase employee well-being in open-plan offices. To expand our understanding of why and for whom indoor nature exposure increases well-being, the aim of this study was to evaluate vigor as a mediator and to examine whether nature relatedness is a direct antecedent of nature exposure or a moderator of the relationship between exposure to nature and vigor. Based on longitudinal data obtained from a two-wave panel design with white-collar workers in open-plan offices (Study 1, n = 345; Study 2, n = 291), using a rival model strategy and two dependent variables, i.e., job well-being and overall well-being, this study revealed that nature relatedness is a direct antecedent of nature exposure and that vigor mediates the relationship between nature exposure and the examined outcomes. These results indicate that although natural exposure increases employee well-being, the effects are indirectly driven by employees’ connection with nature. These findings have implications for the implementation of biophilic workplace design.

Spanish layman's summary:

Muchos estudios encuentran una correlación entre el número de plantas en la oficina y el bienestar de los empleados. En dos estudios, demostramos que la relación es espúrea: la relación con la naturaleza de los empleados explica la correlación. 

English layman's summary:

Many studies found a correlation between the number of plants in the workplace and employee well-being. In two studies we show that this relationship is spurious: the nature- relatedness of employees drives the effects.

Keywords: well being; nature exposure; workplace; Felicidad; exposición a la naturaleza; empleados

JCR-JIF Impact Factor and WoS quartile: 3,900 - Q1 (2024); 4,900 - Q1 (2025)

DOI reference: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-83791-9

Published on paper: December 2024.

Published on-line: December 2024.

Citation:
C. Valor, R. Redondo, I. Carrero, "Explaining the influence of biophilic design on employee well-being", Scientific Reports, Vol. 14, pp. 32090, December 2024. [Online: December 2024] doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-83791-9