The physiological and psychological relaxing effects of viewing rose flowers in office workers

Journal of Physiological Anthropology

Yoshifumi Miyazaki¹  Eri Himoro²  Chorong Song¹  Misako Komatsu¹  Harumi Ikei¹ 

[1] Center for Environment, Health and Field Sciences, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan;Mizuho Information & Research Institute, Inc, Tokyo, Japan

关键词: Pulse rate;    Heart rate variability;    Visual stimuli;    Office workers;    Fresh rose flowers;   

Others  :  861451
DOI  :  10.1186/1880-6805-33-6

 received in 2013-12-06, accepted in 2014-02-21,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

In recent years, the physiological relaxing effect brought by nature is becoming clear; however, many workers find it difficult to be exposed to nature in their working environment. Exposure to fresh flowers represents an opportunity to incorporate nature into their working lives. In this study, we examined the effects of exposure to roses on physiological and psychological variables (heart rate variability, pulse rate, and subjective responses) in office workers.

Results

The experimental site was Mizuho Information & Research Institute, Inc., in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Thirty-one male office workers were included in the present study. The subjects were exposed to thirty unscented pink roses (Rosa, Dekora) arranged in a cylindrical glass vase for 4 min. In the control condition, the subjects were not exposed to flowers. After the experiments, the subjects completed a questionnaire. The order of exposure was counterbalanced among subjects. Among subjects exposed to roses, the high-frequency component of heart rate variability was significantly higher than in controls. Similarly, 'comfortable,’ 'relaxed’ and 'natural’ feelings were more common in subjects exposed to roses.

Conclusions

Data from this study support the presence of physiological and psychological relaxing effects of being exposed to flowers on office workers.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Ikei et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

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