Plants Enhance Productivity in Case of Creative Work

Over the last fifteen years, many scientific studies have confirmed the beneficial effects of plants in the work environment on the health, well being and productivity of employ- ees. Field experiments mainly indicate that placing plants in the work environment in- crease the overall health and well being of employees. Laboratory experiments indicate that plants also enhance task performance of students in the case of association (creative) tasks, but not in the case of production tasks. The theoretical explanation for these results is that plants have a restorative effect on human beings. The restorative mechanism is more effective in the case of creative work, where a good mental and physical condition enhances an open state of mind for generating solutions. In the case of production work this state of mind distracts people from doing their tasks. But production workers can also benefit when the plants are placed in common rooms such as entrance halls and company cafeterias. Because creative work is more general in the service-oriented western econo- mies, placing plants in work environments can have a direct positive effect on the eco- nomic and company output of these counties.