Capitalizing on the restorative qualities of natural materials, such as wood, can make settings more functional, sustainable and humane. This study informs the bodies of environmental psychology and industrial/organizational psychology literature, as well as space planners, building owners and facilities managers, about the extent to which preference and psychosocial constructs relate to the presence of wood attributes in a typical open-plan office environment.
Six computer-generated images of an open-plan office interior were used in an online questionnaire to examine relations between employees’ expected affective organizational commitment (AOC), productivity, well-being, and different amounts and locations of wood. The study also gathered qualitative data about participants’ sense of comfort with the location and amount of wood shown in the images.
Workers responded neutrally about all images. The image yielding the strongest positive response concerning AOC, well-being and design preference displayed the most wood features. The image eliciting the lowest means for AOC, productivity, and design preference contained the fewest wood features. More wood than only on posts and beams was preferred. Open-ended data about expected comfort indicates a preference for more wood features (both in amount and location) when offices have only wooden posts and beams, or only wood-faced furniture. The most positive response was for the image with a moderate amount of wood.
We go beyond exploring individual preference by concentrating on psychosocial variables studied in the social sciences, yielding practical information for decision-makers as they purchase materials during construction or renovation to positively affect end users.
