Value of Green Spaces
A paper published in the Journal of Happiness Studies confirms the value of regularly spending time outdoors (which indicates how important that we have ready access to outdoor areas near our homes, etc.): “Previous academic studies...
Temperature Matters!
When it’s cold we need more social warmth. Fay and Maner found that “Laboratory studies have linked variability in temperature to the psychology of social affiliation. In colder ambient environments, for example, people report...
7 Ways to Boost Work performance at Home
You can use neuroscience to develop spaces where you work to your full potential and, more probably, achieve the goals you set yourself (including those New Year Resolutions you may have set a while...
Well Wood do you know? We all need Wood
Salvador, after completing a literature review, reports that “A literary review based study revealed wooden materials in interiors and objects to have a positive psychological influence in humans, with a pacifying and relaxing effect.” Salvador. 2019. “Human...
Water Magic
Intentionally adding water to a space is a good idea, as long as that water stays where it belongs—rogue water from a broken pipe is a psychologically debilitating stressor. Looking at water that’s gently...
Not the Same Old Oval Office
Most offices, even if they’re used by well-known people are unseen by most of us. Titans of industry and even many public officials spend their “office hours” working in places that only their professional...
Plants a Plus
Adding a green leafy plant to any sort of space in which you find yourself is a good idea. Research has directly linked looking at green leafy plants to: Lower stress levels Mental refreshment...
Soundscapes and Sensitivity
Tarlao, Steffens, and Guastavino’s work verifies that many factors besides the actual noises themselves influence perceptions of acoustic experiences. The researchers report that “Previous soundscape research has shown a complex relationship between soundscapes, public space...
More Proof that Biological Diversity benefits us
Methorst and colleagues report that they “examine[d] the relationship between species diversity and human well-being at the continental scale, while controlling for other known drivers of well-being. We related socio-economic data from more than...
What you wear can influence what you eat…
Wang and colleagues link clothing worn and food selections made, it may be possible to apply their findings more generally, but whether this sort of extension is reasonable will need to be directly investigated. ...
Restaurant Plants
Yildirim and colleagues found that people have a positive response to plants in restaurants and it is logical to extend their findings to other situations in which people may be eating. The researchers found...
How new homes should be designed post-Covid
The Place Alliance surveyed people in the United Kingdom during the COVID-19 pandemic (May, 2020) and after analyzing the data they collected online have reached some conclusions about how homes should be designed in...
‘Tis the Season for Cosy
The space in this photograph is a fine place to spend some time. Nothing says “cosy winter afternoon” faster than a fireplace fire. Staring into those flames is, what’s known in the psych biz,...
The Science of Using Scents
Happily, for most of us, most of the time, are noses are doing their job and we can pick up odours in the world around us. Scientific studies consistently link particular smells to particular...
Temperature Tangos
Winter – This is temperature tango time, the months of the year when there are lots and lots of heated debates about where to set the thermostat. Science can end this discussion before it does...
Secret to eye contact
We tend to talk to people we can make eye contact with—and people raised in the West are generally very, very positive about eye contact. Arranging seats in a sitting room so that all...
Colour psychology applied in the home of TV’s Doc Martin
For many of us, there’s no better way to spend time with the television than watching Doc Martin. Martin and Louisa and James Henry live in a murky world of tired, grayed out colours,...
Seating to stimulate conversation
We can sit in all sorts of angles to each other, from nose-to-noise to ear-to-ear. Fiorillo and associates determined that “Experiments in which participants were asked to talk to each other while sitting at...
Colours around us
We’ve chosen three books which might appeal to you, to show you how colour has an impact on us. Published research makes it clear that the colours on the surfaces around us have a...
Seem More Attractive
When men see women against a red background they think they’re more attractive than they do when the same women are seen in front of another colour—and red has the same effect on women’s...
Support Pleasant Interactions with Other People
Amiable exchanges with other people make our lives better in so many ways, and surface colours can boost them along. Warm colours in a place where you’re planning to spend time with others, whether that’s...
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