Explaining the influence of biophilic design on employee well-being

Abstract

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.

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.