This study (2016) investigated the effects of natural elements and exposure to direct sunlight on employee mental health and work attitudes. Modern working environments  – we spend about 40 hours a week at work, most of the time at desks and workstations – have been linked to many mental health and stress-related illnesses, such as depression, anxiety, hypertension and gut ailments. Most workspaces have been designed to be space-efficient, resulting in barren work spaces. On the contrary, a vast amount of research points to natural elements and sunlight having the opposite effects on mental health. They have restorative effects on mental fatigue (attention restoration theory) and calming effects on our physiology.

The study had four hypothesis – 1: exposure to natural elements in the workplace will be positively related to employees’ mental health and work attitudes; 2: the relationship between natural elements and job satisfaction is mediated by depressed mood; 3: exposure to natural elements will moderate the relationship between role stressors and employee mental health and work attitudes; 4: sunlight exposure will be associated with less depressed mood and anxiety and greater job satisfaction and organizational commitment.

444 employees from US and India participated in the study, where data was collected of their exposure to natural elements (e.g. potted plants, photographs or paintings depicting nature, and viewing natural environments through windows or computer screen savers), their level of depressive symptoms, anxiety, job satisfaction, organizational commitment and role stressors.

The study found, that exposure to natural elements:

• related positively to job satisfaction (β = 0.37, p < 0.01) and organizational commitment (β = 0.30, p < 0.01)
• related negatively to depressed mood (β = –0.17, p < 0.01)
• moderated the relationship between role stressors and anxiety (β = 0.17, p < 0.01), but not depressed mood
• moderated the relationship between role stressors and job satisfaction (β = 0.13, p < 0.01), but not organizational commitment

The study also found, that:

• direct sunlight was positively related to anxiety (β = 0.21, p < 0.01), job satisfaction (β = 0.20, p < 0.01), and organizational commitment (β = 0.18, p < 0.01)
• indirect sunlight was negatively related with depressed mood (β = –0.20, p < 0.01) and positively related with organizational commitment (β = 0.36, p < 0.01)

In conclusion, greater levels of natural elements exposure were associated with lower depressed mood and higher job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and it buffered  the relationship between role stressors and job satisfaction, depressed mood, and anxiety. Natural elements exposure influences mood and that mood in turn influences job satisfaction. Sunlight had considerably stronger effects on mental health outcomes compared to natural elements.

Enhancing exposure to natural elements and sunlight in the workplace could be a cost-effective approach that could lead to greater mental health and work attitudes.

“These results suggest that organizations and policy makers should pay more attention to the physical design of workspaces.”