Workplace greenery and perceived level of stress: Benefits of access to a green outdoor environment at the workplace

Dealing with stress and stress-related diseases is an increasing problem in both developed and developing countries and has an enormous cost for individuals, companies, and societies. A positive relationship between access to a green outdoor environment at work, and decreased stress has been found in previous studies, and this relationship is in line with a vast body of research in other contexts. The aim of this study is to investigate whether access to a green outdoor environment at work is related to employees' perceived level of stress and attitude toward the workplace. The study is based on data from a questionnaire answered by 439 randomly selected individuals in Sweden. The questionnaire addressed the respondents' level of stress and workplace attitude, and the characteristics and accessibility of the outdoor environment at the respondents' workplace. The results showed significant relationships between physical and visual access to workplace greenery, and a positive workplace attitude and decreased level of stress for male respondents. For female respondents, a significant relationship between physical and visual access to workplace greenery and a positive workplace attitude was found, but not between access to workplace greenery and level of stress. Furthermore, a positive workplace attitude was related to decreased levels of stress for female respondents, but not for male respondents. These findings support existing research which suggests that the workplace outdoor environment is an asset for employees' wellbeing and level of stress, and they indicate that gender plays a central role in realizing the benefits of such environments. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.