Behavioral Science:
Psychology 1010 - Psychology in my Life
For my signature assignment in this course I wrote a paper on a article called "Cubicle Sweet, Cubicle." The article is about how are work environment effects the way we work, if we are able to design and decorate our work space it is a proven fact that we will work more efficiently and be happier.
"Cubicle Sweet, Cubicle"
Hundreds of millions of people travel around the world daily to their offices where they sit in a desk that may or may not be separated from their coworkers. Many psychologists have discovered that the appearance of people’s personal work environments affects the way they work. There are many factors that come in play when talking about employees comfort and productivity; the size of desks, the proximity to natural light, quality of air, and privacy. The most significant factor seems to be that productivity and employee’s satisfaction are directly tied to the employees having a role in decisions concerning their work environment. Employer’s that took control and tried to create a more attractive environment for their employees with potted plants and paintings had the same results as if it were a sterile work environment. For instance, scientists at the University of Amsterdam (2009) decided to change the office from a traditional layout to an enriched open-plan layout. Specific spaces were set aside for specific functions. After six months, the employees’ quality of work declined. These experiments demonstrated that employees are most content and productivity increases when they are able to decorate their own work space the way they see fit.
Recently they have done two experiments to study the effects on the office environment on how well employees do their job. One study was conducted in a psychology laboratory, and the other in a real office. In each study, the participants were asked to do an hour worth of office tasks in one of the four kinds of office spaces: “Lean” an office which was a clean looking space only containing the necessary items, the “Enriched” office had the same basic supplies but plants and bright paintings were added, the “Empowered” office was the space the employee was able to rearrange the room to make them feel most comfortable; and the “Disempowered” was the empowered office but the experimenter came in and made changes to the employee’s interior design.
Researchers found employees who worked in the enriched space completed their tasks 15 percent faster than the lean space, they made no more errors, and there were fewer health-related complaints. The participants reported that the enriched space’s decorations cheered them up, except for one participant did not feel the same way. He said “It just felt like a show space with nothing out of place. You couldn’t relax in it.” The space participants who got to design their own way increased productivity and well-being by 30 percent. Participants had fun and enjoyed designing their own space, but when the experimenter came in and changed the ideas of the worker’s space, well-being and productivity decreased back to 15 percent. One participant said “I felt really undermined.”
There are control issues that factor in other than the design and layout of a work place. In the article they explained how they did a similar study in 2009 on how a broadcast heard from a different cubicle had an effect on their reading comprehension and overall comfort. Also, the majority of people who work in an office setting are susceptible to “Sick-building Syndrome.” Sick-building syndrome is related to bad air quality, which would be caused by defects in the heating and air conditioning. Employees with Sick-building Syndrome might experience irritations of eyes, nose, and throat.
Psychologists have proven that the people’s work environment directly affects their well-being and productivity more than we ever imagined. Studies, like the one with four different work spaces, show that when employees have control over their work environment they are most content and productive. An employer can promote better performance by allowing employees control over their environment, even by simply permitting personal pictures and decoration. A little freedom goes a long way in the work place.
Reflective Writing
Picking one’s major is one of the hardest decisions that a person will ever have to make; there are so many choices to choose from. I am undecided thus far, but I have always been interested in the field of psychology. I have always wanted to learn why people think and act the way they do. I liked this class; it was a pretty good experience and makes me want to take future psychology classes in the near future. Could I like it so much that it could become my major? Perhaps. In this class, we went over a lot from the history of psychology to psychological disorders and treatments.
During our class there were three things that I really enjoyed doing: First, learning how neurons communicate with each other. In class we were split into large groups and competed with each other who could best demonstrate the parts and functions of a neuron. It was very beneficial; it helped me learn the names and functions of each part of a neuron. Secondly, we were shown a packet with images; each image was either missing something or was different than it appeared. It would trick our minds. This was interesting and I still cannot figure out why our brains automatically fill in the blanks for us, instead of reading or seeing the image for what it is, our brain automatically fills in what it thinks should be there. Lastly, I enjoyed doing my “Psychology in the Media” paper; it is interesting to me to see how psychology is used in real life situations. It was my favorite paper to write this semester because we had only a few requirements, other than those we could write about anything that most interested us. We also had to present our topics to small groups which I like doing better than the whole class because than it allowed for more discussing and learning about each other’s topics.
Overall, my experience in psychology 1010 was a very favorable. I feel the assignments and discussions in class were challenging and they kept me interested. There are some topics I wish we had time to cover, such as; the study of personalities. There is always next class. This class has added to my life experiences and helped me with the difficult decision of choosing a major (sooner or later)!
