Committee Chair

Cunningham, Christopher J. L.

Committee Member

O'Leary, Brian J.; Black, Kristen Jennings, 1991-

Department

Dept. of Psychology

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

Minimal research has examined the impact of workplace aesthetics on employee outcomes such as negative work attitudes, job satisfaction, or resource recovery needs. The present study tested if aesthetic elements in workplace matter to employees and if this effect is moderated by the extent to which employees are generally mindful and have a need for an aesthetically pleasing workspace (NFAPW). Data were collected from adult fulltime employees (N = 175) and were analyzed using correlational and regression-based techniques. Results suggest that together, need for an aesthetically pleasing workplace and general mindfulness affect employees’ work attitudes. Specifically, for individuals with high NFAPW and mindfulness, negative work attitudes were lower in more aesthetically pleasing workplaces, but higher for those in non-aesthetically pleasing workplaces. When analyses were conducted without covariates, NFAPW moderated the relationship between workplace aesthetics and resource recovery needs. Main effects or moderation effects were not identified for job satisfaction.

Acknowledgments

I would first like to express my gratitude and thanks to my thesis chair, Dr. Chris Cunningham for his constant support and guidance with both this project and my academic endeavors in general. I would also like to thank Drs. Kristen Black and Brian O’Leary for their support with this project. I would like to thank The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga for supporting this work with a SEARCH grant. I would additionally like to thank Megan Rogers, who helped analyze the qualitative data gathered in this study. Finally, I would like to express my unending gratitude to my friends and family, who have always helped me pursue new challenges, supported me though life, and kept me smiling throughout it all.

Degree

M. S.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science.

Date

5-2019

Subject

Aesthetics; Organizational effectiveness; Work environment

Keyword

Aesthetics; Mindfulness; Workplace; Work attitudes; Need for aesthetics, work environment

Discipline

Industrial and Organizational Psychology

Document Type

Masters theses

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

xv, 147 leaves

Language

English

Rights

https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

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