A study of the role of indoor nature on solidarity and group identity during remote work

Abstract

Lack of social connection can have significant negative impacts on human health and well-being. Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, working from home became more prevalent, leading to increased social isolation among remote workers. Working from home or hybrid working arrangements are becoming more common; promoting a sense of belonging among remote workers is therefore becoming of central interest. Prior work has shown that promoting connection to nature within built environments may improve one's sense of belonging at work. We hence hypothesize that increased presence of indoor natural features at one's home office is associated with an increase in one's sense of group identity and solidarity to their work group. In this paper, we discuss results from a longitudinal survey conducted at three timepoints from December 2020 to March 2022 among remote workers in the U.S. We investigate the role of different doses of nature at our participants' home offices on their perceived sense of work group identity and solidarity using generalized estimating equation models. We find a positive relationship between higher total number of natural elements in remote workers' home offices and increased perceived solidarity and group identity. These findings are amongst the first to get us towards a dose-response relationship between connection to nature and increased sense of belonging in the context of COVID-19 remote work.