Office Lighting and Decision Making

The results of an interesting study flashed across my news feed yesterday:

Another finding was that the perception of heat could affect the participants’ emotions. The research team said that this is because emotions are more intense under bright light; thus, leading to the perception that light is heat, which can trigger more intense emotions.

The team also found that bright light affects the kinds of decisions people make. Since the majority of people work during the day under bright lighting conditions, the researchers noted that most daily decisions are made under bright light, which intensifies emotions.

Accordingly, they suggest that turning the light lower may help people make more rational decisions, not to mention negotiate better settlements in a calmer manner.

Taking emotion out of decision making is one of the most important skills one can develop and maybe it can be as simple as installing more ambient lighting and turning off those (ugly) fluorescent lamps overhead!