USING EXPLORATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS TO EXPLORE PERSONAL ATTITUDES INFLUENCING THE PEOPLE-PLANT RELATIONSHIP IN DANISH WORKPLACES

In this paper we present the results of an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) investigating the attitudes of 37 Danish employees towards ornamental plants at their workplace.
The material used was collected as part of a larger qualitative case study exploring people-plant relationships in Danish office workplaces.
A paper-pencil questionnaire was developed in order to collect demographical information about the employees at the workplaces under investigation.
A scale composed of 13 items regarding the attitudes towards ornamental plants at the workplace was also included in the questionnaire.
All the items were formulated as statements to which the respondents had to state the extent to which they agreed.
The possible answers were built around a 5-point Likert scale in the range from “not at all” to “to a very high extent”. By an EFA it was analysed how many factors the scale actually measured.
The result identified two factors: one regarding whether ornamental plants were wanted in the workplace or not; and one regarding whether ornamental plants were perceived as beneficial in relation to general well-being at the workplace or not.
The Cronbach alpha coefficient for the first factor was 0.79 and 0.93 for the second factor.
These two factors form an interesting platform from which the question of how personal attitudes are influencing the people-plant relationship at Danish workplaces can be investigated further.
However, it should be noted that the results reported here are preliminary, due to the small number of respondents and the fact that the respondents were not selected randomly.
Therefore we are planning to do further studies.

XXVIII International Horticultural Congress on Science and Horticulture for People (IHC2010): International Symposium on Advances in Ornamentals, Landscape and Urban Horticulture

J.D. Thomsen, R. Müller, H.H.K. Sønderstrup-Andersen

people-plant relationships, workplace, attitudes

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2012.937.146