IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v21y2024i3p323-d1354526.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Influences of Indoor Air Temperatures on Empathy and Positive Affect

Author

Listed:
  • Rania Christoforou

    (Healthy Living Spaces Lab, Institute for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany)

  • Hannah Pallubinsky

    (Healthy Living Spaces Lab, Institute for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany
    Department of Nutrition and Movement Sciences, NUTRIM School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, 6211 KL Maastricht, The Netherlands)

  • Tobias Maria Burgholz

    (Institute for Energy Efficient Buildings and Indoor Climate, E.ON Energy Research Center, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany
    Heinz Trox Wissenschafts gGmbH, 52074 Aachen, Germany)

  • Mahmoud El-Mokadem

    (Institute for Energy Efficient Buildings and Indoor Climate, E.ON Energy Research Center, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany)

  • Janine Bardey

    (Healthy Living Spaces Lab, Institute for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany
    Heinz Trox Wissenschafts gGmbH, 52074 Aachen, Germany)

  • Kai Rewitz

    (Institute for Energy Efficient Buildings and Indoor Climate, E.ON Energy Research Center, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany)

  • Dirk Müller

    (Institute for Energy Efficient Buildings and Indoor Climate, E.ON Energy Research Center, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany
    Heinz Trox Wissenschafts gGmbH, 52074 Aachen, Germany)

  • Marcel Schweiker

    (Healthy Living Spaces Lab, Institute for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany)

Abstract

The consequences of climate change are already visible, and yet, its effect on psychosocial factors, including the expression of empathy, affect, and social disconnection, is widely unknown. Outdoor conditions are expected to influence indoor conditions. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of indoor air temperature during work hours on empathy, positive and negative affect, and social disconnection. Participants ( N = 31) were exposed, in a cross-over design, to two thermal conditions in a simulated office environment. Questions on empathy and social disconnection were administered before and after the exposure to each condition, while affect was measured throughout the day. Subjective thermal sensation and objective measures of mean skin temperature were considered. The results indicated a significant difference in empathy ( F (1, 24) = 5.37, p = 0.03, with an η 2 = 0.126) between conditions. Participants reported increases in empathy after exposure to the warm condition compared to the cool condition, in which reductions in empathy were reported. Although the same pattern was observed for positive affect, the difference was smaller and the results were not significant. Thermal sensation had a significant effect on changes in empathy too ( F (1, 54) = 7.015, p = 0.01, with an R 2 = 0.115), while mean skin temperature had no effect on empathy ( F (1, 6) = 0.53, p = 0.89, with an R 2 = 0.81). No effects were observed for positive and negative affect and social disconnection. Longitudinal studies are needed to support these findings.

Suggested Citation

  • Rania Christoforou & Hannah Pallubinsky & Tobias Maria Burgholz & Mahmoud El-Mokadem & Janine Bardey & Kai Rewitz & Dirk Müller & Marcel Schweiker, 2024. "Influences of Indoor Air Temperatures on Empathy and Positive Affect," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(3), pages 1-16, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:3:p:323-:d:1354526
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/3/323/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/3/323/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kathryn Pavlovich & Keiko Krahnke, 2012. "Empathy, Connectedness and Organisation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 105(1), pages 131-137, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hokey Min & Yohannes Haile, 2021. "Examining the Role of Disruptive Innovation in Renewable Energy Businesses from a Cross National Perspective," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-19, July.
    2. Joerg Dietz & Emmanuelle Kleinlogel, 2014. "Wage Cuts and Managers’ Empathy: How a Positive Emotion Can Contribute to Positive Organizational Ethics in Difficult Times," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 119(4), pages 461-472, February.
    3. Rico Pohling & Danilo Bzdok & Monika Eigenstetter & Siegfried Stumpf & Anja Strobel, 2016. "What is Ethical Competence? The Role of Empathy, Personal Values, and the Five-Factor Model of Personality in Ethical Decision-Making," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 137(3), pages 449-474, September.
    4. Clare J. M. Burns & Luke Houghton & Deborah Delaney & Cindy Shannon, 2023. "Ethical Decision-Making in Indigenous Financial Services: QSuper Case Study," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 186(1), pages 13-29, August.
    5. Yang, Inju & Kelly, Aidan, 2016. "The positive outcomes of ‘Socially Sharing Negative Emotions’ in workteams: A conceptual exploration," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 172-181.
    6. Johanna Hallin & Nathalie Ahlstedt Mantel, 2018. "Swedish Business Leaders Prospecting Sustainability¨CFinding the Future with Purpose, Systems Approach, Empathy & Transformation," Business and Management Studies, Redfame publishing, vol. 4(1), pages 59-67, March.
    7. Cristina Wildermuth & Carlos A. Mello e Souza & Timothy Kozitza, 2017. "Circles of Ethics: The Impact of Proximity on Moral Reasoning," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(1), pages 17-42, January.
    8. Kathryn Pavlovich & Patricia Corner, 2014. "Conscious Enterprise Emergence: Shared Value Creation Through Expanded Conscious Awareness," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 121(3), pages 341-351, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:3:p:323-:d:1354526. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.