Flower care

General discussion There is very little extant theory that lends itself to an easy explanation for the effects of flowers on positive socio-emotional change as found in our three studies. Any explanation of our findings must consider the puzzling strength of the effect ofreceiving flowers. In the double-blind design of Study 1, female participants received one of three possible stimuli. Every participant who received flowers responded with the Duchenne smile in the first 5 sec after the visual presentation. Although it is true that the Duchenne smile is the most common response in all stimulus conditions, it occurs significantly more often for the flower presentation, having occurred in every instance. This response was replicated in Study 2 when male and female participants received a single flower. Again the Duchenne smile occurred significantly more often, although it did not reach the 100% response rate found in Study 1. These findings are particularly intriguing because the Duchenne smile is referred to as the “true” smile and is related to changes in brain chemistry and various psychophysiological indices (Dimberg, Thunberg, and Elmehed, 2000). Our results indicate that the simple presentation of flowers, even a single flower, will release a strong and immediate behavior reflecting positive affect. Given the presence of the Duchenne smile, it is possible that the flowers—either through their visual or odorous qualities—have effects on brain chemistry. As mentioned, Study 2 extends the results of Study 1, showing that even a single flower presented to men or women will elicit a Duchenne smile significantly more often than other stimuli (a pen or nothing). This second study, a naturalistic observation conducted in a public elevator, also investigated other social behaviors. These included the distance participants stood from the experimenter, their initiation of conversation, and their looking towards the experimenter. All these social behaviors increased when a flower was presented. Again, this is intriguing, particularly the findings regarding social distance, since the norms for social distance are well established (see Burgess, 1983; Hall, 1966; Sussman and Rosenfeld, 1982). The most typical behavior for elevators that are sparsely occupied is for strangers to retreat to opposite corners. That flowers in particular closed the distance between strangers is remarkable. That this did not occur when pens were presented indicates that the receipt of a stimulus in itself did not change the relationship between strangers. It was something about the flowers. Study 3 provided additional evidence that the increase in positive emotion when flowers are presented is substantial. In the third study, most participants were residents in retirement and assisted living settings, though a few still resided in the community while attending senior programs. Demographically, many people in this age group are somewhat depressed and may have decrements in their cognitive skills (e.g., Backman et al., 2000). Nevertheless, presenting flowers continued to have a positive impact on mood. This was sustained or perhaps improved when a second presentation was made. Those participants who received flowers had higher scores on episodic memory tasks. Anecdotally, the responses are even more fervent than the behavioral observations have indicated. Some participants responded with such unusual (for experimental studies) emotional displays that we were unprepared to measure them and have only field notes to indicate their presence. The delivery experimenters reported that they received hugs and kisses for the flowers. Florists also tell us that this is common. We were invited to return to the participants’ homes when they were “off duty” for refreshments. We received attractive “Thank you” cards and letters from several participants who received flowers for allowing them to be in the study, some with photographs of the flowers, one with multiple photographs to show the continuing beauty of the bouquet. In many years of studying emotions, we have never received hugs and kisses, thank you notes or photographs, not even for candy, doughnuts, decorated shirts or hats, gift certificates, or direct monetary payment; the flowers are different.