Flower care

Goals of the Studies In the following studies we first (Study 1) compare the emotional influence of cultivated flowers with that resulting from comparable objects which supply more basic needs such as food or warmth. We predict that the influence of cultivated flowers on human mood should be powerful both immediately and long term. To measure immediate emotional change we observe smiling behaviors; to measure days afterwards. In Study 1 we use only female participants; however, if the flowering plants fill a human emotional niche, the effect should, at least partly, overcome local social convention such as gender. Though women are the usual recipients of flowers in 21st Century North America and thought to be more responsive to flowers, this may be related to the perception (or bias) that women are more emotionally responsive generally (Brody and Hall, 2000). Such a bias only reinforces the hypothesis that flowers influence emotion, but does not eliminate the possibility that men can be influenced similarly. In Study 2 we hypothesize that the positive emotional effects of flowers should generalize to men. Finally, if the effect on emotional state is powerful, we predict that the moods produced by cultivated flowers would have positive effects on social behaviors. In Study 2 we measure emotional and social behavior in a naturalistic observation. The goal of Study 3 is to expand our information about secondary effects to the cognitive area. It also examines the long-term impact of repeated exposure to flowers (i.e. the dose effect). In the third study we provide people living in senior living residences with flowers. We predict that the flowers will have both a long-term effect and a short-term effect on mood. Further we predict that the secondary or spiraling mood changes will influence social behavior and episodic memory.