New research indicates the best sorts of exercise opportunities to provide to employees and other groups. A press release from the British Psychological Society, reporting on the work of John Hackston, states that “The effectiveness of someone’s exercise regime may depend on their individual personality type…[data collected via surveys determined that] people with extraverted personality types were more likely to prefer exercising at the gym. Staff with a preference for objective logic were also more likely to stick with a regimented exercise plan than those who view feelings and values as being more important. More creatively minded staff, particularly those who enjoy working with new ideas, were much better suited to outdoor activities such as cycling and running when compared to a structured gym regime…Hackston added:…‘Organisations can help their staff to improve their fitness using this research, with increased fitness potentially leading to lower illness-related absences and increased employee satisfaction.’”
“Don’t Like Going to the Gym? It Could Be Your Personality.” 2018. Press release, The British Psychological Society, https://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=182502&CultureCode=en
Sally Augustin, PhD, a cognitive scientist, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesignconnections.com), a monthly subscription newsletter and free daily blog, where recent and classic research in the social, design, and physical sciences that can inform designers’ work are presented in straightforward language. Readers learn about the latest research findings immediately, before they’re available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is also the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design (Wiley, 2012). She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwithscience.com) and can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com.