Glimcher and Tymula studied the effects of outdoor light intensity on risk taking behavior over a two-year period. They “found that increased luminance leads to less risk taking…the effects are…consistent, significant.” Some useful definitions: “Risk attitudes refer to people’s willingness to take known risks…‘luminance’ is a measurement of the amount of light that falls on the surface of the earth. Cloud cover, humidity, suspended particles in the atmosphere, time of day, time of year, and a number of other factors influence luminance.” The researchers’ collection of data indoors was acceptable because the “psychological effects of higher intensity outdoor luminance are now well-known to persist for hours or even for days.” The researchers, in their conclusion, “note that manipulating the indoor luminance levels – the overhead light intensity – in markets like the New York Stock Exchange ought to have an effect on market volatility and risk premiums.”
Paul Glimcher and Agnieszka Tymula. 2017. “Let the Sunshine In? The Effects of Luminance on Economic Preferences, Choice Consistency and Dominance Violations.” PLoS ONE, http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0181112.
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.