It's in my Nature: A Look at the Individual Differences that Influence Perceptions of Work Stress Recovery with Nature Breaks

The purpose of this study was to explore how individual differences influence employee perceptions of nature breaks at work. While nature provides restorative benefits to employees such as reduced fatigue and feelings of recovery and awe, individual differences may impact the fit between an employee and nature as a desirable work break location. We adopted a person-centered approach and conducted a Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) using the indicators of nature connectedness, regulatory focus, uncertainty intolerance, and openness to experience. Results supported the emergence of four distinct profiles: break under-regulating nature adventurers, nature-adverse break-takers, nature-loving break self-regulators, and reserved nature-neutral break-takers. Profile membership predicted preferences for an office versus nature work break location and perceptions of whether nature breaks are expected to be relaxing, comfortable, and awe-inspiring. This study contributes to occupational health psychology literature by providing insight into the influence that individual differences comprising nature-break fit profiles have on employee perceptions of recovery in nature settings.