Light as a positive situational cue at work: Satisfaction with light relates to judgements of other’s warmth and competence

Workplace illumination is known to impact mood, performance and decision making. Based on the idea that positive feelings associated with light might influence social judgments in workplaces, we propose that satisfaction with light as a specific affective response to light would lead to positive judgments of other individuals. In a laboratory experiment (N=164), participants assessed their satisfaction with light and rated other person’s faces on warmth and competence. Results showed that satisfaction with light positively influenced judgment of others. We replicated the positive relation between satisfaction with light and social judgments in a field study with employees (N=176). These findings highlight the importance of satisfaction with light for social judgment in workplaces. We discuss theoretical contributions and practical implications concerning the design of settings involving the evaluation of other individuals. Practitioner Summary: The design of work settings where the evaluation of others takes place is an important topic. A laboratory experiment and a field study demonstrate that satisfaction with workplace illumination influences judgments of others. The results provide interesting possibilities for the design of work settings that involve the evaluation of others.