AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF THE EFFECT OF COMPANION ANIMAL DOGS ON OFFICE WORKER TO RELIEVE JOB STRESS

本研究旨在探讨陪护动物犬对上班族工作压力的影响。实验一是在模拟的办公空间中进行的，另一个是在实际工作环境中进行的。(1)实验一考察了一项简单的数据输入任务、一项加法任务和一项创造性任务在休息时间与一只友好的同伴动物、一只机器宠物和一本杂志之间的表现差异。从人类表现、生理效应(心率、脑活动)、POMS(情绪状态分布)问卷和人类行为等方面考察了通过上述每一段休息时间是否可以减少小压力和改善人类表现。这些实验是在模拟办公室进行的。任务之间的娱乐活动包括与同伴动物玩耍，与机器人宠物AIBO玩耍，以及浏览杂志。共有三项绩效任务。给…十(10)分钟更多，以完成每项任务。同样的表演任务被重复了三次。两项任务之间有5分钟的休息时间。采用国际10/20方法，以耳垂为参照物测量脑电(EEG)。此外，在每次表演期间，他们的心率(R-R间期)被测量，以监测他们在任务期间的注意力水平。六(6)名男性和六(6)名女性被选为实验对象。实验二是在实际的办公室进行，目的是评估在午休时间引入一只陪伴的动物狗是否可以缓解员工的压力。短版POMS问卷被用来测量每个受试者的压力水平，并被填写了四(4)次，即开始工作、午休前后和工作结束时。四(4)名男性和四(4)名女性参加了实验。每个工人都被要求参加至少三(3)天的实验。研究发现，在午休时间有宠物犬陪伴，他们从早上活动开始就开始下降的“活力”感超过了开始工作前的水平，他们的“困惑”也有所减少。从两个实验的结果可以得出结论，有一只宠物狗陪伴对一些上班族是有益的；但考虑到一些员工对他们的态度不好，如何在工作场所容纳这些动物仍然是个问题。较少

This study was undertaken to assess the effect of companion animal dogs on office workers' job stress. One experiment was carried out in a simulated office space and the other in an actual working environment.(1)Experiment I was undertaken to assess differences on the performance of a simple data input task, an addition task, and a creative task when break periods with a friendly companion animal, a robotic pet, and a magazine were given. Whether jot stress could be reduced and human performance improved by taking each of the above mentioned break periods was examined in terms of human performance, physiological effects (heart rates, brain activity), POMS (Profile of Mood States) questionnaire, and human behaviors. The experiments were carried out in a simulated office. The recreational activities between the tasks included playing with a companion animal, playing with the robotic pet AIBO, and browsing through magazines. There were three performance tasks. Ten (10) minutes were given … More to complete each task. The same performance task was repeated three times. A break period of 5 minutes was given between the tasks. Using the international 10/20 methods, EEGs (Electroencephalograms) were measured with the ear lobe as a reference. Also, during each performance, their heart rates (R-R intervals) were measured to monitor their levels of concentration during the task. Six (6) male and six (6) female subjects were selected for the experiments. The results varied with the task ; however, having the companion animal dog can be considered beneficial overall.(2)Experiment II was carried out in an actual office in order to assess whether workers' stress could be relieved by introducing a companion animal dog into a lunch break. The short version of POMS questionnaire was used to measure each subject's stress level and was filled out four (4) times ; i.e., the beginning of work, before and after the lunch break, and at the end of work. Four (4) male and four (4) female workers participated in the experiment. Each worker was asked to participate in the experiment for at least three (3) days. It was found that when they had the companion animal dog during the lunch break, their feeling of "vigor," which had fallen from the beginning of their morning activity, increased beyond the level recorded before the start of work and their "confusion" decreased.From the results of both experiments, it can be concluded that having a companion animal dog is beneficial for some office workers ; however, how these animals can be accommodated in the work place, given the fact that some workers have an unfavorable attitude towards them, is still in question. Less