A study recently conducted by Lindberg (et al. 2018) found a number of points of interest regarding peoples stress levels and their office seating arrangements. They looked at sitting at a bench, in a cubical or in an office.

Two of their findings were:

• “…. workers in open bench seating exhibited higher levels of physical activity compared with those in cubicles and private offices.
• Higher physical activity at the office was in turn related to lower physiological stress outside the office as measured by heart rate variability.”

It was not immediately apparent whether this decreased stress level was also associated with increased productivity.

Lindberg, CM, Srinivasan, K, Gilligan, B, Razjouyan, J, Lee, H, Najafi, B, Canada, KJ, Mehl, MR, Currim, F, Ram, S, Lunden, MM, Heerwagen, JH, Kampschroer, K & Sternberg, EM 2018, ‘Effects of office workstation type on physical activity and stress’, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, vol. 75, no. 10, pp. 689-695.