Would you like a little dance performance? A study sheds light on the positive effects of dancing on employees.
For most employees, the lunch break means lunch and a coffee break, including the subsequent midday slump when you would like to lie down for a moment. Instead, swaying your hips and doing a little dance routine probably doesn’t occur to very many people. But researchers have now found that dancing has several benefits when it comes to productivity. A study called “Mood induction through imitation of full-body movements with different affective intentions” by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics has shown that dancing in the workplace can have a positive effect on the mood and motivation of employees. So it might be worth adjusting your lunchtime routine a little.
Increased motivation through dance movements
In the study, 66 participants were tasked with imitating a series of dance moves demonstrated to them through short video clips. These clips featured either a real dancer or an animated avatar. The subjects were then instructed to imitate the dance movements with either a happy or sad facial expression. The results showed that the way emotions were expressed during the dance had a noticeable impact on the participants’ state of mind. The researchers found that imitating dance moves, whether they were happy or sad, successfully influenced participants’ mood. This applied to dances performed by a human as well as those performed by a robot avatar. The study found that the extent to which participants were put in a happy mood by the dance moves, as well as how much they liked the dance task, predicted work motivation after the mood change. This means that the happier participants felt after dancing and the more they enjoyed the task, the more motivated they were for their subsequent work tasks. As Manager Magazin reports, we are currently working on an app that will support employees with such motivating dance breaks. It is irrelevant whether the employees perform the dance performances alone in the home office or together in the office.
Dancing good for math skills and spatial understanding
The fact that dancing has positive effects on various areas has also been confirmed by other studies. In the study “Using Dance & Movement to Enhance Spatial Awareness Learning,” US researchers found that teenagers who dance regularly perform better on math tasks and it helps them develop strong spatial understanding. Dancing can also be very helpful for people with illnesses. As UCB Cares reports, dancing is also extremely positive for people with Parkinson’s disease and could help patients.
Editorial team finanzen.net