Science Research Shows Flowers Make You Happy
Forum Archives
DebbieTT
Location: Washington, Kitsap Peninsula
Posted: May-31-2005 at 2:54pm Well duh! Ok so we know this, but I find the research had quite a bit more to tell. Are we being exploited by flowers? The thought has crossed my mind and makes me smile. Here's the article:
Human Affection Altered Evolution of Flowers
By Robert Roy Britt
LiveScience Senior Writer
posted: 26 May 2005
06:53 am ET
Flowers make people happy. And while that might seem obvious, there hasn't been much research to prove the point until now.
A trio of new studies by Rutgers University scientists supports the notion pretty strongly, and the experts go on to speculate that flowers have flourished on this planet, with their beauty evolving in recent millennia, partly because humans are so attached to them.
The first study involved 147 women. All those who got flowers smiled. Make a note: all of them. That's the kind of statistical significance scientists love. Among the women who got candles, 23 percent didn't smile. And 10 percent of those who got fruit didn't smile.
Okay, that's just one study. Let's try another.
In an elevator, 122 men and women were given either a flower, a pen, or nothing. Those who got flowers smiled more, talked more, and -- here it gets interesting -- stood closer together.
Finally, in another test, bouquets were delivered by florists to 113 men and women in a retirement community. All 113 got flowers and a notebook, but some got them earlier and received a second bouquet when the others got theirs. By now you can guess the outcome. The more flowers, the more smiles.
From there, it's a bit of a leap to the idea that flowers are prolific because we love them.
But the results got the scientists to thinking about how the flower industry of today has evolved into growing things that serve no other purpose than emotional satisfaction. Nature won't even pollinate many of the domesticated flowers. Just among roses, there are so many types conjured by humans that, clearly, flowers aren't what they used to be. But it's likely our collective hand has played a role longer than you might think.
Rutgers geneticist Terry McGuire suggests that nature's prettier flowers got to survive and thrive because people didn't destroy them when they cleared land for agriculture. Instead, they cultivated them and have been doing so for more than 5,000 years.
"Our hypothesis is that flowers are exploiting an emotional niche. They make us happy," McGuire says. "Because they are a source of pleasure a positive emotion inducer we take care of them. In that sense they're like dogs. They are the pets of the plant world."
Here's one way it might have worked:
Many species of flowers that are now cultivated used to sprout only when the ground was disturbed, McGuire explains.
"As humans moved into agricultural settings these flowers would have been weeds," he told LiveScience. "These flowers might have been tolerated because of their beauty. The seeds would have been preserved -- perhaps initially because they were mixed with crop seeds -- and replanted. Humans would have become the seed dispersers. Over time, the best of these flowers might have been selected and the seeds more carefully preserved."
The idea is detailed in the journal Evolutionary Psychology.
cjmiller
Location: Oregon, Willamette Valley
Posted: May-31-2005 at 3:33pm
Hummmmm interesting. I know that when I walk past the Cecile Brunner, or Sweet Juliette rose, I love the fragrance in the air, but have never checked to see if I am smiling. Flowers are good thing to have around, even though that Bog Salvia (Salvia uliginosa) (we call it ugly-nosa)recomended by Salvia Guy, really has an unpleasnt ordor, I love the way it looks, so this researcher believes that fragrance is just an additional benefit to having many flowers nearby.
Carol
JeanneK
Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro
Posted: May-31-2005 at 3:41pm
Interesting theories! This is basically the premise of Michael Pollans' Botany of Desire. It totally makes sense to my way of thinking. It's all about supply and demand.
The latest trend is colorful foliage. Will it work the same way as flowers? Human induced evolution?
Jeanne
Lisa A
Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro
Posted: May-31-2005 at 4:07pm
Thanks for posting this article, Debbie. It makes complete sense to me.
And here I was thinking that I was the one manipulating my garden...while all along, it is more likely the other way around! Oh, what the heck, I don't mind being a flower push-over.
bakingbarb
Location: Washington, Western
Posted: May-31-2005 at 7:51pm
Who trained who?
~BakingBarb
DebbieTT
Location: Washington, Kitsap Peninsula
Posted: Jun-01-2005 at 10:06am
Sometimes I find myself smiling when I think about a certain flower. I will have to try to remember to see if I am smiling when I am out looking at flowers in my garden. I know one that brought me a big grin this year—Meconopsis grandis.
CJ I also want to say ugly-nosa or ugly-noses when I think of the plant, but that beautiful raceme of blue flowers make growing that Salvia worth it. I wonder if blue flowers means extra smiles?
So Jeanne do you think its color that does it? My first thoughts were that flowers meant seed or fruit to eat, so that perhaps that could be why we became so attached to flowers in ancient times. Flowers are the givers of life. How many metaphors do we have where flowers are the key figure?
Flower push-overs, how many times have we said its a flower to die for?
Perhaps its a symbiotic relationship, both are manipulating and getting what they need, want.
JeanneK
Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro
Posted: Jun-01-2005 at 12:28pm
Interesting theory, Deb. Maybe through food that was safe to eat, we trained ourselves to appreciate the flowers. I bet there is a lot of truth to that. However, there are pretty flowers where the seeds/plant parts are not good to eat. Maybe it depends on what animal the plant is trying to attract, for pollination, spreading seed etc.
Jeanne
cjmiller
Location: Oregon, Willamette Valley
Posted: Jun-01-2005 at 3:31pm
Last night on OPB Nova had a show about bower birds of Australia--same concept--the male builds a bower to attract a female and that is its only purpose--they dont use it, but just look at it and appreciate it--sounds like a bunch of happy gardeners to me.
Carol
Garden Spider
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Jun-01-2005 at 8:46pm
I watched that program, too . . . and did you notice what a lot of Bower Birds used as decoration? Yep--flowers! One species uses only green leaves, but many use a combination of flowers, fungi, leaves, berries beetle wing cases, etc (the caterpillar droppings and dried cicada case were about the strangest objects).
That was an interesting article, Debbie! I don't know if it's entirely accidental that humans began to cultivate pretty flowers--pollen from flowers has been found in Neanderthal gravesites, indicating that Heanderthals used flowers to honor their dead, much as we do in modern funerals. I think it's a sign of humanity, to be able to appreciate beauty in the natural world.
Barb
basilgirl
Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro
Posted: Jun-01-2005 at 9:33pm
Was reading an article in a trade mag the other day, along the same lines. People like to buy plants cause they make them happy, smile and feel fullfulled by them. Its something they love and can go home with and love.
Fern
Location: Washington, Western Cascade Foothills
Posted: Jun-02-2005 at 6:20am
They fulfill a need for nurturing I have too. I like to take care of them and know that I've helped them grow. Doesn't it seem like gardeners are also usaully very good parents?
Fern
Gardening for the Homebrewer: Grow and Process Plants for Making Beer, Wine, Gruit, Cider, Perry, and More
By co-authors Debbie Teashon (Rainy Side Gardeners) and Wendy Tweton