ABSTRACT
Our personality as ‘patterns of emotion, thought and behaviour that represent stable and lasting differences between individuals’ makes us unique and defines our preferences, needs and expectations from a physical environment and influences how we perceive it. Workplace physical features and design have the capability to either help people with various personality traits thrive or hinder their ability to perform and adversely affect their satisfaction, productivity and health. Respecting the individual differences in a high-performance workplace is best regarded when workplaces are shaped around an evidence-based and user-centred design catering for all individuals with use of functional solutions. Although there seems to be in-depth scientific research around workplace design and personality traits, practice has not followed up, and the myth in devaluating some personality traits (e.g., unsuitability of introversion for leadership) continues. With the onset of COVID-19, discussions around how different personality traits might cope with the rapid shift to the new work from home arrangements gained attention in the industry; however, these discussions faded quickly. This chapter looks at the way that different personality traits perceived the physical environment of their workplace and digs into the extent to which personality contributes to workers’ satisfaction, productivity and health.
