Review of Researches on the Effects of Indoor Plants on Human Psychological Benefits

An increasing number of researches have confirmed that plants can have positive effects on human psychological benefits. However, existing researches mostly focus on outdoor natural environment, failing to reveal the relationship between indoor plants and human psychological benefits. Based on China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), WANFANG DATA Knowledge Service Platform and the Web of Science core collection database, this research adopts the bibliometric method to analyze quantitative empirical researches on the relationship between indoor plants and human psychological benefits that were published during the period from 1995 to 2021. It mainly analyzes the trend of year of publication, research hotspots, field dynamics and main research methods of literature on the effects of indoor plants on human psychological benefits, and summarizes the possible influence mechanism of indoor plants on human psychological benefits in combination with the effects of indoor plants on mental health, cognitive ability and environmental perception. Finally, it sums up the current trends of researches on effects of indoor plants on human psychological benefits, differences between indoor and outdoor plants in their effects on human psychological benefits and existing controversies in current researches, and puts forward suggestions that future researches should expand the categories and characteristics of indoor plants, make full use of emerging technical means, and pay attention to the diversity of indoor space and the interaction between indoor environmental elements, hoping to provide a reference for future researches on the physical and mental health benefits of indoor plants.