UNIT 5SPATIAL PSYCHOLOGY

Environmental Psychology

Environmental psychology is the study of transaction between individual and their physical settings.

In this transaction Individual change the environment, Their behavior and experiences are

changed by the environment Thus, environmental psychology

includes research and practiced aimed at making building more humane and improving our relationship with the natural environment.

Environment & Space

The Environment:

The environment that we live in influences our lives.

EnvironmentBuilt setting Homes, offices, schools, streets etc.

Natural settingNational park, wilderness areas, etc.

Elements in the environment includes:-Human, animals, plants, buildingStimulus in the environment such as noises, weather, heat etc.

Our environment can bringPositive impact on us (eg. Soft music)Negative impact on us (heat)

Human are more sensitive about the environment that they live in.

The Space:

Space is defined in terms of who owned the particular space/area.

Space:Long term ownership (house)Short term ownership (hotel room/

hostels)Temporary ownership (place in a bus)

Individual change the environment,

Personal space

What is Personal space?

The size of personal space and the type of people that are allowed into our personal space depends on:Someone we know wellSituation

Personal space

An area where invisible boundaries surrounding a person’s body into which intruders may not come.

Personal space are portable in nature where ever you stand or sit you are surrounded on all sides by personal space.

Personal space is a ay of sending message that we own the space around us (eg maybe ½ feet around us).

Function of Personal space

Baum et.al. (1984)

Protection

Communication

Influence of situation on personal space

According to Edward Hall, interpersonal distance (personal space) inform both participants and outside behavior about the nature of the participants relationship.

4 gradation of interpersonal distance which indicate a slightly different relationship between the participants: Intimate distance (0-1 ½ ft) – for comforting,

protecting, loving, etc. Personal distance (1 ½ - 4 ft) – is a zone for those

who are familiar with one another and on good terms for social interaction between friends and acquaintance.

Social distance (4-12 ft) – interaction between unacquainted individual or those transacting business

Public distance (>12 ft) – speaker & audience in a seminar room or lecturer & students in a classroom

TERRITORIALITY

What is Territoriality? Psychological definition involves behavior

and cognition related to a place.

According to Julian Edney, territoriality involves:

Physical space Possession Defense Exclusiveness of use Markers Personalization Identity Dominance Control Conflict Security Claim staking Arousal vigilance

Territoriality• Territoriality is a pattern of behavior and attitude held by an

individual or group that is based on perceived, attempted or actual control of definable physical space, object or ideas that may involve habitual occupation, defense, personalization and marking of it.

– Marking• Placing an object or substance in a space to indicate

one’s territorial intention– Personalization

• Marking in a manner that indicate one’s identity.• A territorial is a place where an individual/or a group of

individual lives exclusively and defend it from trespassers.

3 types of territory used by human (Altman system)

Primary territories Spaces owned by individuals/primary groups, controlled

on a relatively permanent basis by them and central to their daily lives. (Bedroom, kitchen, familiar dwellings)

Secondary territories Less important to us but do posses moderate significance

to their occupants (office desk, favorite restaurant, classroom)

Control of these territories is less essential to the current occupant more likely to change, rotate or be shared with strangers.

Public territories Open to anyone in the community open to outsiders

(Beach, hotel lobby, shops etc)

CROWDING

What is Crowding?The world is increasingly crowded.Examples of crowded situation:

Crowding at the personal level has an immediate impact on us. For example, give rise to frustration/aggression

Crowding refers to a person’s experience of the number of other people around.

Rather than physical ratio, crowding is a personally defined, subjective feelings that too many others are around.

Crowding may correspond to high density

3 components of crowding Crowding is based on situational

antecedent Eg. Too many people approach too

close in one area/ situation Space is reduce by the arrival of a

visitor or a new room mate Crowding implies emotion of affect,

usually negative Crowding will produce some kind of

behavioral response Ranging from overt aggressive –

withdrawing from social interaction.

The experience of crowding is accentuated by:

Personal factorsPersonality, expectation, attitude, sex

etc.Social factors

The number, type and action of others, and the degree of attitude similarity.

Physical factorsArchitectural features & spatial

arrangement

DENSITY

What is Density? Density is an objective measure of

individuals per unit of area. Density is measured by the number of

individual per unit area Measured in terms of people per sq

feet/meter The room, building neighbourhood,

cities, nation in which an individual is located all have different densities

Researchers in environmental psychology always interested to observe the impact of density on human.

Type of density Indoor density

Ratio of individuals to space inside building Prolong high indoor density often impairs

mental & physical health, task performance, child development & social interaction

Sensory overloads and lack of personal control lead to many negative outcomes

Outdoor density Ratio of individuals to space outside building High outdoor density (such as in big cities)

can provide an enjoyable variety of social & cultural experience.

Higher outdoor density is much better than higher indoor density

Ways to reduce the negative effect of high density:

Through careful environmental designPartitionsBehavioral zoning

Provide more space

Privacy

What Is Privacy?

According to Altman “Privacy is a selective control of

access to the self or to one’s group”

Thus, privacy is a process in which we attempt to regulate interaction with others including social interaction and information about the self that may be kept on a file

PRIVACY• For many people, privacy means:-

– Being apart from other people– Being sure that other people or organization do not

have access to one’s personal information.• Privacy is manifested in our behavior, preference, values,

needs and expectations.• Invasion of privacy occur when

– Someone physically intrudes on us– Someone collect information about us that we don’t

want them to have. Privacy is closely related to territoriality, crowding and

personal space. It is part of the way we speak, our non-verbal behaviour

and our psychological development (emotion, identity & sense of control)