UNIT 5 SPATIAL 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. Environment Built setting Homes, offices, schools, streets etc. Natural setting National park, wilderness areas, etc.

Elements in the environment includes:- Human, animals, plants, building Stimulus in the environment such as noises, weather, heat etc. Our environment can bring Positive impact on us (eg. Soft music) Negative impact on us (heat) Human are more sensitive about the environment that they live in.

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

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

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 Interpersonal distance (personal space) inform both participants and outside behavior about the nature of the participants relationship (Edward Hall) 4 gradation of interpersonal distance which indicate a slightly diff relationship between 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 Dominance Conflict Security Claim staking Arousal vigilance Identity Control

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

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 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 factors Personality, expectation, attitude, sex etc. Social factors The number, type and action of others, and the degree of attitude similarity. Physical factors Architectural features & spatial arrangement

DENSITY

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 neighborhood, 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 design Partitions Behavioral zoning Provide more space

Privacy

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

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