Journal of A/'l;hill:\;lunJ and Plannln, RCSl:8J'th27:11Spring 20101 23

FENG SHUI AND ENVIRO NMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY:A CRIT ICAL COMPARISON

MarinoBonaiutoElenaBilottaAngela Stolfo

Feng shui is a ph iloomphy of sl'liing and p lacing huildings and etements in an en vironment. II aims 10realize physical en vinmmcnn 1/1'" ('nOl/lrage well-being Ihnmgh the utiliza tion offloM'ing ('netg)",Enviro nmental ps.nhology is a scientific discip line thut studies how to de,fign environments Ihal CUt'm1 the ntJ.~ of their occupoms anti f adlilalt' their uctivities in order so promUlt' their welt-being .Allhuug h feng shui if l'('t:" popular and is used around the world. ils ttffi('1.f han.'nm been scienlifka/~1'evaluated. Objective and systemanc method:..are slill needed to II.'JI the effl.'f.'fj of feng shui on propll!Swell-being. Thi f puper starts M"ilh on Ol'('n 'ii!\ol' of the h

J(lUtllal of An:bitmlnl and Planninl! Rcscan:b27:I ISrnng 2010) 24

INTROD UCTI Ol\

In the last few years. architectural design inspired by/ eng shu; ideas has increased all over the world. Forexample. offices (e.g. ING Bank inAmsterdam). hotels (e.g.Hotel Beacon in Miami Beach). restaurarusteg.,Feng Shui Inn in london). and e..en amusement parks (e.g. Disneyland in Hong Kong) have been de..-el-oped. in part. following guidelines derived from/ eng shui.

Feng shui discipline is based on a particular vision of nature and energy. One of its fundamental principlesis the belief in the existence of a constant energetic flow between humans and their environment that isresponsible for an individual's psychophysical weltness. Therefore. the practice of/eng shui aims to selectauspicious sites and design configurations for human settlements (Rossbach. 1983). The first and mostimportant purpose o f/ eng shui is the creation of physical environments that encourage well-being throughthe utilizati on of naturalenergies. This outcome is similar to what environmental psychology aims to achievewith its tradition of scientific studies: helping to design en..ironmerns that promote well-being among theiroccupants. Environmental psychology as a field of study emerged during the late 19605and focused on therelationships and dynamics between human beha..-ior. well-being, and the sociophysical environment.

First. this article briefly summarizes the basic principles of environmental psychology and feng shui, Sec-ondly. we make a critical comparison between environmental psychology research and theory andJeng simiconstructs. focusing on two main concepts: restorativeness and control. These two aspects have beenselected as two relevant features by both environmental psychology and / eng shsi, although each disci-pline refers to different constructs and methods in approaching restorativeness and control. This allows acritical comparison among different disciplines approaching the same issue,

ENVIRO:-lMEl\TAL PSYCHOLOGY

Environmental psychology studies the relationship between people and the sociophysical features of thenatural and buill environments. Its principal aims are to enhance human well-being and improve people-environment relations (Bonnes and Carrus. 2004 ). En..ironmental psychology is the branch of psychologyconcerned with providing a systematic explanation of the relationship between people and their en..'iron-ment (Russell and Snodgrass. 1987), It attempts to achie..e these objectives through theory. research. andpractice aimed at suppon ing the design of more human-focused buildings and improving the relationshipbetween peopleand naturaland built environments (Gifford. 20(2 ),

Environmental psychology emerged as an autonomous field of study within psychological science duringthe late I%Os and early 19705. Various factors originating from the psychological research field played animportant role in the emergence and development of the discipline. Because of the influence of thesedifferent factors. environmental psychology can becharacterized by four distinctive aspects (Bonnes andCarrus.20J4 ):

( I) the attention paid to (he physical characteristics of the environment where human behavioroccurs.

(2) the large variety of research methods adopted.(3) the attention to socially relevant problems. and(4) the interdisciplinary collaboration practices with other environmental fields that are devoted to the

design and management of'eve rydey life environments.

Aftcrthe important pointmade by Lewin in 1951(e.g.Bonnes. et al.,20(3 )to stress the importanceofthe interplaybe.......een psychological processes and the sociophysical environment. the systematic study of people's interec-tions with their sociophysicalsurroundings from a psychologicalpointofview began ,..rithBarker's research onbehaviorsetting in 1968. the studieson territorialityand personal spacebyHall in I966 and Sommer in 1969. andthearticulationofenvironmentalpsychology principlesmadeby lnelson.et01,. in 1974, During thoseyears. manyempirical studieswere conduct ed 00 topics such as crowding. personal space. territorial ity, environmental cogni-tion. andenvironmentalstress. New books (e.g.Canter. 1970: lnelson, 19(0)andjoumaJs (e.g. Em'inmmenl andBehavior and JOlln/al of Em 'in mmenl(,J Psy(:/wJogy) focusing on environmental psychology were published.

Jownal of An:hlla:IUl1II and Pbnnln' R~h27:I ISpring 20101 2S

!'ON research associations and professional organizaricos ....ere esbblishcd [t'.g. the Environmen tal DesignRt=SCaI"Ch Asstll,..iation (EORA). the Environmental Psychology ~'Ction within the International Association o fApplied Ps)"Chology (lAAP l.and !he InternatKlnaJ Association of'People-EnvircomeruSrudies (lAPS)). Doctoraltraining programs were also organized, the first ofw hich was al the Cily Uni \'~ily c f'New York.

f.:-YIRO:- ' .f.:-TAL PSYCIIOLOGY RESEARCII TOPI CS

Thedynamic ofthe variety of internal andell.temal factors tjsonocs andSecchiaroh.1991) con eibcung to theemergence of psychology's specific interest in the socicphysical environment ca n be seen by co mparingthe empirica l studies carried out by environmental psychologists in varices sociocultural co ntexts. sinceeach comext .... as affected differently by internal and /or external factors. For exam ple. a num ber ofstudiesabout environments for special popu lations (e.g. the psychiatric hospitals in lnelson. 1%0) .... ere triggeredby external demands. such as designers consult ing ....ith social sc ientists . Studies about place attachmentk g. . Fried. 19631.although triggered by real-life problems such as urban relocation . were inspired by gereralpsyc hological theories and proc esses (e.g .. the attachment theory for place-attachment issues ) applied toenvironmental iss ues. These internal and external influences are also clear co nsidering the multiple para.digms and methods used in envi ronmental psychology's areas of inquiry.

Environmcntal psychology rese arch topics can be grou ped into five ge nera l do mains: spa tia l behavior.env lronmenral cognition. environmental stress and restoration . environmental assessment. and environ-mental concern and resource managemen t I Bonnes and Carrus. 201~).

Environmental psycholl,), '~ interes t in spa tial behavior focuses on the ro le played by the spatial propert iesof the en ... iron ment in shaping and regulating social interactions in e\ eryday situations. In particular. therese arch is focused on the analys is o f four majo r psychological concepts: territoriality, personal space.prj\ acy, and "..ro .... ding CSommer. 20()~ ).

Environ men tal ~ychoII,Jg)' rese arch on environmental and spa tial cogniuon is focused on the analysis o fcogmuve mapping. .... hich can bedefined as the process of men tally acqu iring. representing. storing. andusing information about the spa tial properties o f one's physical surrou ndings and the relationships be-tween its con~ti tuti\ edementsIGol !l-dge. 2lJO.* ). People's orientation. memory ofplaces. andwayfinding incomplex env ironments are all basedon cognitive-mapping processes andan: the ma in research topi cs in thisarea of inquiry.

Environmental stress is related to actual or pe rceived ad verse prope rties of the physical en vironment thatcan produce both psychologica l and physiological negative e ffects on people (Evans and Cohen. 2~).The research in this area is centered on the effec ts of environmcnta t stress on psyc hophys ica l well -bein gand individuals ' strateg ies to co pe .... ith environ menta l stressors. suc h as crow ding, no ise. pollut ion. ere.But enviro nments can have res torative functions. too : the)' ca n promote psychophysic al well-being. Re-srorauve environ ments are those that prom ote resto ration - Ihat is. allow ing peo ple 10 recover physica l.psychological. and social reso urces thai have been threatened by co ping and ada pting effo rts {Hart ig,

2 1)(~). The research in this area ca n have im portant implications for architect ural desi gn. es pec ially forarchitecture pe rtaining to hea lth-ca re facil ities .

Environmental psychology's trad ition of research on environmental assessment and appra isal (the firstbein g more place-centered. and the second more person-centered ) is focused on (I) people's evaluation andjudgment o fd ifferent kinds ofenvironments. (1) the phy sical properties o f an em ironment that arerela ted toposi tive or negative ('\aluat ions.13) the personal and group differences leading to different en ...iron menta levalua tions, and (4) the interactions bet.... een cognitiv e and alTecli\e judg men ts in the evaluation of a!>fI'.'Cific scene. .... ith particular focus on the la~ three CBooaiuto. :!:()().ll. One of the main conceptual andprecncat disputes in this area of study is the user's evaluation validity and reliability. Integra ting subjmi\ cand objecnve data represents an effort made to reduce the existin g gap between different typolog ies o fevaluation (l ' .g . expert vs, user e\ aluatiuns and Technical Envi ronmental Assessment (TEA ) \ '5 . ObserverBa"l-d En\ ironmental Assc..'S~ml..'I1tIOBEA) in Bonnes and Bonaiuto. 1995 ).

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Environmental concern and resource managem ent areas of study are related to the genera l belief that thequality of the environment has rapidly dec reased in the last decades. This phenomenon is related to thosehum an acti vities tha t ca n ca use relevant and irreversible local and g lobal changes . Environme ntalpsychology's trad ition of stud ies on this topic is focused on the psycholo gical factors that are at the baseof conservation and preservation behaviors (p ro-environmenta l attitudes and behaviors).

Ob viously, some constructs and processes are relevant across several of these fi..'e main domains. Someexamp les are the degree of control an individ ual or a group has on his/her-its surrounding environment.psychologica l processes invo lved in the development o f place attachment. and place identity.

ENVIRON MENTAL PSYCHO LOGY EMPIRICAL METH ODS

As noted above. enviro nme ntal psyc hology is characterized by a multidisciplinary nature and approac h.Th is also means that its empirical methods are influenced by mult iple sc ientific parad igm s and meth ods -each emph asizing a particularfacet of the person-en...'ironment relationshi ps (Stckols, 1995). Enviro nmentalpsychology uses a wide varie ty of methods and approaches to carry out research stud ies. Some ofthem areq uite standard social-science methods such as natura listic observation and desc ript ion. interview s. rat ingscales. and laboratory experiments . and some are material s such as videotaping or virtua l reality. Othermethods. incl uding some of those used to study perso nal space, cogn itive maps. and movement throug hbuildings, are speci fic to environmental psychology (Gifford. 2002 ).

Due to the co nce rn abou t extern al validity -c- the degree to which result s o f a study apply in contex ts thatare d ifferent from the ones where they were obtain ed - there has been an emphasis in environmentalpsycho logy to conduct field studies and/or fie ld experiments . For the latter. researchers can c laim ext ernalva lid ity because the investigation occurs in the same sett ing w here the researchers want to generalizethei r find ings. and the y control for other influences thro ugh random assignment and other features o f thescientific method . Opportunities for field ex periments are qu ite rare. so e nvironmenta l psychology re-searchers ofte n undertake field studies or sometimes laboratory expe riments. More rece nt ly. on o ne hand.the widespread applicat ion of information and communication technology (ICT) has improved the possi-b ility of gain ing rele..ant da ta sets and results within labo ratory sett ings using ICTs such as sophisti-cated simulations of real-life environme nts. contexts, and situations (e.g. immersive virtual realit y) orallow ing a massi..-e data gathering in rea l time wh ile people interact with their usual everyday-life environ-mems te.g.G PS and GIS technolog ies in Thelen and Shah. 2(07). Onthe other hand , in the last decade thegrowing body of neurosc ience knowledge. meth ods. and techniques [e.g. magnet ic reson ance imaging(MR1l] ap plied to human-environ men t inte ract ions has allowed researchers to understand neural pro-cess es accom panying psycho logical and beh avioral processes measured ... ia trad itional environme nta lpsychology methods (Stamps. 2(05 ).

Ouemneuve method s are usua lly dominant. with qualitative approaches being used eithe r as preliminaryinvestigation method s before using quantitative techniques or as the elective method for certain issues. Forexam ple. the development of perceived environmenta l-quality indicators has usua lly been approached byintegrating preliminary qualitative intervie ws with subseq uent questionnai res within the same study. Othertopics such as place attachment and enviro nmental discourse have first been approached most ly via quali-tative studies. especial ly at the beginning of their appea rance in environme ntal psychology. then later viaquantitative stud ies. Quan titative studies employ statistical analys is to dra w significant resu lts.

FENGSHUI

The term feng shu; is the transc ription of two Chinese ideograms corresponding to wind ({eng) and water(shui ). and it is so named "because it is a thing like wind. which you cannot comprehend. and like water.which you canno t grasp" (Eite l and Michell . 1873/1984 :2 ). Wind and wa ter are considered to be more thannatural forces: they are prime move rs of chi. the " universal and positive energy" that overw helms everyform ofanimate and inanimate life (Emmons. 1992; Qiao. 200 1).

JoumaI of An:hltmunl ~ Planmng Roean:h27:1 tSprIng 20101 27

The choice of wind (corresponding to energy and movement) and water (calm and repose) reflects thedualistic principle ofyin andyang. two opposite entities that attract each other andcomplete themselves.From this point ofview, space is also considered to be the result of these two opposite energies that defineits erergerc quality. whenever the balance existing betweenyin and yang (or feng and shUl) is missed.theresult is environmental discomfort. This. in tum. affects people who live. work or study in that placet Rossbach. 1983). Moreover. thechoice of the tmnsfmg andshui derives from the vision ofwind and wateras forces that shape the land.

The/ erlg shui discipline started and spread in China around 5000 B.C.. but only in the last few decadeshasit also become known andbegun to beused in SorthArncrica and Europe as a technical and methodologicaldesign system deemed to contribute to people's quality of life.

Feng shui theories promote building with complete respect for eanh and nature (Wong. 19%). Thesetheo ries principally refer to the energetic conditions (focusing on the flu."( ofchi energy) ofthe building area.and they can beappliedto any kind ofenvironment. froma single room to a whole building. a home. an office.or a shop.

Feng shui principles are recognizable in some of the main Eastern beliefs such as Taoism, Buddhism. andTantric-Tibetan philosophy, The lintfi'ng .\/lUi inspired consuucuons were sacredbuildings. like temples.tombs. and imperial residences (e,g,. the 13 tombs of 16 Ming Imperators ncar Beijing). Feng shuicxpenschoose each site according to an analysis of the astrological. symbolic, and numeric characteristics of thearea. During the design process. most of the attention is paid to integrating the building with the surround-ing: environment. One ofthe most representativeChinese constructions built according to this last principleis the Great WallofChina. It isconsidered a monumentalconstruction perfectly integrated with the environ-ment, since it follo\1o s the topography of the landform andconfers grace and majesty to the milieu withoutaltering thc environment's physiognomy IBoerschmann, 1912).

Feng shui has always been a noninstitutional discipline both in the Easternand Western world. It can beconsidered a philosophy underlying different approaches to person-enviroomeru rtlations.1t is difficult toclosely examine feng shui, since most of the original manuals Wert destroyed by the Chinese Popu larRepublic in 1949 after they declared the practice of/~ng shui illegal.

In the West. one of the first written contributions tofeng shllicarTK from Reverend Emcst J. Eitel (a Protestantmis,..ion.uJ in a Chinese colony). \10 00 in 1813 published a book about this topic entitled Feng Shui or lilt'

Rlldinlt'n'-~ of." aillral Science in ChitkJ. Currently. some in the western world seem \ 'cry interested in theapplicationofft'IIl!,shui to buildingdesign. as the examples referredto in the openingofthis papercan testify.Some Western architects USA:.feng shui for thespatial organization ofbuildings.. especially offices.and manyfollowfl.'IIl!, shui principles in designing residential environments to promote wetlness andharmony.

FliNG SIIUI PRlliCIPI.ES

Feng shui isa system ofspcc ulations and beliefs with no scientific proof-so far - of its claims. principles.and theories. Chi nux is one ofthe most imponant concepts offt'ng shui . Thepositive forceof chi permeateseverything and is the opposite of sha chi. a negative energy producing negative effects on both theenvironment and people. While chi spreads out through soft and curvilinear forms, sha chi circulatesthrough rectilinear or interrupted shapes - the so-called "secret arrows.r Tbe secret arrows can come fromnatural clements as well as built ones. Examples ofshapes that could produce sha chi include a hill or anoverhang too close to the back or the front of a building: pointed. irregular objects (~.g. . the branches ofatree or lamp posts) in front of a building's entrance: and tall buildings that throw shadows 011 other build-ings. A chi force can also transform itself into 1M chi. especially \10 hen chi movements are too fast. causingan excessive mass ofenergy Straight lines.acute angles. andpointed objects all cause a bad circulation ofchi, For example, in an apartmem, a long corridoris not recommended because it couldcause a quick nuxofchi and a lad.of positive enng)" in the \10 hole domesticenvironment. In this case.ft'ng shu; recommends theuse of mirrors, which can reflect chi and. consequently. let it flow more slowly(Rossbach. 19831.

Journal of Ar.:h ilCCCUOll and Plann ing Roean:h:!1;1 (Sl"ing :!OIOI 28

TABLE I. Aulhor 's s)"JIIhe!ii~ of lh< meanings o f lhc" five l':kmenlS in feng shui.Wood Fire Earlh Me ta l Wal er

East Sou lh Ce nte r wesr NOrl h

Spring SumrTM,.'f Lale Summ

.IounuIl or An;hilCaunl and Plannin g Rc,;o:an;h27:1 ISpnng 20 101 29

cine as the equivalent of. for example. natural electromagnetic waves. Hartmann's knots. or geopathogenicL~, These comparisons have permitted some scientific examination ofchi . but most of the lime they havepro\"en problematic. In fact experts' evaluations about the existence of this enagy and its influence onhuman well-being are discordaru. Furthermore. the debate on this subject has often become ill-informed andseriously unbalanced [Hwangbo. 2001 ).

A frequent correspondence that has been proposed is the one between feng shui and geobiology, aninterdisciplinary field of scientific research investigating life in the contextof system Earth.pastandpresent,Geobiotogical research domains an:' environmental problems ofglobal scale. historic-geological issues. andextraterrestrial wotids ll'oflle. 1005). The homogeneity of thc Earth 's magnc1ic field can bealtered by. forexample. underground running water, geologjcal crepes (faults). and reticular magnetic fields called"Hartmann gridsI Ros. 1'191'). The Ilanmann grid is made ormesbes mea...uring 1 meters (b.b feet. north-south oriented 1by 2.5 meters (K.2 feet. east-west oriented). The point where the lines intersect is known asthe "Hertrnann knot" {If "geopathcgenic zone' and is considered to hehad for human health. Its effects areworse ifit corresponds to underground running water or a geological anomaly (e.g. natural gas or faults)(Diltenseger. 19921. Gcopat hogcn points have been considered. in some cases. to be the equivalent ofsha('hi energy (!\klctani. IQQ7). In literature. there arc contributions confirming the negative effects ofgeopathogenic zones on human well-being andactivitics. tn perticular.t hcy may cause irritability. insomnia.fatigue. depres sion. anxiety.and diminished immune function IMarchese. 1997). Astudy showed that sub-jee rs preferred the / I'ng shui landscapes rather than the non~rt'ng shui landscapes . but this preference didnot reach statistical significance IKe Tseng. 2(04), To measure the preferences. self-rating questionnairescontaining scales for five slates of emotion. two types ofcognitive functioning. and two kinds of preferencewen: used before and after subjects saw / elll: shui and non:ftnR shu; landscapes,

It is also importa nt 10 note that the studies are often published in j eng shu; journals. and the scientificvalidity of the research isoften compromised. MOSI ofthe time. they are conducted without proper scientificmethodologies and instruments.

A CO'lPARATIVE "," ALYSIS: FEAG SHut A:\D E:\V IRO:\ '1E:\TAL PSYCIIOLOGY

In the western world, there is a growing tendency to apply j eng shu; principles and guidelines to thedesignprocess. In particular. the spread ofenvironmentalist ideas has facilitated a general awareness andculturalopenness to different ways ofco nceptualizing the environment and the well-being of its occupants (Bonnesand Bcnaiuto, 20021. This :eitg,.i.~1 has contributed to the rise of broad interests in different forms ofenvironmental thinking. \II hetber or not scientifically based. from em'ironmentallysustainable developmentto New Age.a form of'anemetive spirituality and ahemative religion characteristic ofthe late 20th century.Moreover. the intuitive correlat ion existing between bioarchitccture and f eng shu; (Res, 1998) made theapplication ofsome jeng :../II/i principles to building design appear plausible. Although the positive effectsoffing shuton human well-being are not yet scientifically demonstrated. there are many assertions comingfromfi."g shui experts promulgating its multiple advantages. such as overcoming hidden ills or maximizingcomfort through the modification crone's living environment (Rossbach. 19871. Others claim combiningj eng shu; and architecture helps the designer to achieve an efficient system ofcirculation and planning. anon-aggressive structural system. an interior conducive to living and working. and an appropriate sitewhere e\C1')' structure is in harmonywith its slllTOUOding environment (l ip. 1993).

Several characteristcs of CIl\'ironmental psychologyare embedded within design guidelinessuggestedby feng.~hui. Theprincipal aim ofen\ ironmental~)'Chology is thedesignofenvironmentsto facilitatehwnan activitiesthaImoet: the Rn"ds ofthciroa :upantsandpromoIC' their wd~bcing (Bonaiuto.2004;Giffon12002).Thus.. a broadpointofcoeiectbetween l'TWironmentalpsycho$ogy andjmgshu; is~1I.'d byanawarenessof the multipleintleerces thephysical environmentcan ha\ c on hwnan feelingsand well-bring. On theomer hand. infrng shu;'theinll~ofan environmenton poopIe is l3f\,>dy deterministic. People: hing. working.or studying jn a physicalsetting are consKkTOO 10 be passive victims of CT1vironmental charnct.eristics. This perspective is replaced inenvironmental psychology by the fOl,."US on the interactive natureof the people-envircoreem relationship. whichviews physical settings as a vehicle10promote hwnan effectiveness and well-being. Withinthis perspective.the

Journa l of ArrlIiteclllTa[ and Planning Resean:h17:1 (Spri ng 10 101 30

physical environment provides a range ofopportunities (or constraints ) that interact with theindividual capabili-ties(or deficits]ofpeople. For example. thephysical fonn ofa building obviously influences wayfinding behavior.However, one 's fam iliarity with the specificbuilding or. more generall y, personal wayfindin g skills are going tomoderat e the link between building form and wayfinding.

Although this bas ic difference betweenf eng shu; and contemporary environmental psycho logy in terms ofarchitectural determinism ex ists . there are at least two points ofconvergence between these two disciplines :res torativenes s and co ntro l,

RESTORATI VENESS

The res torative qualities of an environment define the potential ofdesign ele ments to function therapeut i-ca lly, reducing cognitive fatigue and suess t f ..-ans and McCoy. 199 8), Resto rative des ign e lements such aswindow views. burn ing fireplaces. and various di splays (e.g. . aquariums and moving water ) can function asa copi ng reso urce that can help building occupants alter their balance between environmental demands andperson al reso urces (Coss, 1973 ). Moreevet, certain types of se mngs. such as religious sanctuaries. hos pi-tals. and othe r therapeut ic faci lities. are explicitly designed with res torative intents . Such settings speci fi-ca lly ai m to upl ift the human spirit and promote heal ing (E ...ans and McCoy. 1998 ).

In litera ture. part icular importance is given to the restora tive ro le played by direct co ntact with naturalelements. as we ll as views ofnature Glarngand Evans, 1993: McCoy and Evans. 2005 ). Indeed. the impor-tance ofa natural .... iew from a window has bee n verified by numero us stud ies. including ones on measuresof perceived stress. environmental satisfaction. psychologica l symptoms. and physio logica l processessuch as blood pressure (e.g .. Kaplan. et 01. 1988; Ulrich. 1984 ). For example. in a well-known study on post-surgery pat ients. the pa tients with visua l access to a gree n area (rather than to a wall ) fro m thei r windowdemonstrated shortened recovery lime. reduced use of analgesics. redu ced negative comments from hos pi-ta l pe rsonnel. and reduced post-surgery complica tions (Ulri ch. 1984 ). Studies have also de monstrate d thatphysiolog ica l stress is attenuate d by contact with nature (Hartig. et 01,. 2003 ), On the bas is of thes e andother results. des ign guidel ines reco mmend building users have co ntac t with green areas (e.g. views.acces s to a garden) in order to improve environmental satisfact ion and red uce stress.

In a parall el vein. one feng shu; construc t is the restorative andhea ling property ofan en vironment. Infengshui, as in environmental psychology. access to a green area from a window or the presence of plan ts in aroom such as an office . is co nside red very useful for people 's well-be ing. since it can produ ce positiveenergies. According lo f eng shui, plan ts can solve man y interior problems. For example. when placed in acomer, they allow chi to rise and circulate. and when placed ata protruding comer. they shield the room fromsharp edges (Rossbac h. 19831. Feng shu; also sugges ts using aquari ums or fou nta ins to enhance theres torative properties of an envi ron ment, since fro m its phi losophical point o f view, water is co nsidered apuri fying element that ca n rege nera te energy. tum a negative force into a positive one. and contrast thenegative e ffects ofthe secret arro....s (Coss. 1973 ),

CONTROL

Contro l ca n be defined as mastery o f the physica l environment or the abili ty to either alter the phys icalenvironment or regulate the exposure to one 's own surroundings (Evans and McCoy, 1998 ). Contro l isconsidered one of the most important d imens ions of the people-environment relationship and is o ftenassociated with high levels o f environmenta l satisfacti on. In a work en vironment, for example. some d ifferentways o fexerting co ntro l are adj usting temperature or illuminat ion. opening or closing a win dow or door, andregulating privacy and soc ial interactions . These conditions are often associated with higher level s ofenvi ronmental and job sa tisfaction expe rienced by workers (Bonaiuto, et 01.2(04 ).

On the other hand. lac k o f control is often associated with stress [Evans and Coo",-n. 1987). and it threatens theindividual m,,,..d to effectively interact with interior space t lt edge. 19911, Moreo ver; prolonged experiences with

Journal of Af\,hn1UnI1 UMI Planmntt R~h21:IISpring20 IO) 31

uncontrollable envi ronmental conditions are associated with learned helplessness (Cohen.e, 0/. 1986).There-fore. lack o f control can have nega tive con sequences on user's health. This is why design ~jddines o ftensuggest paying particular attention to the' flexibility andrespooso eness of me environment, as well as the'

im~ o f privacy- theability to regulate social interaction [Evans andfl.kCoy. 1998).

Thedimension of control also plays an imponam role in j enx 5hlli d iscipline. In faet.jmg 5hul's des ignguide lines stress the influence of percepuon ofcon trol on human well-being and psychophys tcal balance.Concerning the design oflolooR environments. for eu mple.jenx shui suggests locat ing the des k in a pos irionwhere it is always possi ble 10control u ie door. if th is is not poss ible. it suggests plac ing a mirror so that itreflects anyonc entering. According 10 jenx shui; most offices should also ha...e a door 10 maintain con trolover social interaction. Moreover, windowed doors are considered less optima l. since everyone en tering cans the occupant first. thus puttin g him Of her on the de fensive (Rossbac h. 1983). According to jeng shui,lack ofcon trol is considered stress ful and affects the energetic equilibrium o f an em-ironment and . conse -quently, thai of its occupants.

CO:-;CLUSI01'/S

Despite the fact that fi'nx .\h ui's guidelines have been (and continue to be') used for the des ign of manybuildin gs all over the world. there is no sc ientific e .... idence substantiat ing its influence on peo ple. On theother hand. even though environmental psy chology 's design guidelines are based on em pirica l evidenceand belong to a trad ition of stud ies focu sed on the complex relat ionship between the person and theenvironment. they' are not near ly as popular as those o f/eng "~huj. Therefore. further developments shouldaim. on the one hand. to scie ntifically test / eng shui principles and. o n the other hand. to disseminate betterthe environmental psychologica l knowledge 10 hdp des igners improve human well-being, sat isfaction, andperformance.

Thecomparison between these two disciplines has underlined some contact points among them. in sp ite o fthe profound differences in their approaches to research and 10 person-environment relationshi ps. Manyquestions remai n about lolo hy /eng sh ui has beenso successful in application. wh ile env iron mental psycbol-og)" has been less successful. Perhaps il is because environmental psychology is less fashiona ble or lessfasc inating. since no my-stery is involved in its practice . Des ign guide lines o ffered fromj eng shui are oftenstraigh tforward andclear. offering qu ick andeasy solutions that anyone can use 10sol ve des ign dilemmas.The presence of numerous handbooks and guides about fi'ng slm;'s application to da ily environmentsfacilitates the: approach 10 the d iscipl ine. Anyone can consult a frng shui fast-guide and try to appl)' someeasy rules " Rut this still does not mean thai the underl ying principles. methods . and consequences ofj eng,\ /lIIi are clea r or well understood. In other words. a cri tica l assessme nt of/eng shui is still needed . Objectiveand systematic method s could be used 10 scie ntifica lly lest the validity and con sequences o ffi."g "{hili. andto bener integrate it within the contemporary Western culture:"

AI the sa me time. the: contributions of environmenta l psyc hology 10 design sho uld be made mo re: under-standable. in part icular. to the general public. The guidelines that come from envi ronmental psycho logicalresearch should be better explained and more affordable in prac tice in order to promote the spread o f thediscipline and to improve awa reness about scie ntific laws and models. wh ich help our understand ing ofperson-en vironment rela tionships.

For the lime being, however.enviro nmental psychology's knowled ge and guidelines shou ld beconsideredmore seriou.

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Add itional informat ion may be obtained by writi ng directly 10 Professor Marino Boneiutc at SapienzaUniversity of Rome. Department of Psychology of'Developmen tal and Socialization Processes. Via del Marsi78-00 185. Rome. Italy:email: marino.bonaiuto@.uniroma l .il

ACKNOWLEDGMEIiTS

We lin' graleful Iv Prolc-.\oOI" Gat) W. [\ans for his critical feedback on arl it!" dnIfu of th is manuscripl.

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

Man no BonaiulO IS Bead of tIM: U':ranmnll of ~dlology of {k\elopm.:rll.aJ and Social inllion Processes aI Sapim.zaUni\m< lly of Rome:. Italy. HIS man;h inten:'SlS he in tIM: fields of cn,ironmnllal psy

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TITLE: Feng Shui and Environmental Psychology: A CriticalComparison

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