Psych 372 Environmental Psychology (7 personalspace)

8/11/2019 Psych 372 Environmental Psychology (7 personalspace)

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/psych-372-environmental-psychology-7-personalspace 1/34



Overview

•Definitions

•What are the main zones of space?

•How is personal space measured?

•How does personal space influencebehaviour?

• Applications



The Close-Talker



Just because…



Personal space

•We all know implicitly what this is

• Sommers said it’s “an area with invisible

boundaries into which intruders may not come”

•This definition doesn’t quite capture it

• Personal space is malleable

• It’s reallyinterpersonal space

• Personal space functions as a signal to others



Gradations of personal space



How to measure personal space

•Simulation

• Old methods weren’t very good

•

We don’t scale this stuff very well• Yee et al used Second Life



The Second Life metaverse



Yee measured IPD and gaze angle



Main findings•

Male-male pairs stood further apart•There was an inverse correlation betweenIPD and gaze angles



How to measure personal space

•Simulation

• Old methods weren’t very good

•

We don’t scale this stuff very well•Stop-distance method

• Bubble bursting demo



Ryan Brennan’s bubble bursting





How does personal space influencebehaviour?

•Flight responses

• We tend to move away from those who enter

personal space inappropriately

• We also show arousal and sometimes negative

affect (though this can depend….)




• Attraction

• Not surprisingly, strong gender effects

• In one study, everyone liked a female who sat close to them

more than they liked a male who sat close to them

• Elevator behaviour

• We don’t like it when we are invaded in an elevator unless it’s

crowded




•Social influence (the Lyndon Johnson effect)

• We perceivea close-talker as being more influential

but they’renot




•Group work

• When we face one another, we are more likely to

cooperate

• When we sit side by side, competition is more likely

• Generally, anything that increases the salience of

the other person will encourage cooperation.



Theories of personal space

•It begins in a zoo

• Heini Hediger

• ...hunger and love can take only second place. The satisfaction

of hunger and sexual appetite can be postponed; not so escapefrom a dangerous enemy, and all animals, even the biggest and

fiercest, have enemies. As far as higher animals are concerned,

escape must thus at any rate be considered as the most

important behavior biologically.




•Flight distance



Theories of personal space•Hediger extended this to intraspecificspacing patterns

• And many others have discussed this




• At a very general ecological level

• We are more likely to see rigid spacing rules and

defined territories when resources are well-defined

• For example, aerial predators and lemmings

•

Also intraspecific spacing mechanisms tend to bebetter developed in birds than in mammals

• Maybe because they can respond quickly and flexibly




• Strange confluence of interests and people

• Humphry Osmond - Coined the word ‘psychedelic’ and used

hallucinogens in his therapeutic work

• Also coined the words “sociopetal” and “sociofugal” as usedin your textbook along with Robert Sommers

• Found his way to Saskatchewan and worked with architect

Kiyoshi Izumi on the design of asylums



Weyburn psychiatric hospital



The four seated ladies



Izumi’s sociopetal plan




•The most influential modern model ofpersonal space suggests that spacing isgoverned by approach-avoidance

mechanisms: The affiliative-conflict theory• We want to come close to get information but we

want to stay distant to preserve freedom and be

safe




•We use compensation to bring personalcontact to equilibrium

• We saw this in the Yee study where men pushed

together increase gaze angles

• It’s also seen in natural situations




•Social penetration

• Relationships change and so equilibrium rules

don’t always apply

• If you’re attracted to someone you may reciprocate rather

than compensate, for example




• Awareness of Arousal

• The arousal generated by close contact is basically

neutral

• We are aware of the physiological arousal and we

imbue it with meaning ourselves



The neuroscience of personal space

•Parietal cellsrespond to spacearound the body

• More such cells for

close spaces

• Shape of receptive

field affected by

attention



The neuroscience of personal space• Amygdala: Patient SM





Applications

•Seating arrangements in restaurants andbars

•

Seating arrangements in libraries•Have to take into account the functions of thespace

• It’s not always a good idea to force contact



Summary

•Personal space has deep biological roots butalso shows evidence that it is learned

• Cultural differences, for example

•Most theories contain elements of approach-avoidance principles

•Personal space should influence design

Documents

Psych 372 Environmental Psychology (7 personalspace)