ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY: PERSONAL SPACE, TERRITORIALITY, CROWDING; INDIAN RESEARCH ON CROWDING AND PERSONAL SPACE

1. APPLIED
PSYCHOLOGY
ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY:
PERSONAL SPACE, TERRITORIALITY,
CROWDING; INDIAN RESEARCH ON
CROWDING AND PERSONAL SPACE
NIVEDITA MENON. C
29/07/2021

2. ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
 Environmental psychology is the study of transactions between
individuals and their physical settings.
 In these transactions, individuals change the environment, and
their behaviour and experiences are changed by the environment.
 Environmental psychology includes theory, research, and practice
aimed at improving our relationship with the natural environment
and making buildings more humane.
 The field defines the term environment broadly, encompassing
natural environments, social settings, built environments, learning
environments, and informational environments.

3. PERSONAL SPACE
 Personal space is a body buffer zone that people maintain
between themselves and others.
 It refers to the invisible bubble we all cany around us which
defines how close we will approach other people and how close
we will allow people to approach us. It is important when we
interact with others.
 We all have a certain amount of personal space and it varies from
situation to situation. We are very much aware about the personal
space. We always behave with others considering our personal
space.

4.  The notion of personal space is derived primarily from the ideas
of anthropologists E.T. Hall and the psychological investigations
of Little (1965).
 Hall (1961) conceived personal space as a series of spatial
spheres (bubbles) with the individual person as their center.
 These concentric circles or personal space zones are labelled as
• intimate (0-1 8" distance)
• causal - personal (18-48" distance)
• social-consultative (48-144" distance)
• public domain
 Each of them above defines the kinds of interpersonal encounters
and behaviours which occur within its confines.

5.  The amount of personal space required for any given person is
subjective.
 It also depends on how well you know the other person. The more
intimate the relationship, the less personal space is involved.
 Thus, the Personal space is the region surrounding a person which
they regard as psychologically theirs.
 Invasion of personal space often leads to discomfort, anger, or
anxiety on the part of the victim.
 In 1966 Anthropologist Edward Hall identified four different
zones of personal space Americans like to keep around them.

6. i. Intimate distance: This extends roughly 18 inches (46 cm) from
the individual and is reserved for family, pets and very close
friends.
ii. Personal distance: This extends 1.5 to 4 feet (0.46-1.2m) is
reserved for friends and acquaintances. A handshake will
typically place strangers at least 2 to 4 feet (0.6 1-1.2m) apart,
preserving the personal distance.
iii. Social distance: This extends from about 4 to 12 feet (1.2-3.7m)
and is used for formal, business and other impersonal
interactions such as meeting a client.
iv. Public space: This extends more than 12 feet (3.7m) and is not
guarded. Secret Service agents will commonly attempt to ensure
12 feet (3.7m) of open space around dignitaries and high-
ranking officials.

8.  Personal space has changed historically together with the
boundaries of public and private in European culture since the
Roman Empire.
 Personal space is also affected by a person's position in society
with more affluent individuals demanding a larger personal space.
 A number of relationships may allow for personal space to be
modified and these include familial ties, romantic partners,
friendships and close acquaintances.

9.  Certain important points emerge in regard to personal space and
bubble.
 Personal space is a mechanism of communication and it cannot be
understood independently from other aspects of non-verbal
communication such as orientation, touch and eye contact.
 Personal space is an infinitely flexible mechanism, which is
influenced by a wide range of cues in the situation, our personal
characteristics, the nature of the relationships and our social and
cultural experience.
 Gender difference has a significant role for measuring personal
space and it varies in connection with time and space.
 Situational effects on personal space have tended to focus on the
social rather than the physical setting.

10.  It is important to be aware that the invisible bubble which refers
personal space can expand or shrink.
 We all construct certain amount of personal space that is
appropriate between ourselves and other people in a range of
situation.
 The personal space spans a vast continuum which is determined
by a number of factors.
 An understanding of personal space is important.
 Generally, people in competition will select a smaller
interpersonal distance unless the competition requires
interpersonal contact.

11. Factors Affecting Personal Space
i. Wide range of cues in the situation
ii. Our personal characteristics
iii. The nature of the relationships
iv. Our social and cultural experience
 Gender and age differences are a couple of the influencing factors
in connection with personal space.
 Another important factor is cultural differences.

12.  Hall suggested that while all cultures use personal space to
communicate and tend to conform to the different categories, the
size of the space within the categories varies across cultures.
 For example, Eye contact, touch and different types of non-verbal
communication etc. are the significant factors behind personal
space.
 Extraverted and gregarious persons tend to require smaller
personal space, while cold and quarrelsome people require a large
interpersonal distance.

13. TERRITORIALITY
 Territoriality is closely related to personal space.
 According to Altman and Chemers (1980) territory can be divided into
three types:
 Primary Territory: this refers to space that is felt to be owned by an
individual or an interdependent group on a relatively permanent basis
and it is within their daily lives. Home is a primary territory.
 Secondary Territories: these are generally less important to the person
and are likely to be only owned on a temporary basis. The difference
between primary and secondary territory mainly depends on the
individual's perception of its importance to them.
 Public Territories: these are more distinct in that they don't belong to
any person and are generally accessible to anyone, for example a sea
beach, a public park, jogging park…

14.  Humans define particular boundaries of the physical environment
and assume the right to determine who can and who cannot move
across these boundaries.
 Each and every individual requires a minimum space in order to
survive.
 Territorial behaviour is instrumental in the definition and
organization of various role relationships.
 In many instances, a social or occupational role establishes who
can use and control a given space and who cannot.
 A type of temporary territoriality exists when places are
personalized for brief periods in pursuit of some defined activity.

15.  Overall picture reveals that man's spatial relations transcend
physical boundaries. At the one moment, we occupy our own
property, at other times; we have rights in someone else’s.
 Public space such as a park or a portion of beach is shared by
many but may be territorialized on the basis of "first come".
 Thus, it can be said that control of space is not absolute, people
occupy so many kinds of places at different times that they are
continually adjusting territorial relationship with others.
 The positive side of territoriality is;
• regulating people's interaction
• helping to establish some sense of control in an increasingly
complex environment. These should not be underestimated.

16. CROWDING
 Crowding is a psychological state that occurs when a person
perceives the number of people in the environment to be
exceeding one’s preference (Stokols 1972).
 The same density level may be experienced as more or less
crowded because of individual differences (e.g., culture,
personality, gender, age) or situational factors (e.g., temporal
duration, activity, private versus public space).
 Crowding makes it difficult to regulate social interaction,
limits behavioural options, and leads to invasions of
personal space.

17.  Laboratory studies show that crowding elevates physiological
stress: the longer people experience crowding, the greater the
elevations.
 For example, crowding elevates skin conductance, blood
pressure, and stress hormones.
 Studies have shown household crowding as an important source
of chronic stress.
 Living in a crowded home is also negatively associated with
multiple aspects of child well‐being, even after controlling for
several dimensions of socioeconomic status (SES).

18.  There is a significant harmful effect of household crowding on
academic achievement, on external behaviour problems and on
physical health of children.
 When people feel crowded, they also experience psychological
stress: they show negative affect, tension, anxiety, and nonverbal
signs of nervousness such as fidgeting or playing with objects
repetitively.
 Crowding is consistently associated with social withdrawal, a
coping mechanism characterized by reduced eye contact, greater
interpersonal distancing and more pronounced inhibition in
initiating a conversation.
 Social withdrawal in turn may hamper such protective factors for
mental health as development and maintenance of socially
supportive relationships.

19.  Gender can moderate crowding stressor effects.
 In general, men show stronger physiological reactions to
crowding than women, such as elevated blood pressure.
 Also, women living in crowded homes are more likely to be
depressed, while men report higher levels of withdrawal, and
some males respond with both aggression and withdrawal.
 Hypothetically, gender differences in reactions to crowding could
stem from men having larger personal space zones than women,
or these differences could be due to men having fewer affiliative
tendencies, and thus less tolerance for crowding, than women.

20.  Crowding is closely related to personal space and territoriality.
 People feel crowded because their territory and personal space is
being invaded by others.
 Crowding refers to our experience of the number of people in a
given setting and is a subjective psychological concept.
 The importance of the distinction lies in how useful each concept
is in predicting behaviour and experience.
 Let us say a person goes to a park where he is maintaining his
personal space according to his own by sitting in a bench.
 At first, there was none in the bench, two or three people came
and wanted to sit in the same bench.
 As this is the public territory, the person is unable to say no. After
sometime, another two or three people came and started to talk
each other. Then the place becomes crowded.

21. INDIAN RESEARCH ON CROWDING AND
PERSONAL SPACE
 Studies of crowded homes in India and the United States found
social hassles associated with psychological symptoms of distress
and ill health and found that perceived control and social support
mediated these links.
 While seeking privacy may be a common response to distress,
satisfaction with privacy appeared distinct from satisfaction with
space.
 On the other hand, a study of group residences also found solitude
an aversive experience, for reasons unrelated to environment.