territory and personal space

Question 1

what is territory?

Answer 1

relates to a particular location that is owned in some way and doesn’t move anywhere

Question 2

what is personal space?

Answer 2

relates to people and goes wherever they go. requirements vary according to context.

Question 3

what are territory and personal space involved in?

Answer 3

regulating our interactions with others

Question 4

what four stages of personal space did edward hall define?

Answer 4

intimate, personal, social, public

Question 5

how does gender influence personal space?

Answer 5

men interecting with other men require the largest distance, then women, then men and women

Question 6

how does age influence personal space?

Answer 6

personal space gets bigger as we grow older. people the same age tend to require less personal space.

Question 7

how does culture influence personal space?

Answer 7

distances vary, inc middle east

Question 8

how does personality influence personal space?

Answer 8

extroverts seem to require less space

Question 9

how does situation influence personal space?

Answer 9

less space needed if the interaction is friendly

Question 10

how does status influence personal space?

Answer 10

the greater the status difference, the bigger the space

Question 11

middlemist

Answer 11

found invasion of personal space can have a significant impact.
- confederate stood at urinal next to men, or one over, or was absent.
- closest distances delayed the time to start urinating and decreased how long they urinated for.
supported the arousal model- ecologically valid

Question 12

nature vs nurture

Answer 12

biological reaction from amygdala vs context dependent on upbringing and culture

Question 13

what can territory be?

Answer 13

personal or temporary.
primary, secondary, public.
there are lots of ways we indicate our ownership or temporary territory- coats, bags, beach towels

Question 14

socio-biological territory theory

Answer 14

it is a relic from our evolutionary past- but it is not seen in all cultures, suggesting it might be learned

Question 15

cognitive territory theory

Answer 15

to do with our need to categorise and simplify our world

Question 16

investigating territory

Answer 16

surprisingly hard to study.
- research had been done on beaches and libraries
- territorial markers were respected at quiet times, but when it got busier it was personal markers which were more respected.
male markers tended to be more respected than female.

Question 17

hot-desking

Answer 17

not every worker has their own desk, workers have to use any desk available at a given time.

Question 18

what does hot-desking do?

Answer 18

reduced clutter and maximises underused space- 40% of workers use this system

Question 19

what have hot-desking studies found?

Answer 19

social structures emerge, where dome employees settle in one place and others move constantly.
leads employees to identify less with the organisation, reduce morale and increase turnover.

Question 20

what is personal space like in the workplace?

Answer 20

movement away from closed plan offices into open plan- sometimes hundreds in the same room, separated by screens, filing cabinets and monitors.

Question 21

how does working close together in a high density environment affect tasks?

Answer 21

performance is impaired in complex tasks, but not simple tasks- zajonc’s social facilitation
- suggests employees need enough space not to feel overly aroused

Question 22

what is the assumption regarding office clutter?

Answer 22

that an orderly environment promotes efficiency, although this has never been empirically proven

Question 23

what did wells (2000) aim to find?

Answer 23

• do men and women personalise workspaces differently?
• is personalisation of workspaces associated with enhanced employee well-being?
• is personalisation of workplaces more important to women’s well-being than men?
• is a company’s personalisation policy associated with organisational well-being?

Question 24

what was wells’ (2000) sample?

Answer 24

small business office workers in 20 companies in orange county, california.
initially completed a questionnaire, then 23 high-personalisers and low-personalisers agreed to take part in a follow up study

Question 25

what was wells’ (2000) method?

Answer 25

seven-section survey

• workspace personalisation
• satisfaction with the physical work environment
• job satisfaction
• well-being
• employee perceptions of organisational well-being
• personality traits
• demographic information

Question 26

what was wells’ (2000) method continued?

Answer 26

case study involved recorded structured interviews with open-ended questions, which was followed up with an examination of workspace using an observation checklist. a photograph was also taken.

Question 27

what were wells’ (2000) results?

Answer 27

• men and women personalised differently. women personalised more 11.12 items vs 7.68
• women personalised with symbols of identity and emotion, and men with achievements and status
• personalisation was significantly associated with satisfaction with the work environment -> job satisfaction -> well-being

Question 28

what did wells’ (2000) results show?

Answer 28

• survey data suggested personalisation was not significantly more important to the well-being of women than men, but the interview suggested it might be.
• companies with a more lenient personalisation policy reported a more positive organisational climate, greater employee morale and reduced turnover.

Question 29

what did wells’ (2000) results support the idea of?

Answer 29

supported the hypothesis that personalisation might be associated with organisational well-being

Question 30

what did wells’ (2000) conclude?

Answer 30

• personalisation can help retain employees and increase morale
• unclear whether it is the lenient personalisation policy, or just due to more leniency in general.

Question 31

issues with wells’ (2000) conclusions

Answer 31

• findings not generalisable to large companies, but since small businesses make up 99% of american employers, the findings are applicable to majority of US workforce.
• ethocentric
• did not increase productivity

Question 32

office design strategies based on research into territory- personalisation

Answer 32

personalisation reports a greater organisational climate, employee morale and lower staff turnover.
- but personalisation does not increase productivity, which may be the biggest concern for an employer.

Question 33

office design strategies based on research into territory- other factors

Answer 33

needs of staff- male workers may need more space, harder to accommodate/need to consider economic factors.

• complex work, such as coding, may require more space
• different cultures
• light, CR, green views

Question 34

office design strategies based on research into territory- hot-desking

Answer 34

hot-desking can be stressful and demotivating, due to lack of territory. no perceived control over an area.

Question 35

office design strategies based on research into personal space- types of office

Answer 35

workers who had private offices were more satisfied with their workspace (kim and dear 2015)
open plan offices were most dissatisfied with privacy aspect of their workspace, impossible to tell if people were listening in.

Question 36

wells’ (2000) individual and situational explanations

Answer 36

• situation has a strong effect on the way people feel about their jobs, but men and women are affected differently.
• suggests men and women interact with environment in very different ways. individual options for situational explanations.