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Introduction To Environmental Psycology

The document provides an overview of environmental psychology including its focus on the interplay between individuals and the built and natural environment and how it examines the influence of the environment on human experiences. It discusses the nature and scope of environmental psychology, including its historical focus on the built physical environment and modern questions about housing, work environments and sustainability. It also outlines several key principles of environmental psychology such as crowding and density, territoriality, meanings of place, and environmental risks.

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Fizza Chaudhary
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48 views2 pages

Introduction To Environmental Psycology

The document provides an overview of environmental psychology including its focus on the interplay between individuals and the built and natural environment and how it examines the influence of the environment on human experiences. It discusses the nature and scope of environmental psychology, including its historical focus on the built physical environment and modern questions about housing, work environments and sustainability. It also outlines several key principles of environmental psychology such as crowding and density, territoriality, meanings of place, and environmental risks.

Uploaded by

Fizza Chaudhary
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Name: Fizza Chaudhary (05) Date: 14-02-23

Course Title: Introduction to Environmental Psychology


Assignment No. 1

Introduction
Environmental psychology as the discipline that studies the interplay between individuals
and the built and natural environment. This means that environmental psychology examines
the influence of the environment on human experiences, behavior, and well‐being, as well
as the influence of individuals on the environment, that is, factors influencing environmental
behavior, and ways to encourage pro‐environmental behavior.

Nature and Scope of Environmental Psychology


In the early period of the field of environmental psychology, much attention was given to
the built physical environment (i.e. architecture, technology, and engineering) and how it
affected human behavior and well‐being (Bones and Bonauto 2002). This focus on the built
environment was largely guided by the political and social context of the time. Modern
architecture tried to respond to post‐war challenges (Pol 2006), such as decent housing.
Questions like how homes, offices, or hospitals could best be built for their potential users
and how environmental stressors (e.g. extreme temperatures, humidity, crowding) would
affect human performance and well‐being were the focus of many environmental
psychological studies (Wohlwill 1970). Environmental psychology as a study to design
buildings that would facilitate behavioral functions was officially born.

Scope of Environmental Psychology


Environmental psychology is mainly focused on improving the work of design professionals
like architects and urban planners to optimize and improve human environments. It is
concerned with maintaining a balance between humans and their environment. This
includes studying urbanization, city planning, effects of crowing, improving slum
environments, improving work environments and office spaces, residential environments
etc. Another important aspect that expands the scope of environmental psychology is
ergonomics which is the scientific study of designing objects and spaces that are optimal for
human use.
Additionally, in recent times, tackling environmental problems like pollution, climate
change, deforestation etc. have become crucial. Environmental psychology also aims to
change behavior in ways that benefit the environment and challenge these environmental
problems while also having a good quality of life and ensuring human well-being. This leads
to the concept of sustainability which is an important principle in environmental psychology.
This is broadly the main scope of environmental psychology today.
Principals Of Environmental Psychology
Crowding and Density
Density is the ratio of individuals to an area. Crowding, on the other hand, is an individual’s
psychological reaction to density that produces emotional and behavioral responses.
Crowding has three components: behavior, emotion, and situation. As crowding levels
increase, negative behavioral changes (e.g., aggression, lower task performance,
withdrawal) and anxiety may be exhibited.

Territoriality
Territoriality refers to the ownership, exclusive use, and defense of a personal space. In
many ways, these things are experienced physically, but there may be a sense of
psychological ownership as well. Territoriality serves as a means of organizing behavior in
order to decrease violence and domination.

Meanings of Place
Place identity, sense of place, and place attachment are important components studied by
environmental psychologists because humans’ feelings of belongingness and bonding with
the physical environment are crucial to community development

Environmental Risks
Another key area of study by environmental psychology is environmental risk. The
evaluation of potential dangers of inhabited spaces is a critical component of the field, the
goal of which is to minimize risk and maximize the physical and psychological health of the
end-users.

Gentrification
Gentrification is defined as the renewal and rebuilding of deteriorating areas. Three focal
areas of gentrification are public, private, and community. Public gentrification is a
consequence of government seizure and development of an area, usually one in a significant
state of decline.

References
Steg, L., Van Den Berg, A., & De Groot, J. (2013). Environmental Psychology: An Introduction
(pp. 1-10). Sussex: British Psychological Society
Implementing Environmental Psychology Principles to Improve Community Design; Maggie
Stone, PhD, University of Louisville.

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