Environmental Psychology

Dr. Sachita Passi Sabharwal

 UNIT 1
Introduction to Environmental Psychology
Descriptors/Topics

 Concept of Environment: Physical,

Social and Institutional

 Origin & Scope

Methods to study the environment

 We Do Not Live in a Vacuum

In every moment of our lives, we are in

one place or another, interacting with and
within that place.

Environmental psychology is the science

and practice for understanding and
optimizing these crucial transactions.
Definition
Environmental psychology is the study
of how we, as individuals and as part of
groups, interact with our physical
settings—how we experience and change
the environment, and how our behavior
and experiences are changed by the
environment.
CONTINUE
Environmental Psychology consist of
both natural and built settings, that
is, natural resources, parks, homes,
workplaces, public spaces, from the
personal scale to the room, building,
neighborhood, urban, wilderness, and
global scales.
INTRODUCTION
Environmental psychology (EP) is a relatively new field
—about 50 years old now—that has grown rapidly in
response to the declining health of the natural
environment and the need to design buildings that better
reflect the needs of their users.

One of its primary goals is to understand individuals’

transactions with their environments, and to use this
knowledge to influence policies that help promote
sustainable behavior and create more livable and green
built environments.
CONTINUE
The field is psychological in that it focuses on the
thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors of individuals and small
groups in relation to their environment.

Among other things, environmental psychologists examine

how our transactions with our work environment are
related to our satisfaction and productivity, how our
transactions with our home environments are connected to
our well-being, and how natural environments promote
mental health.
Environmental psychologists work at three levels of analysis

(a) Fundamental psychological processes like perception of

the environment, spatial cognition, and personality as they
filter and structure human experience and behavior.

(b) The management of social space: personal space,

territoriality, crowding, and privacy, and the physical setting
aspects of complex everyday behaviors, such as working,
learning, living in a residence and community.

(c) Human interactions with nature and the role of

psychology in climate change (Gifford, 2008a).
CONTINUE…
The history of environmental psychology has been reviewed
elsewhere (see Bechtel & Churchman, 2002, Bell, Greene,
Fisher, & Baum, 2001, and Gifford, 2007a). But, for
perspective, we note that early 20th century psychologists
studied the effect of noise (United States) and heat (England)
on work performance, while scholars in Germany and Japan
explored concepts and moral philosophy related to
environmental psychology.

By mid-century, environmental psychology was a clearly

established discipline with work on topics such as sensory
isolation, personal space, and building design.
History Of Environmental Psychology
In the 1960s the scientific study of the psychological effects of the
human made environment began, largely motivated by a concern for the
deterioration of human environments (Proshansky et al. 1970). Research
strategies in environmental psychology were first outlined by Craik
(1968), based on the dominant strategy in personality assessment.
Measurement issues were naturally at the forefront in the early research
in environmental psychology.

In particular, it was necessary for progress that methods were developed

to assess physical settings outside the psychological laboratory as well as
to assess how people react to such settings. Important substantive
research problems were originally defined by design professionals whose
training made them. sensitive to many subtle effects of the designed
environment on human behaviour.
CONTINUE..
They used this knowledge in designing environments.
However, in the face of criticism they became concerned
about the scientific basis of their work. Social scientists
observed a decline in the quality of urban life. To
physiological psychologists this opened up new meaningful
research problems of how health and well-being are related to
the physical environment.
Cognitive psychologists became concerned about the
ecological validity of their research in environmental
psychology and explored the possibility for investigating the
acquisition, representation, and use of everyday knowledge of
the physical environment.
Continue…
Social psychologists saw in environmental psychology a way
out of the laboratory to do meaningful research in the real
world. The new focus on the physical environment did not
stop social psychologists from analysing the social
environment. They offered conceptualisations in which the
physical environment is presupposed to interact with the
social environment in shaping human behaviour.

The history of environmental psychology as well as its

current status is documented in a series of comprehensive
reviews published in Annual Review of Psychology
(Sundstrom et al. (1996).
CONTINUE..
Environmental psychology is the study of transactions between
individuals and their physical settings (Gifford, 2007a).

In these transactions, individuals change their environments, and their

behavior and experiences are changed by their environments. It includes
theory, research, and practice aimed at making the built environment more
humane and improving human relations with the natural environment.

Considering the enormous investment society makes in the physical

environment (including buildings, parks, streets, the atmosphere, and
water) and the huge cost of misusing nature and natural resources,
environmental psychology is a key component of both human and
environmental welfare.
CONTINUE..
A new area developed within the field of psychology
at the end of the 1950s and during the 1960s which
was termed Environmental Psychology in the U.S.

Although the field is now most frequently identified

as Environmental Psychology there are still other
designations that remain, such as – Ecological
Psychology and Architectural Psychology.
CONTINUE…
One of the most important initiatives was taken in 1958 with
the formation of a research group by William Ittelson and
Harold Proshansky at the City University of New York.

The purpose of this group was to study how the spatial or

architectural setting of a psychiatric hospital can affect the
patient’s behavior.

Ittelson introduced the term Environmental Psychology for

the first time in New York in 1964 at the conference of the
American Hospital Association On Hospital Planning.
SCOPE OF ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
The environment is taken to refer to anything external to the perceiver
which influences or might influence the perception process.

Environment influence the behavior through their symbolic meaning.

The symbolic meanings and motivational messages emitted by an
environment are integral to our perception of it.

Environmental perception involves activity on our part , especially in

terms of exploring the environment to determine what needs it meets.
Every environmental setting induces feelings, associations and
attitudes in the perceiver that can be described as it’s ambience.
Another important characteristic of the environment which influences
the human behavior is it’s aesthetic quality.
CONTINUE..
Another important environmental factor influencing man is
the weather. It has an impact on health related variables.

1. There is a relationship between good health and high /

rising barometric pressure and bad health and low/ falling
pressure.
2. Most accidents occur during phases of deteriorating or
storming weather.
3. Seasonal pattern of suicide occurs during the three summer
months in most of the countries studied.
CONTINUE…
4. Weather variables is also related to pattern of admission to
mental hospitals. Natural disasters also have an impact on human
behavior and mental well – being , especially of the survivors and
the family members of the deceased.

They result in stress, anxiety, depression , unfocussed anger,

nightmares and a range of other mood/perceptual disturbances
including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD) that may lead to
continuous emotional problems. Humans react both consciously
and unconsciously to the area in which they live and work. Their
environment, whether it be natural or man made, has a profound
effect on:  feelings,  behaviors,  general health issues, and 
productivity.
CONTINUE..
The environmental approach is multidisciplinary
in character.
Environmental psychology is also concerned with
social problems.
It adopts a humanistic orientation in recognition of
the fact that in dealing with the environment,
humans crucially affect not only the earth on which
they live, but others who share it with them.
CONTINUE..
At one extreme, humans explore living, with its relation to housing
pattern, crowding, stress factors and social identity. At another
extreme the natural environment is studied as. both a problem area,
with respect to environmental degradation, and as a setting for
fulfilling certain recreational and psychological.

Environmental psychology also studies some basic psychological

processes. The important area which it studies is the role of
perception which is a crucial element in the man environment
interchange. In other words, every individual perceives and
experiences the world in his or her unique ways.
Concept of Environment: Physical, Social and Institutional

MAN-Environment Relationship

Three prelevant views regarding relationship between man

and the environment (Wohlwill,1973). These viewpoints
range from person dominated and environmental
determinism to interactive and dynamic interplay between
man and his surrounding environmental features.
Environmental determinism refers to the external
forces dictate the range of responses and require a
person to behave in a specific manner.
Person-Environment Relationship
Concept of Person and of Environment Central to the person-in-
environment system with respect to levels of integration is the
assumption that the person is comprised of mutually defining
physical/biological (e.g., health), psychological (e.g., self esteem),
and sociocultural (e.g., role as worker) aspects; and the environment
is comprised of mutually defining aspects, including physical
(natural and built), interpersonal (e.g. friend, spouse), and
sociocultural (rules of home, community, and culture) aspects.

Thus, unlike Stokols (1987) who appears to have equated context

with situational moderator variables, our approach assumes that
context systematically encompasses all aspects of the person-in-
environment systems.
Continue…
The second kind of environment person
relationship can be described as
possibilism. Certain qualities of the
physical environment are associated with
approach or avoidance behaviour.

The third kind of relationship is one in

which the environment features serves as
motivating force.
Three important features/facets to form a
relationship are as follows:
1.Affective and Attitudinal responses to
environmental features.
2. Approach and Avoidance responses to various
characteristics
of the environment.
3. Adaptive processes to environmental attributes.
Much of research on environment and behaviour has
discussed the adaptation process in response to
features of the physical environment like noise,
temperature and pollution
CONTINUE..
Man-environmental interaction between human point of
view can be subsumed under two major categories.
In the adjustive-accommodative relationship the
available environmental resources are used to satisfy the
survival needs of the individual.
For example, houses are constructed in those areas that
are beyond the reach of flood water. Thus, in this type of
person/environment interactions individual is dependent
on nature with maximum amount of accommodation and
minimum amount of manipulation.
CONTINUE…
In the manipulative-exploitative interaction there is
maximal human effort for subjugating and conquering the
nature to satisfy the human needs and wants.

The focus is on maximum gains in favor of individuals

and disregarding the injury that has been caused to nature.

The dumping of industrial wastes and garbage, air

pollution are some examples of such kind of
relationships.
Four fold classification focusing on the relationship
between person and environment
Altman and Rogoff (1987) the four fold classification deals with
the trait, interaction, organism and transactional perspectives.
1. The trait approach focuses on individuals and de-
emphasizes the role of environmental features and contexts.
This approach has received limited attention from environmental
psychologists.
2. The interactive perspectives are prevalent in contemporary
environmental psychology and require elaborate attention. The
dominant focus of interactional approach is on relationships
between environmental features, which are usually treated as
predictors, and behavioral and psychological variables as
outcomes.
CONTINUE…
3. The Organism approaches take a unit of study the
qualities of a holistic system and emphasize on
reciprocal and complex patterns of relationships
between various elements of the integrated system.

4. The transactional approach to study the

environmental-behaviour relationship is advocated by a
number of scholars by largely because field of
environmental psychology stresses on molar physical
aspect of the environment.
CONTINUE…
Patterns of behaviour are inextricably linked with
the physical and social environment and can be
understood only when viewed in a continuous and
elaborate flow and temporal context.

The transactional model provides a framework in

which the individual is seen as the active recipient
and can influence the environment by personal
actions.
CONTINUE..
The transactional approach deals with
Approaches to deal with integrity of the person
Psychological processes
Environmental context not as a separate element but as
mutually interlocked aspect of the whole.
Whereas, the temporal dimensions are intrinsically
linked with the whole to describe and understand the
stability and change in the phenomenon.
CONSTRUCT OF ENVIRONMENT
The construct of environment is profusely used both in
biological and social sciences. Each discipline defines it
according to its unique requirements and theoretical
perspectives.

Environment as a construct is multifaceted and has been

extensively used by contemporary scholars in psychology.
A variety of terms has been used to describe the person-
environment into two types – the built or designed
environment and natural environment.
CONTINUE…
A small scale aspect of the built environment may focus on
the rooms of the buildings, arrangement of furniture in the
room.
Various aspects of the built environment have generated
considerable attention of the environmental psychologists
because the built features have resulted in promoting or
inhibiting socially desirable or undesirable behavioral
patterns.
The environmental psychologists also recognize the role of
social and interpersonal factors that influence the response of
the individuals to the physical environment.
Features of Environmental Psychology
A holistic approach-
The approach of environmental psychology is a dynamic and
holistic rather than reductionist.
A reductionist approach is analogous to trying to complete
jigsaw from individual pieces with no idea of what complete
picture looks like.
In contrast, the holistic approach focuses on complex pattern of
reciprocal relationship between person and the environment
components.
An implicit principle underlying the global perspective is that
researcher is dealing with person-environment units in which
unidirectional links between various components.
Continue…
An Interactive Perspective
Lewin (1951) behaviour is a function of the person, the
environment and the interaction between the two is accepted
in environmental psychology.

B=P+E

The equation states that behaviour is function of the person,

the environment and the interaction between the two are
referred as person-in-context approach to understanding
behavior.
Methods to study the Environment
The ultimate goal of the researcher is development of a theory that
explains the cause and effect relationship among found variables.

However, there are various problems and number of

methodological issues that can threaten the validity of conclusions
drawn by researchers.

Furthermore, some threats to validity questions the theoretical

explanation given by researcher about causality.

The term validity refers to the extent to which the researcher’s

conclusion is true or not and that is corresponds with reality.
Types of Validity
Internal Validity:
Internal validity is considered with logic of relationship
between the independent and dependent variables.
In other words, internal validity determines whether the
findings of the research permit casual relationship among
variables that relationship is non-spurious in nature.
Non-spurious relationship — The relationship between
X and Y cannot occur by chance alone. Non-
spurious relationship between two variables is an
association.
CONTINUE…
The problem of internal validity is high in relational and
descriptive studies relative to experimental research
because there is greater possibility that other variables
are confounded with independent variables.
The confounding error is one of the biggest threats to
validity in research.
Construct Validity
The issue of construct validity is related to the extent
to which the results of the study support the theory
behind research.
In such research the investigator assumes that
various aspects of the particular theory have been
tested by the variables being studied.

Construct validity is "the degree to which a test

measures what it claims, or purports, to be
measuring."
External Validity
External validity is the validity of applying the
conclusions of a scientific study outside the context
of that study. In other words, it is the extent to which
the results of a study can be generalized to and
across other situations, people, stimuli, and times.

The researchers main concern is whether the results

of the study can be generalized across situations:
different subjects, settings, time frame and so on.
Statistical Validity
Is very similar to internal validity.

The truthfulness of the cause and effect relationship

between IV and DV.

In statistics cause and effect relationship is not proved.

Instead, the probability of relationship with regard to

the level of conclusion derived between IV and DV.
Research Methods in Environmental
Psychology
 The research methods frequently been used in other areas of
psychology are used in environmental psychology.

 The difference between experimental research and non-experimental

research is based on degree of control that researcher has over the
subjects and conditions under which study is conducted.

 The major difference is in ways these methods are put into use in
environ mental psychology relative to other branches of psychology.

 The two major methods frequently used to study environment

behaviour relationship are different but not mutual.
Experimental and Non-Experimental
Research
Experimental research is when a researcher is able to manipulate the
predictor variable and subjects to identify a cause-and-effect relationship.
This typically requires the research to be conducted in a lab, with one group
being placed in an experimental group, or the ones being manipulated, while
the other is placed in a placebo group, or inert condition or non-manipulated
group. A laboratory-based experiment gives a high level of control and
reliability.

Non-experimental research is the label given to a study when a researcher

cannot control, manipulate or alter the predictor variable or subjects, but
instead, relies on interpretation, observation or interactions to come to a
conclusion. Typically, this means the non-experimental researcher must rely
on correlations, surveys or case studies, and cannot demonstrate a true cause-
and-effect relationship. Non-experimental research tends to have a high level
of external validity, meaning it can be generalized to a larger population.
Types of Non-Experimental Research
Some of the major methods used in this category of
research are:
1. Descriptive
2. Relational
3. Field studies
4. Observational
Descriptive Method
The objective of descriptive method is to answer the
question that relates to how things are.
The first descriptive serves three important functions.
First it provides groundwork to those aspects of the
environment and behaviour with which we are unfamiliar.
The second function is to examine the boundaries of the
research problem.
Thirdly, the inferences drawn after conducting the
descriptive research can be tested in relational and
experimental research.
CONTINUE…
In descriptive study the objectives is not to draw
inferences and relationship between measures.
The statistical analysis is also not performed in
descriptive studies.
However, environmental phenomena are studied with
help of descriptive studies.
According to Proshansky (1972) environment
psychology must be concerned with searching out
dimensions more specific to phenomena involving
human behaviour in relation to physical setting.
CONTINUE..
The exploratory study of Barker (1968) attempts to
compare the behavioral settings in two towns. In this
researcher was not able to compare nor the study
permitted the investigator.
Relational Method
Tells us “how things are in relation to other things”
To examine the relationship with different variables.
The degree and strength of correlations between
variables are ascertained by utilizing relational
methodology.
A second function of relational method is scientific
inquiry that allows long term patterns of future trends.
By calculating the correlational among variables don’t
manipulate environmental variables independently.
CONTINUE..
Difficult to manipulate/ ensure strong causation.
Internal validity of correlational research is low.
However, these studies are used to examine the natural
occurring events.
Field Studies
 In field studies valuable information pertaining to the effects of variations in
environmental conditions on dependent and outcome measures are examined.

 However, in these studies researcher is not able to randomly assign respondents

to different conditions and is not able to manipulate independent variables.

 Thus, problems in field studies are related to low internal validity and difficulty
is deriving causal inferences.

 To reduce the threats to internal validity some researchers have conducted

quasi experimental studies in the field settings.

 By using quasi-experimental design in field settings the ability to draw causal

inferences can be increased.
Observational Research
A method which occupies prominent role in
environmental psychology.
Careful observation of naturally occuring behaviour
might be helpful in formulating fruitful hypothesis and
better research questions for establishing causality
between measures.
In this method the researcher simply observes and
records ongoing behaviour but does not attempt to
change it or influence it.
The major methods used in this form of research is
naturalistic observation.
CONTINUE..
The naturalistic observation the research is conducted
in such a way that the behaviour of the respondents are
disturbed as little as possible.
This type of research is also called un-obstructive
which means the behaviour under investigation is not
obtrude on by the researcher.
Similarly, the non-reactive researcher is also
sometimes used for naturalistic observation.
Experimental Research
Experimental research is defined in terms of controlled
manipulation of independent variables.
The understanding of the notion is to control is
important in experimental studies.
The effect of particular IV is examined and compared
against some standard.
In a typical experimental study an experimental
introduces treatment to one group of subjects
(experimental group) while other is (control group) is
not administered treatment.
CONTINUE
The scores on DV for both the groups are compared to
examine the treatment effect.
However, it is essential to ensure that both the groups
are essentially similar on major demographical
variables before the treatment is introduced to
experimental group.
Laboratory Experiments
The effects of environmental variables on different
dependent and outcome measures are examined in
controlled conditions.
The effect of degree of control on reaction to
unpredictable noise was examined in the laboratory by
Glass and Singer (1972).
The subjects were provided with the opportunity to
terminate the noise by using the response button.
Nagar and Pandey (1987) studied the effects of crowding
and noise on task performance and affect was examined.
CONTINUE..
The degree of crowding was manipulated by
increasing or decreasing the size of the group (low
intensity vs high intensity) in the laboratory room and
three levels of noise was manipulated by increasing or
decreasing the volume of the tape recorder in which
noise was recorded.
Experimental studies are low on external validity.
In designing field experiments independent variables
are manipulated and subjects are randomly assigned to
treatment conditions in naturalistic settings.
Field Experiments
The field experiments are conducted in naturalistic
settings.
The methodology requires manipulation of IV and
random assignment of respondents to different
environmental conditions.
Stimulation
In many conditions, stimulations are preferred because
it is difficult to design field experiments but the
researcher is interested to increase both the
experimental realism and external validity.
In stimulation cause and effect relationship is
examined between environmental variables and
outcome variables.
Moreover, experimental rigor is maintained and
realism and external validity is enhanced in stimulated
studies.
Measurement Techniques
1. Self-Report Measures
2. Questionnaires
3. Interview Techniques
4. Rating Scales