The Effects of the Environment on Human Communication

1
Chapter 4

• The Effects of the Environment on Human
  Communication

2
Six influential dimensions of any given
environment and their impact on communication.

• Perceptions of Formality
• Perceptions of Psychological Warmth
• Perceptions of Privacy
• Perceptions of Familiarity
• Perceptions of Constraint
• Perceptions of Distance from other participants

3
Impact of our environmental perceptions on
communication--reaction

• Arousal
• Pleasure
• Dominance
• Screeners vs. nonscreeners
• Degree of selectivity to importance of stimuli in
  environment.

4
Power of timeon our lives and in our
communication.

• Location of events
• Timing of events on time, bad time, right
  time, before our time, etc.
• Duration of events
• Too long, not long enough, proper time, etc.
• Intervals between events
• We just did that, its been forever, when will we
  get there?
• Time as patterns of intervals
• Routine, sense of normal/abnormal turn of events,
  jiving/not jiving with someone elses pattern of
  communication, etc.

5
Components of natural environments and impact on
behavior

• Geography/location/atmospheric conditions
• Live, play, work, study, socialize
• Barometric pressure, seasons, temperature,
  moon/sun variables, weather
• Presence/absence of others
• Active/passive participants in environment
• Nonperson status people present
• Awareness of appearanceverbally, physically,
  etc.
• Familiarity with environment.
• Large vs. small groups
• Architectural design features
• Fixed/semifixed features
• Aesthetics of a room
• Symbolism of decoration

6
Discuss some of the ways we can structure our
environments to achieve specific responses from
others.
7
Behavior Modification in Design

• Color
• Baker-Miller pink vs. shocking pink
• Bright vs. dull
• Uniforms and clothing
• Sound
• Types
• Intensity
• Noise
• Light
• Dim vs. bright
• Movable objects
• Arrangement
• Indication of status/roles
• Structure and design
• Barriers
• Traffic flow
• Upper vs. lower floors
• Inviting or forbidding
• Distance between those in the space