1. Environmental & Physical Surroundings

2. Architecture as a form of nonverbal influence Buildings and other structures makes symbolic statements about a culture’s status, power, values. ◦Great Wall of China ◦Dubai Tower (Burj Khalifa) ◦Cathedrals in the Middle Ages

3. Feng shui The Chinese concept of feng shui involves creating a harmonious balance of energy or chi. ◦Arrangement of graves, buildings, furnishings based on yin and yang Addresses or house numbers ◦Avoid 4 ◦Prefer 8 Direction of house ◦Avoid facing south Arrangement of furniture Colors in the house

4. Feng shui

5. Fixed features Las Vegas Casinos ◦No clocks ◦Loud ◦Bright, garish décor Gated communities ◦Automated gates ◦walls and fences ◦exclusive or exclusionary?

6. Semi-fixed features Presidential debates involve lengthy agreements that specify:  The number of debates  Locations  Staging  Question/answer format  Audience members

7. Semi-fixed features 1973 Paris Peace Accords ◦North Vietnam insisted on a round table ◦South Viet Nam insisted on a rectangular table ◦A compromise was reached

8. Designed environments The design of a space can facilitate or inhibit communication, or facilitate some types of communication while inhibiting others Disneyland Shopping malls Supermarkets Planned communities Sustainable living

9. “College Town” The city of Fullerton and CSUF are partnering to develop “College Town.” The vision is described as merging college life with city life.

10. Everyday surroundings Our surroundings affect our mood, emotions, perceptions Maslow & Mintz (1956) compared three types of rooms: ◦“ugly” ◦“beautiful” ◦“average” Participants rated photos of people more favorably when in the “beautiful” room.

11. College classrooms Traditional classroom ◦Desks in rows ◦Lectern in front ◦Drab colors ◦Encourages one-to- many communication Large lecture halls ◦Fixed seating ◦Less immediacy ◦Discourages participation

12. The workplace the physical environment of a workplace greatly affects how its members interact, perform tasks, and socialize.

13. Cubicles or “cube farms” millions of Americans work in cubicles ◦Lack of privacy ◦Drab, gray fabric walls ◦Walls discourage conversation ◦Phenomenon of “prairie dogging”

14. College dorm rooms Vinsel et al. (1980). College students’ dorm room decorations predicted the likelihood of dropping out. Dropouts had more decorations from high school and home, fewer from the college or university.

15. Environmental variables Arousal ◦How stimulated or alert we are Pleasure ◦Feelings of happiness, contentment, satisfaction Dominance ◦Perceptions of power, control, status

16. Dominance: Power and Control Sheriff Joe Arpaio, in Arizona, is known as America’s toughest sheriff. He requires inmates to wear pink underwear. Minor offenders live in tents.

17. Perceptual characteristics Formality Warmth Privacy Familiarity Distance (Safety)

18. Formality Official looking, proper, respectable Court Corporate boardroom Doctors’ or dentists’s offices

19. Warmth Relaxing, comfortable, friendly Starbucks as “home office” McCafe Olive Garden: “When you’re here, you’re family”

20. Privacy Visibility to others likelihood of being overheard Enclosed environments suggest greater privacy ◦Partitions, booths, curtains, First class cabin on airlines Voting booths Public restrooms Tinted windows in cars

21. Familiarity Known, predictable Target, Wal-Mart have consistent floor plans Restaurant chains

22. Distance Physical distance ◦proximity Psychological or social distance ◦aloof, cold, clinical siblings ◦Own room or shared? beachgoers and spacing