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Environmental Context

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How we see the physical world around us is influenced by our individual psychological perceptions, which, in turn, are shaped by

culture.

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Information Load

• Information rate: the amount of information contained or perceived in the environment per some unit of time.

• High load– Uncertain, complex, dense, random,

improbable• Low load– Certain, simple, sparse, patterned, probable

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• Information load affects feelings in three ways:–Arousal-nonarousal–Pleasure-displeasure–Dominance-submissiveness

Environments and Information Load

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Culture and the Natural Environment

• The natural, or terrestrial, environment• Some aspects of the terrestrial environment

exist in every culture while others do not• The natural environment of any culture

influences life in that culture.

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Worldviews of the Natural Environment

• Omnipotent nature• Harmony with nature• Controlling nature

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Natural Disasters as Cultural and Social Events

• How people manage disaster is shaped by the culture and its view of nature. • One model of human responses to natural

disasters segregates cultures into three types– folk or preindustrial–Transitional– industrial

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Adaptations to the terrestrial environment• Ex. Architecture, housing, landscaping, etc. • Changes natural patterns of behavior, including

communication. • Usually created to serve a function, but can be

purely aesthetic.• Reflection of the values, motivations, and

resources of the culture.

The Built Environment

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The Built Environment: Layout Patterns

• Fixed-feature space• Semi-fixed feature space• Informal space

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Japanese Housing

• Shoji or fusuma• Yuka• Tatami mats• Tokonoma • Important rooms: kitchen and

bathroom.

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American Navajo Housing

• Hogan – Space used differently based on sex

• Ramada– Space and division of labor not divided

based on sex

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Marakwet Housing • Kor• Use of the

home differs depending on sex.

• Disposal of refuse:– Ash– Animal

dung– chaff

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Privacy

• Solitude• Isolation• Intimacy–With family–With friends

• Anonymity• Reserve

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Cross-Cultural Variations on Privacy

• China• Turkey• Java• Morocco

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Online Privacy and Continuum Connections

• Individualism—collectivism • High power distance—low power distance

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Time Orientation

• Monochronic orientation• Polychronic orientation • Time orientation influences: –Scheduling–Housing space–Business practices