Psychogeography (short)

[Tomcat]

Good evening everyone.

Today I will tell you about an interesting topic, this is Psychogeography.

First, let's start by copying and pasting Wikipedia:

Psychogeography is a branch of social psychology and philosophy that studies the psychological impact of the urban environment. Developed within the Situationist International. French philosopher Guy Debord defined psychogeography as "the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographic environment on the emotions and behavior of individuals."

Roughly speaking, organizing the space around them, people on an unconscious level provide additional information about their status in communication. More succinctly and more clearly, how to arrange everything so that people pay attention to what you need or vice versa.

The whole spectrum of spatial coordinates - the arrangement of objects, furniture, people relative to each other in various forms of communication (negotiations, trainings, seminars, lectures, personal communication) is dealt with by psychogeography - a branch of applied psychology.

Psychogeography, albeit in unconscious forms, has been known to man for a very long time, since the disposition of people relative to each other without words spoke of who is in charge and who is subordinate. For example, in Russia there was a concept of "red corner". It immediately became clear about the one who was put in this place: this is the guest of honor.

In modern political protocol events, the guest of honor sits to the right of the inviting party, the second guest of honor sits on the left. Obviously, this is no longer just a tradition, but a kind of communication language that is adopted in politics and business. This is the language that has always been understood in one way or another in most cultures.

If you want to show that you are the dominant side in some process, for example, in personal communication, then you must show the person that you own a large space.

Psychogeography puts forward three main factors of space management: mastery, security and external support.

It should be noted that people have "personal zones" in the process of communication. These are zones at a distance of which a person feels comfortable when communicating with other people. The smallest of these zones is intimate, the size of which varies from 15 to 50 centimeters for different peoples. The person who is allowed into this area is either a close friend or relative. He can count on intimate relationships.

On the side, this zone is slightly smaller than in front or behind. Accordingly, if you want to agree with a person about some personal, intimate things that cannot be voiced in front of strangers or written down, then it is better to sit on the side of him, then it is easier to talk about these things.

If you and your interlocutor are sitting opposite each other, then subconsciously, both of you may have a feeling of opposition. Moving away from each other or approaching each other, you either invade your personal zones, or take that comfortable position when your zones do not overlap. This raises the problem of space security.

That is, to summarize a little - psychogeography affects the quality of relationships and interactions between people and reflects them.

Psychography has a huge impact on the team, leadership and group dynamics, how a person feels with you and in your / your space. A certain arrangement of furniture in a meeting room, for example, is a meta-message about the kind of interaction between group members.

For example, meeting participants in a circle encourages different types of feedback and interactions between group members rather than sitting at a rectangular table or rows like in a theater.

The round table format also expresses a special kind of symbolic relationship between group members. For example, if someone enters a room with a board in the center and rows of chairs facing that board, the person will take this as a context for the "presentation" and prepare to sit passively and listen. If the same person enters a room in which several chairs are turned towards each other in a round table, he is likely to take this as a context for the discussion, prepare to be more proactive and participate in the process.

Circular psychogeography focuses people on their interpersonal relationships, evenly distributing mutual attention between group members and implying their equal status.

On the other hand, when people sit at a rectangular table, it creates a sense of hierarchy. Attention is usually directed to the person sitting at the head of the table. Then the one on the right and the one on the left.

The semicircle position directs the group members' attention to what is in front of the semicircle. This arrangement implies equality of status.

A group of people sitting on a 1 line also implies a common focus for all members of the group, but significantly reduces interaction.

So, to stimulate the productivity of certain types of group processes, you can organize and use various types of psychogeographies:

1. Circle - brainstorming.

2. Semicircle - for understanding and planning how to realize a specific goal or dream. In a half-kurg, people will see themselves as equals, but their attention will be focused at a certain point. The significance of this arrangement is that the members of the group are more focused on the task than on the relationship with each other, so they will reach agreement more quickly.

3. Psychogeography, the members of which are located on the 1st line, considering a certain goal or idea. Best for criticism or evaluation. Members of such a group will be much more likely to react according to their own point of view, without trying to match the reactions of other members of the group.

Apply it, it works well!