Environmental Factors

Environmental Factors

When a person is trying to place his or her seating, you have to acknowledge the four task situations (conversation, cooperation, coaction, and competition). When conversing with another person, you are most likely to sit directly across from each other. An example of conversation is when my roommate and I go eat. We do not sit side by side, unless somebody else is coming to eat with us. The opposite sitting arrangement to conversation is cooperation. During cooperation you are most likely to sit side by side because you are helping and showing each other useful information. Here on campus in the library, student union, lobbies of different departments were you could see cooperation at its best. I will use myself as an example because when I was a freshman and sophomore here at Appalachian State I had to go to study hall and get a tutor because of football. When I was getting tutored my tutor would not sit across the table from me she would sit beside of me because it felt like I was getting more out of the conversation.

However, the Intimacy Level between two people helps depend on were you sit. If a couple is very intimate then they are likely to sit side by side. But if a couple is not intimate but friends they will sit across from one another. When my girlfriend and I go out on a date we will sit across from each other. But, when I am at work I see older couples in there forties, sitting next to each other. But a place were Intimacy is not involved is the clubs, because alcohol is involved. Alcohol can increase the intimacy level between two not intimate people.

Another reason that makes people decisions are their seating arrangement is Personal and Personality differences. One example that I have seen is leadership. Leadership is seen everyday in our society. The leadership shows who is in charge of the situation at hand. You will see leadership in conferences, groups, meetings, classrooms when decision is involved, and at home at the dinner table. Also another example that I have is people who are extroverts. Extroverts tend to be outgoing, loud, talkable people. I am one of those people. So I see Extroversion everyday, an example is, “I went to pick up my car from south parking lot. I saw this girl that was so “fine”.