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Environmental Psychology

Territory and personal space in the workplace

  • 2 things to know
  • Component 03

Overview

Recall questions on territory, Altman's three types of territory, territorial markers and personalisation in the workplace, the drawbacks of open-plan offices and hot-desking, territory and status, seating at meetings, and why open plan remains popular.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

Name Altman's three types of territory, with a workplace example of each.

Key term

How does seating position at a meeting table affect interaction?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Define territory as the term is used in environmental psychology.

    Model answer

    A territory is an area that a person or group claims, controls, personalises and will defend against others.

  2. 2

    Name Altman's three types of territory, with a workplace example of each.

    Model answer

    Primary territory, such as an employee's own office or desk; secondary territory, such as a regularly used seat in the staff room; and public territory, such as any free table in the canteen.

  3. 3

    What is a territorial marker? Give a workplace example.

    Model answer

    It is an object used to signal a claim to a space, such as a coat draped over a chair, a bag left on a desk or family photographs on a workstation.

  4. 4

    What is personalisation, and what functions does it serve?

    Model answer

    It is decorating a workspace with personal items, which marks territory, expresses identity and makes the space feel more comfortable and more under the person's control.

  5. 5

    Give two psychological drawbacks of open-plan offices.

    Model answer

    Loss of privacy and control over the space, and distraction from noise and interruption, both of which reduce satisfaction and concentration.

  6. 6

    Why can hot-desking be psychologically difficult?

    Model answer

    It removes primary territory, so staff cannot personalise or predict their workspace and may feel less attached to the organisation.

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