Psychology of Space

Excerpt from The Psychology Of Space By: Arman Darini, Ph.D.

Groups have significantly more complicated psychology of space formed by the unions and the intersections of individual spaces. There are weak spots in the group space - if you stand there you will tend to be ignored. There are power spots in the group space - if you stand there you will control the flow of the conversation. More than just space, body orientation and movement also become integral to the group dynamics. Being aware of and able to shift the group dynamics is a highly useful skill for teachers, trainers, managers, public speakers, leaders. Some do it naturally, others can learn.

So how is this all useful? Well, by matching the most comfortable spatial orientation for the people that you speak with, you can immediately create a strong sense of rapport, and that is highly useful in all sorts of personal and professional settings. A quick professional tip for you is make sure you rearrange the meeting space in boardrooms, so that where you sit is not governed by where the chairs are, but by the best spatial positioning for the group, i.e. "get on the good side of your boss" (as usual, the language gives away the underlying subconscious mechanisms).

To match other people's preferred side and distance you need two skills: 1. You must be comfortable yourself with using any part of your space, and 2. You must be able to see what side and distance people prefer you to be on. One simple way to learn the latter is to enjoy a latte in a cafe or a martini in a bar while watching people meet and interact. You will observe all the nuances of the psychology of space play out right in front of you. See how quickly you can read spatial preferences, - we are down to a few seconds.

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