Why Psychology Needs Environmental Psychology 421even though the environment contains the manifest evidence
of the values and meanings held by people, these values and
meanings can be investigated at source (i.e., in the people
themselves). As we know that attitudes are not always good
predictors of behavior, so we might also assume that what
people say about the environment and their actions within it
may actually be contradicted by extant evidence from the en-
vironment itself. Furthermore, the environment is not just a
figment of our imaginations or a social construct; it is real. If
we take a determinist or even an interactionist position, we
would acknowledge that the environment can have a direct
effect on human actions. Within transactionalism the envi-
ronment has a physical manifestation in order to confer
meaning in the first place. The environment embodies the
psychologies of those who live in it. It is used to confer
meaning, to promote identity, and to locate the person so-
cially, culturally, and economically.
The role of environmental context in influencing social be-
havior can be exemplified by reference to interpersonal rela-
tions as well as institution-person relations. Helping behavior
is a good example of the influence of environmental context
on the interpersonal behavior. The conclusions of numerous
research studies undertaken since the 1970s (Korte, 1980;
Korte & Kerr 1975; Krupat, 1985; Merrens, 1973) consis-
tently demonstrate that the conditions of urban life reduce the
attention given to others and diminish our willingness to help
others. Aggressive reactions to a phone box that is out of order
are more common in large cities than in small towns (Moser,
1984). Those findings have been explained by the levels of
population densities such as we encounter in large urban areas
that engender individualism and an indifference toward oth-
ers, a malaise noted in 1903 by Simmel (1903/1957), who
suggested that city life is characterized by social withdrawal,
egoistic behaviors, detachment, and disinterest toward others.
The reduction of attention to others can be observed also
when the individual is exposed to more isolated supplemen-
tary stressful condition (Moser, 1992). Thus, excessive popu-
lation density or the noise of a pneumatic drill significantly
reduces the frequency of different helping behaviors (Moser,
1988). If, generally speaking, politeness (as measured by
holding the door for someone at the entry of a large depart-
ment store) is less frequent in Paris than in a small provincial
town, this would suggest that population density and its im-
mediate impact on the throughput of shoppers will affect help-
ing and politeness behavior (Moser & Corroyer, 2001).
A good example of the effect of environmental context on
human attitudes and behaviors in an institution-person setting
can be found in Rosengren and DeVault’s (1970) study of the
ecology of time and space in an obstetric hospital. They found
that both the attitudes and behaviors of all the protagonists
involved in the process of delivering a baby—the mother,
nurses, doctors—were a function not only of where they were
situated but also of when they were situated there. Authority
(i.e., who managed the mother’s labor and delivery) was not
so much a function of a formal position in the hierarchy but of
where each person was at a particular time and who con-
trolled that space. This time-space interaction had an impact
not only on staff-patient relations but also on perceptions of
the appropriateness of medical procedures as they related to
the management of pain.
The environmental context in which perceptions occur,
attitudes are formed, and behavior takes place also has a
temporal dimension. We cannot understand space and place
without taking into account time. We encounter events not
only in the present but also in the past and in the future. We
experience places now, in the present, as well as places that
have had a past that impinges on and colors our interpretation
of the present. Furthermore, these same places have a future
that, for example, through anticipatory representations may
guide our actions (Doise, 1976).The Nature and Scope of Environmental PsychologyEnvironmental psychology studies individuals and groups
in their physical and social contexts by giving a prominent
place to environmental perceptions, attitudes, evaluations and
representations, and accompanying behavior. Environmental
psychology focuses both on the effects of environmental con-
ditions on behavior and on how the individual perceives and
acts on the environment. The point of departure of analysis is
often the physical characteristics of the environment (e.g.,
noise, pollution, planning and layout of physical space) acting
directly on the individual or mediated by social variables in
the environment (e.g., crowding, population heterogeneity).
But physical and social factors are inextricably linked in their
effects on individuals’ perceptions and behaviors (Altman &
Rogoff, 1987). To achieve this effectively, research in envi-
ronmental psychology aims to identify processes that regulate
and mediate this relationship. Environmental psychologists
work in collaboration with other psychologists such as social,
cognitive, and occupational psychologists, as well as other
disciplines and professions such as architects, educationalists,
environmental scientists, engineers, and landscape architects
and planners.
Environmental psychology’s unit of analysis is the
individual-environment relation. One can study this relation
only by examining cognitions and behaviors that occur in
real-world situations. For this reason, environmental psy-
chology operates according to an inductive logic:Theories
are generated from what can be observed and from data