Concurrents – Environmental Psychology: Standing Sight Lines
Study after recent study has shown that people toiling away in offices sit too much and that standing up for a while from time to time while working can be good for our mental and physical wellbeing. If some people in a space are standing while working and others are sitting, interesting and undesirable psychological effects can, however, ensue. Human beings have a primordial aversion to being loomed over. That’s what happens when someone is standing beside us and we’re seated, no matter why we’re standing or sitting. Looming makes us tense; when we’re tense, we don’t focus well on whatever we’re trying to accomplish. In many workspaces today, visual dividers between workers don’t do much to block views of co-workers, even when all are sitting down. Someone standing in the midst of all of these short panels has a clear and completely unobstructed view into neighboring work areas. This …
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