Festinger (1957) theorized that people seek consistency among their cognitions (i.e., their beliefs, attitudes and opinions). When there is an inconsistency between our actions and our cognitions, such as when we believe one thing but do not act accord- ingly, it is likely that we will change our attitudes in order to eliminate the uncomfort- able dissonance. The alternative theories suggest that attitudes are more likely to change in response to incentives or through learning and reinforcement.
Environmental Psychology
Environmental psychology has considerable potential for enhancing Event Studies.
Environmental Nature and Antecedents Planning and Outcomes and Processes psychology meanings; to attending producing the impacted and patterns
the event events events
experience
• Perception and • How people • Preferences • Implications • Environmental • Environmental cognition of perceive, for certain for event factors directly preferences natural and make sense environments setting design impact on and fears
built of, and • Fear of and personal health, are
environments value the crowding and management safety and culturally
• Environmental event setting environmental (e.g., legibility; satisfaction shaped
design • Environmental risks facilitating and evolve
• Wayfaring cues as to interaction, • Event venue
• Behavioural appropriate setting the development,
settings and behaviour mood, flow) and use of
environmental • Feeling places
stressors crowded or for events,
• Personal comfortable constantly
space presents new
• Crowding opportunities
and ideas about the environment
Figure 3.4 Environmental psychology.
It is an interdisciplinary field focusing on the perception and cognition of natural and built environments. Bell et al. (2001: 6) defined it as ‘. . . the study of molar relationships between behavior and experience and the built and natural environments.’ ‘Molar’ means the whole is greater than the parts, or a gestalt approach. ‘Units’ of environment and behav- iour are studied, such as the festival place, sport arena, banquet hall or conference centre.
Specific topics include arousal, stimulation, stress, adaptation, approach–avoidance behaviour, environmental design, wayfaring, work and leisure environments (Figure 3.4).
The environment is viewed as both the context for behaviour, and as a determinant of behaviour. Environmental psychologists also examine the consequences of human behaviour on the environment. Taking a festival place as an example, environmental psy- chologists would look at how people interact with the setting, how it can be designed or modified to reflect its purpose. Specific considerations would include capacity and crowding, personal space, noise and light, temperature and air flows. Would changing the lighting, for example, result in a more subdued audience? Would music enliven the place? Of course, event designers often know the answers from experience, but environmental psychology uses experimental and other research methods to develop both practical solutions and general theories. Although laboratory experiments are some- times used, more popular methods are field experiments, descriptive and co-relational studies, and simulations.
De Young (1999) noted these important environmental psychology research themes:
● ‘Attention’: how people notice the environment; response to environmental stimuli.
● ‘Perception’ and ‘cognitive maps’: how people image the natural and built environ- ment; formation of mental maps.
● ‘Preferred environments’: people tend to seek out places where they feel competent and confident, places where they can make sense of the environment while also being engaged with it.
● ‘Environmental stress’ and ‘coping’: common environmental stressors include noise and climatic extremes; coping with stress can involve a change in physical or social settings, or seeking to interpret or make sense of a situation.
The ‘Integrative Model of Environmental Psychology’ from Bell et al. (2001: 21) can be adapted to event studies (see Figure 3.5). This model provides an overview of envir- onmental psychology topics and their inter-relationships. We start with environmen- tal conditions, which for events means purpose-built venues or sometimes natural settings. Human–environment interactions are influenced both by biological (e.g., our need for occasional solitude, or the fear of heights) and learned factors (e.g., we are taught to respect nature or to show respect to others’ property). Then we have to con- sider perceptions of the environment, or how we employ our senses to detect and give meaning to conditions in the setting (this is cognition).
‘General effects of the environment’ on behaviour include the study of sensory stimu- lation through noise, light, smell and colour, the effects of general environmental con- ditions (weather, pollution), and impacts of social interaction (personal space and crowding).
Closely linked to the general factors are the ‘behavioural and experiential influences’
of specific event settings. Their design, programming and management are explicitly
intended to create, suggest or facilitate desired moods, behaviours, and experiences.
We need to examine all the common and unusual event settings, from sport arenas to parks, from convention centres to city squares. How does each factor alone and in combination with others affect, for example, the behaviour and mood of an audience at a concert? We need to be aware that event settings are often purpose-built, with their intended uses and appropriate behaviours known by convention, while some are unusual and have to be valorized for temporary event purposes. ‘Setting affordances’
and ‘constraints’ are those characteristics of the venue or place that suggest and/or allow for various activities and experiences, or which constrain them.
‘Changing environmental cognitions’ refers to learning from experience and the result- ant changes in perceptions and motives. In terms of events this can encompass how people perceive and attach meaning to event settings and design elements. With edu- cation, event experiences can also lead to positive shifts in attitudes towards the envi- ronment, such as support for green operations and sustainable development. Finally,
Changing environmental cognitions and behaviours
• Natural or built event settings
• The biological bases for, and how people learn to interact with the environment (e.g., event settings)
Environmental conditions
Perceptions of the environment
• Cognition
• Green operations
• Sustainable events Changing and preserving the environment
How people are affected by environmental conditions, including:
• Weather; disasters
• Noise, light, colour
• Crowding and movement General effects of the
environment on behaviour
• Design features
• Access and crowding
• Setting affordances or constraints
Behavioural and experiential influences
of event settings
Figure 3.5 Environmental psychology and planned events. Adapted from Bell et al (2001).
the interactions in this model include changes to cognition in general, or how we perceive our environment.