Tell me where you sit and I'll tell you how you are

If for something we have suffered in the ChristmasIt has been for family lunches and dinners, one after another. For this reason, the center of all interactions this holiday season is that table where we all gather, we catch up, eat, laugh and party.

But not all tables are the same, and neither are all the places around. The spatial arrangement exerts different influences on people; in its level of participation and its nature. This is the object of study of environmental psychology and group psychology, disciplines that have detailed what effects your position at the table produces.

Types of arrangements in space

Regarding the variety of arrangements in space, three classics are distinguished: the focused, the socio-fugitive and the sociopet.

1. Focused

All seats are oriented in a specific direction. With this arrangement attention to a focus is enhanced and interaction between users is decreased; participation is from the focus to the users and vice versa. This is the typical orientation of school classrooms, in which students are asked to attend the teacher and not talk to each other.

2. Socio-fugitive

All seats face outwards. By being so arranged, users turn their backs on each other, thus limiting interpersonal communication. The little interaction that occurs in this arrangement tends to be intrapersonal and self-directed. Although it is not usual, it is resorted to socio-fugal dispositions, for example in some currents of psychoanalysis in which the patient has his back to the psychotherapist, facilitating introspection.

3. Sociopets

All seats face inward. This case is totally the opposite; users orient themselves to each other, facilitating interpersonal communication and leading it towards intragroup. For processes of trust and cohesion it is essential, due to the facilities it promotes for interaction and exchange. It is the most typical in our society in group meetings, where the focus is the same group.

Sociopet disposition: the most common in daily life

Now, of all these provisions, the one we find most in our daily lives is the sociopet.

We all gather at tables either to be with friends, with family or at work meetings. This makes the sociopathic disposition the most influential in the areas of our lives and from which we can get the most out of knowing it. Within a sociopetal disposition, depending on where you are, you do not participate in the same way, nor with whom. If orientation has its effects, so does geometry.

Square

A square table has all four sides equal, so all people have the same option to speak to the group and it does not seem that there are big differences. However, it does influence smaller relationships, dyads or triads. People who sit next to each other, that is, in adjoining seats, tend to cooperate, reinforce each other, and agree. On the other hand, in opposite seats there is a tendency towards competition, favoring disagreements and questions. Of course, in both one arrangement and another, there is a greater degree of interaction than if we sit in the corners.

Rectangular

In rectangular tables there are two narrower sides where the headboard effect occurs: occupying this position confers more status. At the headboard there is not as much ease of communication as in the middle of the wide sides, since it limits visual contact and costs more to be seen. However, when talking, attention is more easily attracted, since the same leaks from the table direct the gaze towards the headboard and the person is provided as the focus. As for the wide sides, if someone is in the center, it is a sign that that person wants to get involved and interact. On the other hand, those in the corner prefer to stay on the sidelines, see what is cooked first and then they will intervene -or not-. This facilitates the roles of participant and initiator in the center and of observer and follower in the corners.

Circular

In circular arrangements the orientation of the seats does not change as drastically as in the more rigid geometric shapes, such as square and rectangular. Because of that, the previous effects tend to decrease, for example, there is no location that denotes greater status, nor a place in which one can take shelter, since all are equally exposed. However, there is the Steinzor effect, by which one tends to interact to a greater degree with the people in front of one, due to having greater eye contact; so if you have something pending to say to someone, sit in front, it will help you.

Other environmental factors

Other environmental factors of group ecology can be temperature, which at high levels promotes irritability or noise as a cause of stress. Even the same size of a room can influence the number of people, since it is not the same being five, having the meeting in a large room or in a small room. But of all of them, the most controllable is where we sit and, who knows, maybe for next Christmas we want to change places.