Room Utilization and Dimensions of Density: Effects of Height and View

In: Environment and behavior: eb ; publ. in coop. with the Environmental Design Research Association, Band 12, Heft 3, S. 308-319

Abstract

Students in a high rise dormitory complex were surveyed to investigate the effects of floor height, view, and sex on perceptions of spaciousness and lightness of a room and evaluations of its decor. Height, and not view per se, was related to perceived spaciousness of one's room, with women on higher floors reporting their rooms more spacious than those on lower floors. Opposite results were obtained for men. Further, there were fewer posters and wall hangings on the upper floors than on the lower floors, and women were found to spend more time in their rooms and to decorate them more than men. Of related interest: while men showed no preference for a social or spatial definition of crowding, women significantly preferred a spatial definition. These findings are related to an optimal level of stimulation model and to sex differences in the dormitory literature.