Often social sciences are concerned with the subject of civil inattention and the impact on passengers during elevator rides. Scientists have researched the non-verbal communication by observing how people react to rule breaking staring, or demonstrative avoidance of eye contact. Others researched about the basic rules of entering the elevator and the maximisation of distance inside the cabin in order to avoid personal contact. This is coupled with research on the space requirements of looks and the captive audience of conversations with other passengers. Recent studies about elevator design and its impact on the passengers showed that there are hierarchical systems inside elevators of office buildings when searching for the right position to protect personal space inside the cabin, the interaction of the passengers, as well as fixed rules for inconspicuous behaviour.
According to Hirschauer (2005), the role of the elevator door “Talks are often opened and closed with the door” and in addition to studies about non-verbal conversation, an innovative survey was realized. How do elevator passengers react when they are confronted with a common yet unexpected greeting behind closed elevator doors after already having taken their personal inconspicuous position in the cabin? Is it more important to stay “invisible” than to be polite and to greet back? “...those people marked as present by the elevator, in most cases all agree to treat each other as not present.” (Hirschauer, 2005)
It is like breaking a taboo because in everyday situations the common greeting just happens while entering the elevator and not when the doors are already closed. Regarding the fact that the study was lanced in Germany it is important to remark that we cannot compare the greeting habits here to them in other nations. In the following the method of the observation is explained and the results are analysed.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Method
Samples
Procedure
Results
Discussion
Research Objectives & Topics
The primary research objective of this study is to examine how elevator passengers react when confronted with an unexpected greeting from an unknown person after the elevator doors have closed, specifically investigating the social norms of civil inattention and the influence of gender in such interactions.
- Social behavior and civil inattention in confined public spaces.
- The impact of unexpected social interaction on personal space.
- Gender-specific responses to social overtures in restricted environments.
- Statistical analysis of non-verbal vs. verbal communication patterns.
- Psychological mechanisms behind human reactions to unexpected social stimuli.
Excerpt from the Book
PROCEDURE
The three researchers (two observers, one contact person) waited in front of the elevator to enter with the passengers. In the cabin they took an optimal position to have a free look at the persons of interest. One of them was generally placed at the back wall in one of the corners, depending of the position of the passengers and the other one was placed at an angle to the other observer and the contact person, mostly in the middle of one of the side walls. To mask their observation intention the observers pretended to play with their mobile phones or take notes in an agenda to camouflage the notes which were written down as a control of appointments.
The contact person placed oneself nearby the passenger to whom the greeting should be directed. The position was not directly face to face, respecting the distance rules in elevators, but close enough with an angle to the passenger to realise the greeting in a neutral way. The greeting consisted in a simple “good afternoon” with a neutral facial expression, neither unfriendly nor terribly nice and was realised after closing the doors and emergence of typical silence when every passenger tried to be very inconspicuous and non-attendant.
The observers standardised the definition of three different expressions of visible reaction (Ekman & Friesen, 1975) for the record. They were classified into reaction 1: no reaction (looking away, ignoring the greeting, playing with mobile phone etc.), reaction 2: non-verbal reaction (smile, nod), reaction 3: verbal reaction (greeting back, start of conversation).
Chapter Summary
Introduction: This chapter contextualizes the study within the sociological framework of civil inattention and previous elevator-based research, establishing the research question regarding unexpected greetings.
Method: The chapter details the experimental design, involving 120 passengers in a field study, and describes the data collection process using two observers and a contact person.
Samples: This section defines the demographics of the 120 observed participants, subdivided into two groups based on the gender of the contact person.
Procedure: This section explains the systematic observation method used by the researchers, including how they maintained neutrality and masked their intent within the elevator cabin.
Results: The chapter presents the statistical data derived from the observations, utilizing Chi-Square tests to evaluate gender-based differences in reaction patterns.
Discussion: The final chapter interprets the findings, linking the observed behaviors to psychological theories such as the Reversal Theory and the Somatic Marker Theory, while addressing the limitations of the study.
Keywords
Civil inattention, elevator sociology, social behavior, unexpected greeting, non-verbal communication, personal space, gender effects, field study, intercoder reliability, SPSS, paratelic orientation, somatic marker theory, social networks, vulnerability, human interaction.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this study?
The study investigates how people react to unexpected verbal greetings from strangers while they are confined in an elevator after the doors have closed.
What are the primary thematic areas covered?
The themes include social norms of behavior in public spaces, the psychology of personal space, and gender-based differences in social reactivity.
What is the central research question?
The study asks whether elevator passengers value maintaining their "invisible" status over social politeness, and how they react when that status is challenged by an unexpected greeting.
Which methodology was employed for this research?
The researchers conducted a field study using systematic visual observation of 120 elevator passengers, supported by statistical analysis through SPSS.
What does the main body of the paper discuss?
The main body discusses the experimental procedure, the demographic breakdown of the sample, the presentation of statistical results, and the interpretation of these findings through psychological frameworks.
Which keywords best characterize this research?
Key terms include civil inattention, elevator sociology, non-verbal communication, personal space, and gender effects.
Why did the researchers find the case of the aggressive woman significant?
Her reaction serves as an extreme exception that illustrates how sudden arousal in a restricted space can lead to negative interpretations of friendly intent, potentially explained by the Reversal Theory.
What parallel does the author draw between elevators and online social networks?
The author suggests that both environments offer a controlled space where users can observe others while choosing how much personal information or interaction to reveal.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Stella Falkenberg (Autor:in), 2018, Greeting Behind Closed Elevator Doors. A Taboo Breaking Observation Study, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1159228
