A description of the affective quality attributed to environments

Bibliographic Data

ID6199748
AuthorsJames A Russell (0000-0003-1041-3717, University of British Columbia), Geraldine Pratt (0000-0002-7939-6049)
Year1980
Volume38
Issue2
Pages311-322
Publication date1980-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Personality and Social Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-3514 • E-ISSN: 1939-1315
PublisherAmerican Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1037/0022-3514.38.2.311
OpenAlexW2087810295
LanguageEN
Citations received178
References cited16

The meaning that persons attribute to environments is divided into perceptualcognitive meaning and affective meaning. Affective meaning is then conceptualized as a two-dimensional bipolar space that can be denned by eight variables falling in the following circular order around the perimeter: pleasant (arbitrarily set at 0°), exciting (45°), arousing (90°), distressing (135°), unpleasant (180°), gloomy (225°), sleepy (270°), and relaxing (315°, which is thus 45° from pleasant). Alternatively, the same space can be denned by two orthogonal bipolar dimensions of pleasant-unpl easant and arousing-sleepy—or equally well by exciting-gloomy and distressing-relaxing. Reliable verbal scales for these eight variables are developed and shown to approximate the proposed theoretical structure. Most of us would acknowledge the pervasive if subtle influence of affective responses on person-environment interactions. The English language provides hundreds of words, such as lively, boring, disgusting, and relaxing, that persons use to describe the affective quality of places. In spite of, or perhaps because of, this large array of affective descriptors, environmental psychologists have focused their attention on only a few and then only one at a time (such as degree of comfort, annoyance, pleasantness, or psychological stress), implicitly expressing pessimism about the possibility of including in their research or theorizing anything approaching a complete description and assessment of the affective quality attributed to places. Our thesis is that a very simple conceptualization can encompass the diverse affective concepts applied to molar physical environments. Theorists from widely differing vantage

Cognitive psychology · Epistemology · Quality (philosophy) · Color perception and design · Educational Environments and Student Outcomes · Psychology · Social Psychology · Spatial Cognition and Navigation

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