ABSTRACT
Features of the physical environment, and the way in which those features are perceived and understood, will affect the quality of social behavior. The individual brings to social interaction certain requirements for personal space, an understanding of the social meaning of interpersonal distance, and cognitive processes necessary for representing the natural and built environment. The physical environment sets limits on human interaction, and the social environment-represented in the theory of staffing-also places constraints on action. In his or her interpersonal behavior, an indi vidual will attempt to control access to the self. This privacy regulation is an optimization process in which negative effects are associated with ei ther too much or too little privacy. One aspect of the lack of privacycrowding-has received special attention from social psychologists.
