If you sit down in class on the very first day and look around at where everyone else is sitting then the odds are that they will sit there for the rest of the term/semester. They do thes even if the teacher doesn't assign a seating chart. Why?
2006-10-17 04:44:41 · 7 answers · asked by crazy_asian_monkey 1 in Social Science ➔ Psychology
You see the same thing at churches.
If you want to mess with people's heads, sit in their spot on Sunday morning before they get there and then just watch the chaos grow. :)
Basically, people are establishing boundaries. Some people are more rigid, some are more flexible (and move around more), but in generally once the boundaries are established, they become somewhat restrictive.
See, if you move, you no longer know what territory is "up for grabs" and settling down elsewhere could be encroaching on someone else's boundaries. If you do that, conflict results, and you then need to go through the stress of negotiating a "new agreement" with them (about who should sit where).
So it can be very anxiety-producing to take a chance and move.
Also, you know you are "safe" where you're at, in general -- it's your territory, and people usually respect it, and so you stay there.
Staying is positively reinforced; moving is negatively reinforced. It's better to stay.
The only way to alleviate it is for the leader/teacher (i.e., authority figure) to insist on seat-switching on a predetermined basis... and even then, people still tend to "lock in" unless the leader periodically and consistently reminds everyone that no boundaries exist.
2006-10-17 05:06:08 · answer #1 · answered by Jennywocky 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I feel like that spot gets imprinted in your mind, so Math Class, 101 = Third row on the left.
At my house, it's the same, there are three of us, and more than 90% of the time we will sit in the same spots when we watch tv.
2006-10-17 11:56:38 · answer #2 · answered by Crystal P 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You pick a spot and settle with it. Just like at lunch time in the cafeteria, everyone stays at the same table they choose on the first day. You start to think that that table is "your" table and no one else's.
2006-10-17 11:54:13 · answer #3 · answered by mageta8 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because it's where they feel and/or think they're comfortable. And they tend to sit on the same seat because they feel they left something there to keep them warm. See how it feels like to sit on another spot... doesn't it feel a little cold? Worse, uncomfortable?
^__^
2006-10-17 14:57:00 · answer #4 · answered by Mike N. D 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To stay as far away from everyone else as possible! That would be my reason. I don't know about anyone else and I don't care, as long as you all stay the hell away from me!
2006-10-17 12:05:49 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Just one less thing to think about.
2006-10-17 11:51:52 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
creatures of habit
2006-10-17 16:00:27 · answer #7 · answered by Robyrob 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋