Spatial scale determines whether a group feels insulated or isolated in public

Evidence

Whether a group is “sufficiently large” may also be determined by the actual size or dimensions of the particular space into which it enters. A group of five may have a much greater sense of insulation from others if the dimensions are small than if they are large. A giant room tends to shrink even a good-sized group into insignificance, as many a hostess has learned to her sorrow. Thus, for example, groups of three or four, lost in a spacious air terminal, behave a good deal more like lone individuals (that is, speak more softly, move about less freely, and so on; see next chapter), than do groups of the same size in the more cozy confines of a small bus depot. — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 824

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Psychic well-being fundamentally depends on the existence of public space — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1503