Sex and Setting Effects on Seating Arrangement

Summary Natural observation of the seating arrangement by sex of three or more people seated at 176 different rectangular tables in social settings and 150 different rectangular tables in nonsocial settings were made. In social settings, opposite sex pairs selected a side by side seating arrangement, while same sex pairs, especially males, preferred to sit across from one another. In nonsocial settings, individuals selected the side by side seating arrangement regardless of sex. The importance of situational context and learned sexual norms to observed spatial behavior was discussed.

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