How much do you know about the psychology of elevators?

Many people use elevators every day. However, this small space can also bring invisible pressure: many people crawl into the corner as soon as they get on the elevator, or keep their eyes on the elevator floor, thinking "it's coming soon". This phenomenon is mainly due to three reasons.

First, there are too many elevator passengers. Most people do. Three or four square meters of elevator, more than a dozen people under the fortress, people's safe territory was lost. Julie Fast, an American behaviorist, found that when the distance between strangers is less than 60 cm, people will consciously want to be farther away from others, such as hiding in the corner, and try to stand as straight as possible to avoid touching others.

The second is to meet the boss. A survey of more than 9,000 workplace professionals conducted by Zhaopin.com found that 24% of people would not take the same elevator when they met their boss; 60.3% felt uncomfortable when they took the same elevator with their boss. This is a psychological fear of authority. Such people may have grown up with strict parents and fear of authority figures. When meeting in the elevator, they will try to lower their heads and curl up, hoping to narrow the target and avoid the boss's attention.

The third is the fear of closed small spaces, which is called "claustrophobia" in psychiatry. When they enter the elevator, they will feel inexplicably frightened, and they will be overly worried that the elevator will suddenly malfunction. Patients often try to avoid taking the elevator, or endure and suffer with fear.

How to deal with these three situations correctly? If people are unwilling to contact with strangers, it is people’s emotions that are in harmony with the external environment, it is a normal defensive response, and it has the meaning of improving individual alertness and reducing danger, and does not need to be corrected deliberately.

If you are afraid of your boss, you can't just avoid it. Showing courtesy is a must, saying hello with a smile, and saying goodbye when you get off the elevator is much better than bowing your head and saying nothing to the leader.

If it's because you're afraid to get into the elevator in an enclosed space, it may be a mental illness. The reason may be related to similar psychological trauma in childhood. For example, being locked in a small room by a parent as a child, or experiencing isolation or abandonment. Such situations require systematic psychotherapy.