Abstract

Many times while coming to the doors of a building the person who entered or exited before just lets the door shut in others’ face. It was thought that the door was less likely to be held ten minutes before a class period started (when people tend to be more rushed) than ten minutes after a class period starts. It was also thought that men are more courteous in public than women. The fundamental attribution error is used to explain peoples’ behaviors in public. The concept behind this is, people tend to do things because of an internal disposition like personality rather than an external situational disposition. Observations were made in a classroom building during the passing period between classes on Lindenwood University campus. Information was collected like the time the door was held, the gender of the person holding the door (holder), the gender of the person the door was held for (holdee), and the distance the holdee was from the door.

Recommended Citation

Frederick, Kristen (2009) "Courtesy on Campus: How Far away does a Person have to be Before the Door is Held?," Undergraduate Psychology Research Methods Journal: Vol. 1: Iss. 10, Article 8.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.lindenwood.edu/psych_journals/vol1/iss10/8