"Most of us sort of shut down.
"We walk in. We press the button. We stand perfectly still."
Taking the lift could be the least memorable part of your journey to work, but Dr Lee Gray of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte has made it his business to scrutinise this overlooked form of public transportation. People refer to him as "the Elevator Guy".
"The lift becomes this interesting social space where etiquette is sort of odd," he explains. "They are socially very interesting but often very awkward places."
Conversations that have been struck up in the lobby tend to be extinguished quite quickly in the thick atmosphere of the office elevator. We walk in and usually turn around to face the door.
If someone else comes in, we may have to move. And here, it has been observed that lift-travellers unthinkingly go through a set pattern of movements, as predetermined as a square dance.
On your own, you can do whatever you want - it's your own little box.
If there are two of you, you take different corners. Standing diagonally across from each other creates the greatest distance.
When a third person enters, you will unconsciously form a triangle (breaking the analogy that some have made with dots on a dice). And when there is a fourth person it's a square, with someone in every corner. A fifth person is probably going to have to stand in the middle.
Now we are in uncharted territory. New entrants to the lift will need to size up the situation when the doors slide open and then act decisively. Once in, for most people the protocol is simple - look down, or examine your phone.
Why are we so awkward in lifts?
"You don't have enough space," says Professor Babette Renneberg, a clinical psychologist at the Free University of Berlin.
"Usually when we meet other people we have about an arm's length of distance between us. And that's not possible in most elevators, so it's a very unusual setting. It's unnatural."
In such a small, enclosed space it becomes vital, she says, to act in a way that cannot be construed as threatening, odd or in any way ambiguous. The easiest way to do this is to avoid eye-contact.
But perhaps there is more to it than just social awkwardness.
"In the back of our minds we are a little anxious," says Nick White, an office worker in New York who was unfortunate enough to be trapped in a lift for 41 hours.
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| Nick White was trapped in a lift in his office building for 41 hours. |
"We don't like to be locked into a place. We want to get out of the elevator as soon as possible, because, you know, it's a creepy place to be."
During his ordeal, he began to think of another enclosed space that lurks at the back of our minds - a tomb.
It would be understandable if White refused ever to step in a lift again. But if you work in a city built on a vertical plane, and if you have aspirations above being a receptionist, that isn't an option.
"I certainly remember what happened to me every time I go in one," he admits. "It's part of the commute, the part you have the least control over."
Elevator Guy Lee Gray agrees that a sense of disempowerment is the main cause of lift anxiety.
"You're in a machine that's moving, over which you have no control. You cannot see the elevator engine, you don't know how it's working," he says.
This sense of passivity in the hands of a machine may become more pronounced as we enter the age of buttonless "smart" elevators.
After swiping through security or touching a central control panel, travellers are directed to a lift that has been programmed to stop at their floor, removing the need for any further commands. The system is designed to cut down on unnecessary stops, but although more efficient, some people find the experience unnerving.
Regardless of the qualms and anxieties associated with lifts, Gray is adamant that they are safer than cars - and significantly safer than escalators.
"It is in in fact of one of the safest forms of transportation, if you look at the billions of miles that lifts travel every year and the very, very small number of accidents."
We all know this, which is why we continue to take lifts every day, despite our anxieties.
"We have learned that we can take an elevator and it is safe to do so," says Renneberg. "So in a way it's a triumph of rationalism over our more animalistic instincts."
This pleasing thought - that we become more sophisticated by travelling in lifts - is perhaps one to ponder next time you get in one.
Just don't, whatever you do, start a conversation about it.
Taken from the BBC HERE.
LISTEN: There is a BBC podcast [ MP3 ] about this subject HERE.
The most likely reason why do we behave so awkward in lifts is because: first of all, maybe some of us are afraid of small spaces like lifts or we can call it as claustrophobia which maybe makes us feel uncomfortable inside a lift which might cause an awkward situation when there’s another person inside a lift and we cannot express our discomfort and our phobia inside the lift explicitly when other person might watching so that’s why it’s kind of awkward for some people with claustrophobia when they’re kind of forced to use the lift and there’s someone inside. However, for me personally. It is kind of awkward when inside the lift with a stranger since besides sometimes i’m waiting for something upstairs/downstairs and I cannot stop think of it when i’m inside the lift so it create some kind of awkward moment since I keep on doing something “random” while waiting for the lift to reach the desired level. However, if the case if the person looks suspicious or like quite disturbing just by looking at the person, it even more awkward since I will tend to avoid eye contact and most likely to stand still, looking down to the floor or up to the ceiling while waiting and hoping that this “suspicious-looking” individual will not go to the same level or I will reach my destinatiom before this person.
ReplyDeleteWell, when I personally got into lifts is that yes it has very limited of space that we can't do anything about it. People likely got in and do nothing until it arrives at the destinated floors, some of them are minding their own business such as looking into their phones checking their notifications although when I see one, he's only doing that because theres nothing more important at that time besides interacting with his belongings, even most of them are paranoid of their stuff being taken, so they keep them close to them or even huged them if they could. It's true, people get awkward in lifts, they're in a moving machine with people that aren't even their acquaintances. Maybe in Indonesia, we got some manners that are thought from we were kids that if you meet randoms, just politely nodd or say "excuse me" etc. But in the western cultures, people that aren't acquaintances are being cynical because they lacked socialization, to randoms ofcourse.
ReplyDeleteAl wrote: "Well, when I personally got into lifts is that yes it has very limited of space that we can't do anything about it."
DeleteWhat meaning does the word "personally" add to your sentence? If we delete it, is some meaning lost?
"Well, when I get into lifts that have very limited space that we can't do anything about it..."
The word can be deleted. It's almost always a good habit to cut redundant words. It makes our writing leaner and more effective.
The way Naufal uses the word "personally" (above) is OK because "for me personally" is a standard and commonly used expression.
DeleteI think what has been discussed in the article doesn’t apply to everyone as there tend to be some people who don’t actually pay much attention to their surroundings and continue what they were initially doing before they entered the lift, like how some people simply continued the conversation they had with one another in the lobby. Meanwhile, for those who see lifts as an uncomfortable place to be in, one reason probably comes from our inherent disposition to conjure up the worst case scenarios in our minds and learn how to prevent them. Some fear they might get mugged in a lift, some fear that one of the people they’re in with together is probably a devil who plans on shutting down the lights and take everyone’s life one by one. Surely, the former is the most plausible. Furthermore, nothing exacerbates the situation as effective and as obvious as horror movies. Try doing what I say and head over to Google to search for “horror movie in a”. The first result that the search engine probably presents to you with is “horror movie in an elevator”. Although if Google presented you with a different first result, then probably you did it on a different day and the trend had already changed.
ReplyDeleteAzy wrote: "Meanwhile, for those who see lifts as an uncomfortable place to be in, one reason probably comes from our inherent disposition to conjure up the worst case scenarios in our minds and learn how to prevent them. Some fear they might get mugged in a lift, some fear that one of the people they’re in with together is probably a devil who plans on shutting down the lights and take everyone’s life one by one."
DeleteThis is very interesting and I think there may be a cultural element to it. Unlike the "worst case scenarios" analysis you have offered, the reason British people might behave oddly in lifts is less likely to be fear or worry, but instead they would be uncomfortable with the close proximity of other people and what would feel to them like an invasion of their 'personal space'.
Whereas, the Japanese are used to very crowded trains, for example, and don't let it worry them, British people, on the other hand, never get used to it and feel very uncomfortable in such situations.
So, perhaps the reasons Indonesians and British people sometimes behave oddly in lifts are different.
Years ago, as a kid, I hate elevators. First of all, I hated it because I am scared of getting into one alone, I felt more comfortable as a kid using an elevator with an adult. Maybe it is the fear of getting traped and not knowing what to do, or maybe if the elevator falls, and lots of other reasons. Now, as a seventeen years old, I kinda have a love and hate relationship with elevators. I love elevators, because it is an excellent form of transportation, it can take you into the upper floors of a tall building in seconds, and it can conserve you some energy. I hate elevators because it is a very awkward place to be, getting into a small space with some strangers that you do not know, and that you need to be silenced in it, is very awkward for me. But still, for me I prefer using elevator with someone, rather than using it alone, I do not know why, maybe it is the feeling of being more “safe”.
ReplyDeleteEach country has different customs. For instance, people in Indonesia might behave differently compared to people from the western countries when they meet older people. People in Indonesia would usually nod when they see people older than him/her, while people from the western countries would just walk pass them. In the case of people’s behaviour inside lifts though, it does not seem like people’s behaviour in lifts are affected by customs at all. I think the way people behave in lifts is harder to explain. It takes another level of research to be explained. I have seen people who came into lifts and start talking to people beside them even though they don’t seem to know each other. At other times, I have also seen people who would just walk in and look down to the floor or looking at their phones even though they’re actually in the home screen, swiping left and right without purpose (probably trying to make himself/herself looks busy). People behave really oddly when they are in lifts. I agree with that statement. In fact, I also do this “acting busy” when I’m in lifts. In the end, I think that with such tight space, it is normal for people to avoid making eye contacts and behave differently. Because this action might just make them feel more comfortable.
ReplyDeleteI somehow relate well with the subject of customs that you brought up, Alex. Different places within the world will always have different reactions inferring to their customs and culture. I might not have been to as much places but I noticed many differences, especially in well culturally derived countries such as Japan and even Indonesia too! Although I am not disregarding other cultures, this is just tendencies that I seem to take notice on. About the awkwardness of the ambience, I believe that it actually depends on individual actions and behavior too, regardless of how small an elevator could be. There could be many reasons towards how an elevator atmosphere is determined, one of the few are: individual's current mood, individual's tendencies, individual's social background, so on and so forth. This list of circumstances also goes on to the point where I also believe that the elevator itself takes place as one of the factors of the ambience created. Some elevator has transparent glasses as walls, some don't, some plays enjoyable elevator music, some doesn't. It is a really easy yet interesting topic to discuss.
DeleteFor me, one thing that makes me quiet when I'm in an elevator is the silence. Usually when I'm with friends or family then we have a conversation before we enter the elevator, we rarely continue our discussion in the elevator. I don't think any of us like the idea of being eavesdroped by others. Of course not every conversation that we have is about private things, but I would like the things that we talked about stays between me and the person I discuss with only. Also because of the silence, everyone is watching what everyone else does. For example, if I'm about to have a candy, I'm opening the wrapper, I can feel their eyes staring at me. Or if someone's phone rings, almost immediatly everyone search where the sound came from and if the person picks up the call, everyone can listen to what their saying. But of course not everyone act like this. I know there are people out there who has no problem talking to their friends or having a proper conversation over the phone in an elevator out loud. And that's okay.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteAll of us who has been on a lift multiple times have experienced the awkward and forced conversation and/or smile but we never really think about why it happens. After reading this article, I was surprised by what it taught me. It turns out one of the reasons why we act so oddly is because the confined space of a lift puts us in an unwanted position where we have to either communicate with someone or stand in silence. I’ve been put in this situation several times before so the awkwardness inside a lift is not an uncommon thing for me. Personally, this is an odd topic to discuss or think about so it has never crossed my mind but reading this was very interesting and entertaining for me as it changes my perspective about this awkward condition in lifts. Later on, I won’t be surprised if I find myself laughing or thinking about this article when I get on lits.
ReplyDeleteStanding in an elevator can feel like an invasion of your personal space; unknown people standing too close to you. I believe this is something you find everywhere around the globe, since I experienced this in every country I’ve been so far. However, I have the feeling that this phenomenon is worse in Asian countries, where people seem to care less about "personal space" and see "your space" as a common good. I believe that this “personal space take-over” is recurring in other social situations as well. For example when you pass people in the street or when queueing up in line, Asians tend to come much closer than I’m used to and comfortable with.
The cause of this awkwardness in elevators is, in my opinion, the fact that you don’t know the others. I’m certain that people would not act like this when they’re in an elevator with only people they know.
Lifts are like small boxes that suck in noises. Whenever I enter a lift, I always find myself being quiet, no matter whom I am with or where I am at. I could be laughing out loud just outside the lift door but the moment I step my foot in, I go completely silent. Why is that? I wonder. The title of this article caught my eyes and it has answered my question. When being on the lift, I do feel a little anxious, I do feel unsafe, and I do feel awkward. I feel like I develop a sense of claustrophobia whenever I am on the lift because when travelling using this mode of transportation, I am basically locked inside a small box. That being said, I only feel this certain feeling when I am on the lift. The minute the door opens, everything goes back to normal.
ReplyDeleteThe title of this article was successfully made me feel curious, because I believe that mostly people feel the same (awkward) in lift, that’s why I choose to read this article carefully. I often experienced it, when I go in to the lift, I just stand still, being so quiet, or sometimes I choose to look at my phone trying to avoid eye contact with other people until I get out of it. Honestly I never think about my behavior in lift, until I read this article then I realize that basically all people act oddly in lift. I think that the most important factor that causes people to act strangely is because lift is only a small, covered place in the form of a box, so it will sound weird if we make a loud voice, or doing conversation, or maybe laugh too hard, I think that due to that problem, people will choose to be quiet in lift.
ReplyDeleteTo tell you the truth, i do feel somewhat in a 'awkward' situation in lifts because i am not too comfortable in small places. When i am alone it is fine. But with a lot of people in a cramped space, i feel kind of distressed. I think a lot of people feel the same as I do and that may be the cause why they behave oddly in lifts. And what I do when I am inside is usually playing with my phone or sometimes giving a smile to a person that comes inside. I don't really like to converse with a stranger inside the lift, although sometimes i am being asked questions. if that happens i tried to answer it as short as possible. But it has never occurred to me bad experience/accidents inside a lift, so up until now I am fine with getting into one
ReplyDeleteLift has always been a place of awkward silence, for fair reasons I think, we are stuck during few minutes in a tiny metal moving box next to person that we most of the time don’t know, very close to our personal space, we don’t know those person and no way to get away from them if the person is weird, it’s not in our human nature to know how to interact with someone in a context like that, it would be awkward to just randomly start a conversation but It is also relatively bizarre to share a small space like a lift with a stranger and not saying any words, the best solution is what we all do, avoiding eye contact to make the whole situation a little less awkward, I think we have all experiences that when we share a lift with a neighbour or someone we just barely know, and someone try to start a conversation, it’s very likely that it would end in an even more awkward silence.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was younger, I had a phase where I didn’t want to take the lifts because I was scared of it breaking down while we were inside. Being claustrophobic was also one of the other reasons why I dislike lifts. But as I grew older, I have slowly grown out of that fear. I still get claustrophobic sometimes but I am now more comfortable and used to taking lifts. Although I’ve grown out of those fears, it still hasn’t fully erased my dislike towards lifts. Lifts tend to create the most awkward situation possible such as pressing the button at the same time or awkward silence. To some people lifts may be very convenient but sometimes the awkward situations are not worth it. Some people doesn’t really pay attention to what is truly happening inside the lift so they don’t really acknowledge the awkward tension that is slowly building inside that lift but some people feel as if they are trapped inside an awkward mess.
ReplyDeleteI was quite interested about this article when i see the title because actually i have never think so deeply about people's behavior in lifts. I strongly agree about the opinion that was stated about the positions of people when entering lifts. I strongly agree in this opinion because i myself experienced the situation when there are 2 or 3 people in the lifts and we formed a position where we occupy in different corners. It is a definite situation and i almost have that situation when it comes to entering lifts.
ReplyDeleteAbout the behavior that we find when entering lifts is i think the most common thing that we find when people meet each other without even knowing him/her. This situation is what always i experienced when entering lifts and meet a bunch of people i don't know. i've tend look on my phone or even looked at the moving numbers of floors. The things that i do is how i avoid eye contact to strangers in lift because i think that it will be very awkward for strangers in a very small place to interact with no any obvious reason.
First, I would like to thank you, Mr. Adrian, for bringing up this topic of elevators to this blog. I have never been in this position where I realize that elevator could actually become an interesting topic to be shared. I was smiling and silently laughing when I read the article line over line, starting to realize that it is almost the exact situation that I’ve experienced before. And now, it makes scrutinizing of how it could happen.
ReplyDeleteThere was one moment where I was the one and only person inside the elevator. It was a couple of years ago. I was trying to reach my flat that is located in the 26th floor. Going up from the lobby took a moment and to be honest, I was bored. So what I did is turning on a random song from my phone and started dancing on the middle of the elevator’s floor. Suddenly, the lift stopped at the 15th floor and there was a lady joined me inside. And for that moment, I stood still and avoid eye contact.
This article reminded me of my friend that was always acting really weird when he uses the lift. He was a close friend of mine and I invited him to join me for a swim in my apartment. The swimming pool is located at the 5th floor, it had a nice view and everything so I thought he'd like it very much. When we arrived at the lifts, he asked he can use the stairs. I was puzzled. I always knew going on lifts can be awkward but this time was different; he was afraid. After I successfully persuaded him and we got into the lift, I realized he was afraid of the sensation of the lift going up. He said that the sensation was nauseating for him. It was to the point where he had to leaned against the wall to feel safer. That was the moment that I realized, going on lifts can be much more than an awkward experience for some people.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting article indeed, I’ve never thought I would think as detailed on the behaviour of people in lifts, as it never comes up on my mind before. Inside a lift, people usually face the door and tend to be quiet. I always get an awkward feeling when I’m inside a lift with strangers. To break that awkwardness, I usually just get my phone out and have a look at it. It does bother me when lifts are crowded with people. Other than squishy, you can’t do anything inside crowded lifts, you just stand there waiting for the door to open. That’s why I rarely take lifts on places like shopping centres, because it often gets crowded when people are especially going to cinemas and car parks, which are usually on the highest and lowest floors. Whenever there are both escalators and lifts in certain places, I prefer taking escalators than lifts.
ReplyDeleteThis article makes me think how awkward I felt everytime i used one. I mean it's not that awkward when it's empty, but when it's crowded we tend to become quiet and just stay still. The saddest thing is that usually when I am feeling awkward, I would pretend there is someone texting me. But the problem is, there is no phone signal inside a lift which makes it even more awkward.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, thank you Mr. Adrian, you made me realize how awkward it is inside a lift. Now I will always think about this article whenever i'm on a lift. Luckily we didn't have to use one when we have a class.
Oh and also, I have something to say. I think it is better for us to use a stairs or escalators when there is one instead of using lift because there are a lot of people who really needs lift. We should have a sympathy and let them use it first instead of ignoring them. That's all from me today, Thank you.
This topic intrigues me because it forms the basis of an interesting social experiment. However, I am not a social scientist, or a student taking social studies, so I'm highly unqualified to make any judgements or assumptions. I do however, like everyone else, share the same harrowing experience of being confined into the limited, sometimes claustrophobia inducing, steel walls of an elevator for the next minute or so to wherever it is your going.
ReplyDeleteI personally prefer the escalator or even the stairs, compared to an elevator. Sure it is the quickest and most efficient form of vertical transportation, but I prefer the visibly progressive ascent or descent of the stairs or an escalator, where you can see how far you have gone to wherever you’re going, and in the case of stairs, an opportunity for much needed exercise.
But I don't mind the occasional rush into the elevator to catch the last bit of empty space available before the enclosing, steel doors force me to wait another minute or two, every now and then. Because it gives me a chance to practice my patience, and to learn not to ponder the things in which I have no control over. But still, I prefer the openness of stair and escalators compared to the confines of an elevator, when given the choice.
It is very awkward and we will behave so oddly when we are in the lift with strangers. Even if when we are with our family in the lift and someone joins, we still can feel the awkwardness in the lift. Especially when we are alone by ourselves in the lift and someone comes in and joins you in a one hundred centimeters wide and one hundred thirty centimeters deep of space or room and we feel awkward and uncomfortable since it is pretty small. It must be uncomfortable to be with a complete stranger in that pretty little space. I usually decided to examine my phone in order to not feeling the awkwardness in such situation when I am in the lift. We need at least two until five minutes in the lift and this could make me feel pretty uncomfortable. I can’t imagine being trapped in the lift for forty-one hours like nick white ever experienced once with strangers. If I was trapped in the lift for forty-one hours, I would be crying and feeling very panic.
ReplyDeleteA lot of people get into elevator daily and most of the situations are the same, awkward. We’re standing (or even squeezing) in a limited spaced box with strangers beside us. The conversations we had outside elevators usually dies out the moment we step into it. And there are places that has tunes playing in the elevators which can make the situation more awkward to have a full conversation. In the article, Lee Gray stated that one of the reasons of the anxieties we feel in elevators are because we can’t see the engine working. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I feel like I don’t have that much anxiety when I’m in glass elevators compared to solid metal ones. In glass elevators, we can see what’s going on from floor to floor or we can observe the mechanism of the machine, but in metal elevators, there’s nothing interesting to see which could makes us more anxious. People usually deal with this by checking their phones (even though there’s no notifications) or by awkwardly staring at the ceiling until they arrive at their floor. Even though we usually feel anxious in elevators, but it already became one of the transportations needed in daily life.
ReplyDeleteThe main point that I grasped from the article by the BBC is the fact that humans are often unwillingly cornered into places where our primal instincts defeat our human reasoning. Being stuffed into a cramped elevator with little to no space between individuals triggers our natural instinct to not look threatening, and the surprising part is that we often do this subconsciously. The claustrophobic setting of an elevator packed with commuters is more than enough to make us throw all reasoning out of the window and rely on our intuition to move around and find space to avoid provoking others. This phenomenon made me reflect on how we humans like to think ourselves as superior to other animals when in fact, something as simple as getting into a packed elevator can reverse ages of human evolution to reduce us into nothing more than animals driven by instincts and intuition.
ReplyDeleteMajority of people would stay shut and behave oddly inside elevators. There can be many reasons why people behave in such ways. Avoiding eye contacts, tapping foots, staring into space, and playing cellphones are what i tend to find inside lifts. First off, it could be caused by a claustrophobia where people would feel sudden nervous or discomfort inside a closed tiny space like elevators. This would make them behave oddly inside lifts. Secondly, some people tend to feel like they should stay shut inside elevators to not make other people inside it feel annoyed. Therefore, people would remain shut or talk in a lower voice inside lifts. Thirdly, some people experience a sudden awkwardness to be in a closed space with strangers that they feel embarrassed to do anything else than staying shut inside elevators. This usually caused them to fidgets and do other awkward actions. However, not all people would behave oddly inside elevators. Some people would try to make conversations, greet others, and talk loudly inside the elevators. As majority of people stay shut inside the elevators, these kind of people are rare to find and tend to be seen as ‘odd’ by the awkward ones.
ReplyDeleteThere are three reasons for me on answering the question why people behave oddly in lifts. Well, the first reason is because the 'human society rule'. People tend to stop chatting or talking when they are in a smaller and confined space. Why? Because basically people wouldn't want their conversation to be heard by other people who are considered as strangers. The second reason is because it would produce an awkward situation. Other than an awkward situation, it could possibly make other people uncomfortable due to the suffocated environment. The third one is because the culture. Why culture? As we can see, we learn the particular behavior by looking at the elders. Quick example, when we were a child, we went to a shopping mall accompanying our mom. Inside the lift, we saw that our mom did not talk even a single word to another people. From the moment, we learn that it is unnecessary to chat with another person. To conclude, it is okay and normal to not communicate in lifts with other people because it shows good manners and also shows that you respect the human society rule
ReplyDeleteI was interested in this article because I have never realized that someone was actually looking at our attitudes in lifts. Many people act oddly in lifts for many reasons: first, there are such thing as claustrophobic where people can’t stand being in a small room. Especially if more people enters the lift, making less space for people inside. Second, many people feels awkward that when other people listens to their conversation. So many people just keep quite when their in an elevator. Third, some people have a paranoid habit, where if they see a strange-looking person or someone who looks like punks, they just stand still and protect their personal belongings. So it is not weird, if people here has an awkward attitude in a lift. I admire foreigners when I met them a few times in a hotel lift. Sometimes they greet people in lifts when someone comes in though it’s just a little “hello” at the beginning or a small conversation about weather. We should be more easygoing with others while still being careful.
ReplyDeleteOne of the reasons we feel awkward or uncomfortable during an elevator ride is the fact that there is so little things to turn our attention too. What I mean by this is because an elevator is small in dimension and so we do not have much to see or do while in there, or at the very least not have enough space to do things comfortably. And so when a person joins in on the elevator, our attention turns to that person. Even if the attention to that person dissipates, everybody else still tends to look, scan and sometimes outright stare at other people in the elevator. I believe that it is this unwanted attention from strangers that causes us to feel uneasy because we feel that our every move is being judged and noted by everyone in the elevator. And this results in us doing certain actions to try and seem normal, even if these actions are in fact attention grabbing.
ReplyDeleteI personally think that I act normal in the elevator if I am alone or with someone I know, either my family or my friends. If I am in the elevator with strangers, I will be quiet and act awkwardly. I believe that I act like that because I am stuck in a small place with someone I do not know, therefore, that might be the answer for the question why do we behave so oddly in lifts. Well, maybe there are many other reasons why someone act oddly in the elevator, for examples, claustrophobia (fear of enclosed spaces), agoraphobia (fear of being trapped in a situation in which escape would be difficult or impossible should a panic attack occur) and much more. But, in my opinion the main reason is because we trapped in a small place with someone we do not know at all, so we don’t actually know what to do and what to say.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, lifts are a very awkward place for me and I totally relate to this article. It's awkward because you're just standing there with a bunch of strangers who had different things to do, but just stands there waiting for their floor to come. I always felt this type of tension when the lift is full and people who are in a rush shows that they're worried and wanted to get out of there as soon as possible and weirdly it affects me and made me also feel that type of way. Somehow, being in a small place with a group of people causes some kind of social awkwardness where we just stand there avoiding eye contacts with other people. Also, the feeling that we don't have control on the machine that is moving and might stop at any time causing people, including myself to be stuck in such a small place made that anxiety feeling grows. Despite all the social awkwardness and the anxiety, I completely agree that lifts are safer than cars and notably safer than escalators. The worst thing that can happen is getting stuck for hours with so little oxygen, at least that's what I know.
ReplyDeleteThis article is very interesting to me, because, it actually happened. Without even realizing, we sometimes do behave oddly in lift. Once, I was inside a lift together with my friends. We were joking quite loudly until someone else came in. After that, we went dead silence until we got out of the lift. Sometimes, I feel a little bit uncomfortable being alone in a lift. It would be more comfortable being with someone I don’t even know rather than being alone in a lift. Maybe, because I’m a little bit paranoid after watching horror movie. In my opinion, each individuals have their own personal space, which we have to pay attention, and be respectful about it. I personally don’t have a strict personal space but I tend to respect other’s personal space, and try not to get too close before knowing them better. Some people have fear of being in enclosed space, in extreme case could be anxiety disorder they call “Claustrophobia”. I’m not Claustrophobic but still, being in a small, enclosed space can be uncomfortable. Lift have become a common transportation that is beneficial for commuting. We should be able to behave properly and respect others inside a lift.
ReplyDeleteFor me, it is an awkward situation where we have to stay and stand still with a bunch of strangers in a closed tight room. And the only thing you could probably do is just stand there, oddly, doing nothing at all or you could just take out your phone and wait for the lift to arrive at your floor destination. Well the least thing you could do probably do is just think of a topic and then start talking if you are not alone in the lift and you are with your friends. But the consequences of this type of thing is that it will, in a way, disturb other people that’s inside the lift. As to why we have this stereotypical awkwardness when we are inside the lift, I think it’s because people have some sort of personal space that they don’t want other people to come inside of that space and the factor that they are inside of a closed room just add it into another level of awkwardness.
ReplyDeleteThe title is actually interesting that it made me curious and read the article. And while reading it, I was laughing because the article is very relatable for me. I agree with the awkward situation that we had when we were in a lift. I don’t know why, but most of the people’s conversations with their friends suddenly stop once they entered a lift (not all, but most). Because of the limited space and is filled with silence, people will wait for their destination level in the lift awkwardly. People will stand still, looking at either their gadget, or floor, or ceiling. Personally, I will play with my phone while waiting. I don’t know about others, but usually, if my phone was off, I would look at the screen at the top of the lift which shows what floor you’re currently at, and hoping that the lift will move quickly up or down to arrive at the wanted level.
ReplyDeleteAs a citizen of Jogjakarta myself, living in a city which lacks the sight of skyscrapers is a good thing for my well being. The most important aspect of living in Jogjakarta, especially when ascending to the upper floors of a building, is the choice of taking the stairs instead of the lift. This applies only when the building I’m ascending has less than 8 floors, because going up 10 to 12 floors by taking the stairs is absolutely going to put a strain on your ankles. The main reason why I take the stairs in preference to the lift, is that confined space make me feel anxious, especially when there are 5 or more people standing in the proximity of my personal space. And this issue escalated right after I watched the elevator scene in Captain America : Winter Soldier, my insecurity that somebody will pull out a knife or a stick on me had suddenly, rose to a higher stage. It’s not as if I don’t trust people (in fact I don’t trust most people, especially strangers), but the fact that most crimes occur in confined spaces, even if mugging someone in an elevator is a terrible way of committing crime, it gives a slight tickle on my soul whenever I think about it. Just think about it, you’re walking with a bunch of people to an elevator and suddenly all the chatter they had suddenly stop when the elevator closes its doors, what if everyone standing around you in an elevator actually has something up their sleeves to mug you? And the tight space doesn’t give you much advantage when you have to fight back. That sums up my opinion and my suspicion on people’s odd behavior in the elevator.
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw the title of the article I was immediately interested in it because I’ve also wondered why people become so different when people enter elevators, myself too, as if they’ve just entered another world. I find the predetermined arrangement pattern of people kind of funny because the same thing happened to me many times before without realizing too. I once or several times tried to talk casually with my friends in the elevator when there were other people around but even though we talked like we were having fun, the degree of being casual inside and outside the elevator were still different due to other people around there was still this social awkwardness between us all. I wonder if only elevators were much more spacious as big as a normal bedroom, would things be different, or will the same pattern of placement also follow no matter how big the inside of the elevator is. Even if it is said that elevators are much safer than cars and other means of transportation, I still think that sometimes elevators are scary as the metal ropes used to hang the elevator might snap any time as they are used every day many times when they go up and down the building floors.
ReplyDeleteThe awkwardness we face in elevators are largely due to our fear of strangers. We don't know who they are and we feel pressured to initiate a conversation to “break the ice”. An elevator is like a party, but confined in a small box that might induce claustrophobia. When you can't find anyone you know and you have to endure this party alone, you feel super awkward and you just want to get out as quick as possible. But when there's a friend things are more bearable, exciting even. Crippling silence are also a factor. You don't know this person and they're all quiet, you don't know what they're thinking about. The irrational fear of the unknown. Also the fear that the cable might snap and we'll fall to a deep dark abyss, never to be heard. Again, it's relatively irrational. That's what I feel when I'm in an elevator.
ReplyDeleteI can totally relate to this article. I think, standing still and being quiet is the best thing to do while being inside an elevator with strangers. Even though it seems super awkward, but for me, I think it’s just the safest thing to do. Every person has their own different preferences in how they interact with others. Perhaps some people like to have a conversation with strangers, while someone else just doesn’t. By standing still and being quiet, you respect other people’s personal space. While being in a lift, I myself would prefer standing in the corner to avoid attention and minimized the probability of sudden skin ship with strangers. I don’t know why, but somehow being in the corner makes me feel safer. Of course, most people will behave differently if they’re being in an elevator with only people they know.
ReplyDeleteBefore reading this article, I never really thought about how awkward we become when we enter a lift. I personally don’t find lifts scary and they don’t make me anxious or anything, except maybe if I’m alone. But, it is interesting how before entering, we could be talking to someone and once we’re in the lift the atmosphere just changes completely, especially when there’s other people inside. We immediately stop talking. This probably happens because we don’t really want strangers to listen to us talking, even if the conversation isn’t private. And I don’t know if other people feel the same way, but I find it awkward when I’m inside a lift alone and a group of people are talking loudly, laughing and stuff. I also feel like we get awkward because we’re just waiting to get to our floor. It’s like once we’re inside the lift, our activities or conversations must be paused until we get out of there. Sure, lifts are awkward and silent, but it has become something that is normal and I don’t find it unsettling anymore.
ReplyDeleteThis is such an interesting topic, the first time I read the title I thought it was just for some group of people who act weirdly inside the lifts, and when I started to read it I just realize that I act the same just like the text already mentioned, in this case I personally think I act so oddly in lifts because we feel trapped in small box and don’t know what to do, especially if I was in lifts with strangers, most of the time inside lifts I didn’t do anything beside just waiting to get out of the lift. When I was with a strangers I stand still/don’t know what to do because I feel kinda shy to say something or to do anything since I don’t know them they don’t know me, and for me this is the main reason why I stand still while the lift was going.
ReplyDeleteI actually can't relate to the article at all. The main reason why I turn stiff as stone in lifts is mainly because of the people. I personally feel fine and comfortable when I’m in an elevator alone, but when someone steps in and joins me, or vice versa, I turn awkwardly quiet. It feels as if my personal space (aka the small elevator I had for myself) had just been invaded by a stranger I didn’t invite. But at the same time, I know it’s their rights and my rights to step in and use the elevator however they please. In the end, I just stay quiet and try to give them their own personal space by leaving them alone, the same way I want my own personal space. I get terribly and especially uncomfortable when the lift is full, having to squeeze in with so many people and making so much unnecessary, uncomfortable skin contact. But you know, that's just my own two cents.
ReplyDeleteI read it carefully and I found it that this awkwardness is so me. When I am in the position to stand still next to strangers I usually started to think about what to do and how not to be so suspicious. I often grab my phone and pretending texting someone. And I think it became a habit. To handle this I probably would like to act calm as someone entering the lifts. I also feel most of the people would feel the same just like me. It is funny that the fact shows once people entering the lifts, the others inside the lifts stop the conversation. I don’t really know why but as far I know it happens a lot. Mostly, when we wait to enter the lift we can not choose which lifts to use. Using a tiny room, sharing the same air, standing next to strangers, avoiding eye contacts, that is me, describing lifts as an interesting object to talk about.
ReplyDeleteThat’s all from me.
Thank you!
In my opinion, the odd thing we do might be caused by awkwardness in the existence of a stranger. By being inside a lift we might stand to close to other people, and it may get more awkward of it is a stranger to us. It also reflected on me that I also feel awkward of a stranger enters my personal space. One time, I was in a lift going to the top of the building, it felt spacious because I was alone. Then when the lift was about to reach my destined floor a group of people came in, and in all of a sudden, the lift was cramped with humans. I felt awkward being too close to strangers. And it is too short to spend some time for a conversation with a stranger. because I personally think that it is unnecessary to start a conversation to a stranger because of the short time that I will be in a lift.
ReplyDeletePersonally I consider myself as an akward person in general. I occasionally find myself in akward situations in almost a daily basis. It’s not really a big deal actually, it’s just that sometimes I’m having some random thoughts in my head which is completely unrelevant to the situations I’m in. I also experienced akwardness in lifts. Especially when the lift is filled with lots of people crammed in together. I never think about the reason why akwardness happens in lift before. But, I think that it is true that we don’t have a natural distance between one person and the other in lift. So, we would feel weird if we tried to talk to some strangers, or even someone you know who were in a conversation with us before we enter the lift. The other reason of akward interaction in lift might be because we might feel uncomfortable talking to others while the whole room is listening, we may also feel akward listening to other people’s conversation when there are a group of people who is present literally in front of your face, yet they didn’t have any idea about the conversation. So, it might be best to save your conversation for later when you are in a lift, to avoid creating an akward situations for you and others around.
ReplyDeleteI can definitely relate to this article, I personally dislike riding elevators. As much as I could, I would stay away from riding elevators and ride escalators instead. Being constrained in a small space makes me anxious. It gets worse if suddenly a crowd of people comes rushing in or if the elevator is already filled up with people. I would prefer to stay at the corner rather than on the center because that way I could avoid eye contacts and would see their backs instead. When I am alone, I would still stand on the corner and I’d do this even if I enter with a group of people I know; I would immediately go to the unoccupied corner. Being on the corner just eases me, as I can see everything from my peripheral vision. Another thing would be safety, as the article already mention. I think my anxiety of riding elevator exist because I have no control of my surroundings. We wouldn’t know if something happen outside of that cube up until we step out of it. Despite all these things, I would still use elevators because I wouldn't want to go up to the 8th floor with stairs.
ReplyDeletePersonally, being in a lift is a very scary moment especially when I am going down from a very tall building. I am a very acrophobic person since I’m really scared of height. Whenever I enter a lift, I always want to leave it straight away. This is one of the reasons why I often use the escalator. In terms of awkwardness, I really do not feel that weird being in a lift with multiple people. In fact, I Feel safe and comfortable since I know that If things are about to happen, at least I’m here with another person or people. The only human being that I fear are children that jump around inside the lift. During that moment, I just want to exit the lift. Even though statistically there are not much accident that has occurred in the lift, my anxiety always kicked in when I’m in in it and it is hard to feel safe.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, i only feel awkward in the lift whenever i’m inside the elevator with some stranger, but if i were in the elevator with some of my friends, i do feel normal and talk, joke, and laugh normally with my friends. The awkward and strange feelings only came if you take the elevator with stranger, because you can’t talk to them as you don’t even know them. I also sometimes feel somekind of an afraid feeling and paranoid because of the elevator accident that can happen anytime and anywhere. An elevator can also be a place to know each other for the first time, or also you can find love inside the elevator! You can also joke and laugh in the elevator if you guys want to! But not that kind of dangerous joke, such as jumping inside the elevator, because it can harm you and your friends if the elevator broke down. In another way, we should see an elevator as a place to socialize, not a place to be afraid of. Some people even have trauma to take an elevator, because of some reasons. There is no doubt that elevator can be see in two ways, a place to socialize as a mentioned before, or a place to be afraid of.
ReplyDeleteThe scenario described by this article doesn’t actually applied to everyone. When i’m in high school, i have plenty of friends who don’t really care much about their surrounding and like to jokes around even if the lift was packed by people. Therefore i believed that its all actually depends on the character and the type of the person it self. For me personally, i don’t really feel any awkwardness at all when the lift are filled by many people. However it turns into a different case when it comes to the situation where there are only my self and one other stranger in the lift. In this kind of situation, the degree of awkwardness will raise drastically and i feel like time goes very slow and every second of silence is just very tiring. Usually in this kind of scenario, i would ALWAYS checking up my phone and do random things such as staring at my phones wallpaper or pretend to be massaging.
ReplyDeleteLift is a platform that takes you to other floor levels. Usually a lift has a very limited space in it. It’s limitedness often invites awkward behaviors. These awkward behaviors may be vary, from pretending on checking your phone to being obnoxiously close to each other. I believe that all of this happens because whenever someone entered a lift full of people, he/she is forced to trespassing. By trespassing I mean going into someone’s personal space. Personal space is the area around a person that if someone else is being to close to it, his/her presence could trigger this person to being awkward. That is why a lift that is full of people is prone to awkward moments. I personally think that being in a lift is a rather odd experience. Because I always feel comfortable yet awkward at the same time. The odor in a lift usually smells nice because of the air freshener that is sprayed every certain time.
ReplyDeleteMany individuals get into lift every day and experience awkwardness. How can we not while we're standing in a small metal box with a bunch of unknown people in there with us. The discussions we had outside lifts often ceases to exist the minute we went inside the lift. What's more, there are places that has tunes playing in the lifts which can make the situation more awkward to have a full discussion. In the article, Lee Gray expressed that one reason of the reason why the nerves or anxiety we feel in lifts are because of the engine of the lift that we can’t see. I don't know whether it's simply me, but my anxiety on lifts are based of the kind of lift that I’m in. I don't have that much uneasiness when I'm in glass lifts. On the other hand, I feel more scared and uneasy when I’m in a metal lift. In glass lifts, we can see what's happening from floor to floor or we can watch the component of the machine, however in metal lifts, there's nothing fascinating to see which could makes us more restless. The other thing that makes me anxious in lift because it is filled with strangers. It would not be an awkward situation if the lift are filled with the people I know.
ReplyDeleteI’ve never actually given too much thought about this topic, but it is actually very intriguing. I really like having my own personal space. So, like a lot of people in the world, most of the time, I find lifts very uncomfortable. Lifts tend to create awkward situations, and I really don’t like awkward situations. Lifts also make people feel claustrophobic because of how little space they have. The most uncomfortable situation would be if the lift is too crowded, so you have to be squished along with strangers. There are usually limits to the number of people taking the lift at the same time. However, in Indonesia, this is usually put aside. Therefore, people would feel more suffocated because the lift is too crowded. But, lifts are really convenient for transport. I really can’t imagine if we have to take 32 flights of stairs if we don’t have lifts. People who works or has activities in the high levels of a building depends a lot on lifts as means of transport.
ReplyDeleteIn the past decades, China’s economy has been growing rapidly and China’s influence has been spreading dramatically across the globe. The main issue is there are a good number of Chinese national who could not English, even though they are doing international business. Ever since the bloom of the Chinese economy, Chinese companies has been spreading their wing through the great frontier of the known world, having their presence in even the least developed places. Due to this nature of the current world status, In my opinion the use of mandarin will play a crucial role within the international commerce, and the role will definitely extend outside the commerce sector as the Chinese influence grow. But the reality that mandarin is developing to be ever more important does not mean we should abandon English all at once. But this is an opportunity for us all to gain more value in our self by mastering the command of both tongue.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I step inside a lift, just like any other small, cramped place where we are very close to each other, I always observe my surroundings and then play with my phone. The situation will be different if I am travelling with a friend. I will continue the conversation throughout the entire trip, but I will lower my voice so that the conversation remains private and other passengers won’t feel annoyed by our voice. So, I think Professor Babette Renneberg’s hypothesis about us behaving awkwardly in lifts is valid. Even so, in my opinion, not only do we behave awkwardly in lifts, we have the tendency to behave in a similar manner when we are inside other small cramped spaces, like a bus, train, or smoking area. Perhaps in the future when we have extremely tall sky scrapers eeethat takes minutes to reach the top, people might start having small talks too.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I have never thought that elevator is also an example of transportation so that’s new information to me. Being in an elevator alone may feel like having our own freedom. But when people start to fill in the spaces, it does feel awkward. Firstly, it’s because of you don’t know these people and they don’t know you as well. In addition, you are put in a situation of social awkwardness where you may think to start a conversation but scared that it also may be too random. I personally experienced some awkward situations while standing in an elevator mostly with some of my friends. My friends and me can easily socialize as we already know each other and we may have had a conversation going before we step inside the elevator. The awkwardness started when we talk inside the elevator with other people listening. They may judged or have an opinion about our conversation inside that tiny space of elevator. But I guess some people would just be careless about it too.
ReplyDeletePersonal space, i think it is the main reason that we have that kind of weird and awkward atmosphere in the lift. I heard this about few years a go and then i do more research about it from this website https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4236010/ which did a research for people’s personal space. From that website i can learn that people has their own personal space based from their own social behaviour. Even for country like US, they find this kind of weird atmosphere from being so close to each other in lift, how about Indonesia? In my opinion, in Indonesia we have this kind of cultures that make us more inclosed than other country especially US. Therefore i think our personal space would be bigger and it would take much closer relationship for us to let other people socialize in that personal space. So for “stranger” that comes in to our personal space, it will be hard for us to start conversation and thus makes this kind of awkward and odd atmosphere.
ReplyDeleteThis topic is quite interesting, as most of us experienced such events in a lift with strangers, we act so differently as we normally did. Here is the theory that came from my own experience.The main reason why we can shift our behavior 180 degrees when we get into lifts with strangers, its because we actually as a person care about how the other person view us, meaning we care so much about how other’ s first impression towards us, so we tend to be the person which is not the true us. And we usually create this atmosphere inside lifts which are very awkward between one and another inside the lifts, because all of the people inside the lift will act roughly the same amount of awkwardness inside the lift. That’s my own opinion, its based on my own experience regarding my journeys inside a lift with strangers. Because actually I am an active person, but inside a lift I feel like every movement made by me is being observed by others. That is how I can relate with this topic.
ReplyDeleteI admit that sometimes I behave oddly when I’m in the elevator. Personally, the reason why I behave oddly when I’m in the elevator is because it feels very strange to be locked on a little box with a little personal space and it makes you feel like you want to do something strange to remove your worries about the fact that you’re locked in an elevator alone or with another people and everything could possibly happens. From reading the article above, I strongly agree that when we get in the elevator we feel the social awkwardness and also we feel anxious. Everything could possibly happen in elevator, good or bad, and it makes our minds feel worried when we are stuck in the elevator especially when we stuck with another people. When we are stuck with another people in elevator, we likely to remain silent and that causing more social awkwardness especially when we are stuck in the middle and feel like we don’t want any eye contact with anyone.
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ReplyDeleteIt is kind a funny when I’m reading this article; because at the same time, every words that I read, I always imagine how do I look and what I do whenever I gets into a lift. And the overall content of the article is true, I totally agree. I start to realize that whenever I gets into the lift, I feel like I became more anxious towards my surroundings. That’s the best reason why I always start to look on my phone whenever I enter a lift. Also, the formation made inside a lift that also explained in the article is certainly right. Whenever we enter a lift, people tend to directly fulfill or stand in the corner area, and it became the common behavior for people; as if it’s a lot saver and convenient if we were at the corner of the lift. Last thing, I also agree that the accidents occur inside a lift is very rare compare to any transportation or facilities exist. Since people became more anxious when enter a lift, they tend to not doing anything stupid and what they do is just to fully entrust the machine of the lift. All they know is just enter the lift, push the button, wait a minute, and then they go out. As simple as that.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article, I have just realized that those activities are actually happened inside the lift. I am personally that kind of person who feels scared and anxious at the same time whenever I am in the lift especially when I am alone. Because I feel like I’m trapped inside small box without knowing what is happening outside the box. Thing that makes me even more scared is the way lift takes me to the upper or lower ground. I always fantasize like the lift will fall or I will be stuck inside the lift for long time without anyone will notice that. Another true thing from the article is, when someone comes in to the lift, it is like automatically we will move to the corner of the lift, and try so hard not to have any contact (eye or skin) with the other person. Awkwardly, we stand quietly or pretend using our phone just to avoid any contact with them.
ReplyDeleteWhen the lift is full, it is even worse because it’s like we have to wait to get to the floor that we want to go to with so many strangers who stand so close to us, sometime we will have a skin contact with them and it will be very very awkward for both of us.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I can’t be patient whenever I have to wait to get to the floor where I want to be, so it’s so annoying for me if the lift has to stop in every floor to pick some people who also want to take the lift. Sometimes, my impatience makes me do stupid thing like get out from the lift before the lift even reach the floor where I intend to go to. Another awkward moment I experienced myself is when I couldn’t hold my laugh because of the silly thing in my phone but inside of the lift the situation was so quiet and serious because there were only two old men stood there carrying laptop bag as if they were from the office and there was me standing with my phone and trying not to laugh.
I partly agree with the article because the majority of us behave so awkward in elevators because of many reasons. I think the core reason of why we behave so oddly in elevators is because we do not know everyone that is in the same elevator with us. Of course, we do not want to be rude or make others feel uncomfortable with us being so chatty in an elevator especially if we are in an elevator with strangers. This is why most of us behave so awkward and not because the elevator itself. Although there is also a possibility that one would behave weird in elevators because the idea of he or she is in a moving machine and have zero control over the machine. But, this problem has been solved by the information provided in the article that elevators are in fact one of the safest form of transportation.
ReplyDelete• Lifts are weird. It’s like the atmosphere is getting heavier as each person walks in, creating a situation where people are just better by being silent. I think part of the reason is that we don’t want to bother others, so we just stood there in silence. Another reason is that probably because lifts are so cramped, we’d keep our talking to a minimum so that we don’t leak any informations that are private in nature. You make one sound and suddenly the whole room turn their heads towards you. Discomfort and awkwardness sinks in as you quietly looks down, unable to say anything but “sorry” for disturbing their comfort. I guess that’s why people seldom talk in the elevator, because they are afraid to disturb other people’s comfort and are trying to keep each other privacy in check. It is an intriguing topic indeed.
ReplyDeleteI quite agree with what is written in this article. Because every time I get into a lift I always act normally and never really behave awkwardly or something like that. What I do scared is when I get into a empty lift where there are no people at all, most people may be happy with this kind of situation but for me this is a nightmare because I always imagine that the lift would stop or the lights will go out and a ghost would come. So whenever I want to use a lift I always see if there is a person inside the lift, if there is none then I would not take the lift unlees I have to or I’m in a hurry. So to summarize my comment on this article, I agree with Professor Babette Renneberg’s hypothesis about us behaving awkwardly because sometimes I see people in the lift doing weird things because they don’t know what to do at the moment.- Dimas Aditya Permana
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