Exploring Space in the Consultation Room: Environmental Influences during Patient–Physician Interaction

Abstract

Patients' disclosure of personal information is a key factor in health communication. Research shows that the environment can affect self-disclosure. The 2 studies reported in this article set out to examine the effects of the perceived spaciousness of a consultation room on patient readiness to communicate personal information to his or her physician. To influence perceived spaciousness, desk size and room size were manipulated. Results from both studies show that an increase in room size in particular positively influences perceived comfort and intended self-disclosure. However, the affective valence of the conversation was found to influence this relation, indicating that people prefer a smaller interpersonal distance when the conversation is positively framed and room size is large. Furthermore, findings show that spaciousness effects on self-disclosure are qualified by patient characteristics.

Notes

*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

¹As in Study 1, we conducted mediation analyses to test whether the effects of room size on perceived comfort and intended self-disclosure were mediated by perceived spaciousness. Results showed this to be the case (perceived comfort: Sobel z = 3.85, p < .001; intended self-disclosure: Sobel z = 3.71, p < .001). As the main effects of desk size on perceived comfort and intended self-disclosure were not significant, we did not conduct mediation analyses for the effects of desk size.