A Dramaturgical Position to Reveal the Affect of Space on Discriminatory Judgments of Behaviour

Built environment disciplines investigate how spaces affect discriminatory judgments between community members through a body of knowledge called discriminatory design. Spatial-discriminatory events occur in various ways, however, they are more potently identified and studied in relation to the static attributes of people and space; how people look, or where they are in relation to space. This paper answers calls from scholars for an alternative position to investigate how spaces affect judgments of people’s behaviour. The paper builds and rationalises a theoretical hypothesis formed through Goffman’s dramaturgy which is tested and refined through a survey-experiment. The study offers an alternative theoretical position for researchers that aim to bring the behavioural dimension of spatial discrimination into focus.