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Ceiling Height Versus Performance (WSJ)
With a higher ceiling, we see relationships between different pieces of information, and focus on the similarities between things as opposed to points of differences. The inverse would be true in the case of a lower ceiling height. The lower ceiling is making you process in a more detailed fashion.
With the higher ceiling heights, what seems to happen is that people subconsciously get a sense of freedom from the spaciousness of the room. And in lower ceilings, we are activating thoughts related to a sense of confinement, or some kind of limitation. And these thoughts shape the kind of processing we do.
So we process more freely in the case of higher ceilings, and we process in a more focused and detailed way in lower ceilings. (WSJ ‘07)
