Freeman Urinal
A Field Study, Continued
Vol. I · No. 1
Solana · $URINAL
Solana · $URINAL
None of them were asked first.
In May 1976, three psychologists ran a field experiment in a three-urinal men's lavatory. A confederate stood at the middle urinal. The right urinal was blocked off with a hand-written sign. An observer, hidden in a stall behind a stack of books, timed sixty men to a tenth of a second as they entered and used the left urinal. Nobody in the room was told what was being measured.
The measurement was simple: how many seconds passed between a man stepping up to the left urinal and the onset of urination. The only variable was who else was standing at the row, and how close.
Closer distance delayed onset and shortened duration. Personal space invasion produced measurable arousal, recorded not on a questionnaire but on a stopwatch.
Three wall urinals in a row. One confederate, one subject, one urinal closed off, and an observer who was never seen.
The right urinal was blocked with a bucket, a sponge, and a sign reading "don't use, washing urinal." The observer worked from a stall behind a periscope built into a stack of books.
Placement. A confederate entered ahead of the subject and took either the middle urinal or the one furthest from it, depending on condition.
Concealment. The observer was already in place, positioned in a stall with a clear line of sight through a periscope disguised inside a stack of books.
Entry. An unsuspecting subject entered, saw the room as it was, and chose the remaining open urinal, which was always the one on the left.
Timing. The observer started a stopwatch the moment the subject reached the urinal and stopped it at the first audible onset of urination.
Debrief. None of the sixty men were told beforehand, and none were asked for consent to be timed. This was field research, not a lab study.