The role of territorial behavior in improving the desirability of students' social interactions in academic environments (Case study: Shahid Rajaee University)

The desirability of students' social interactions plays a fundamental role in enhancing the quality of formal and informal academic spaces. The present study aims to investigate the territorial behavior in the academic environment concerning the concept of "boundary" to improve students' social interactions. This study is applied and mixed-method research, in which a survey study is applied to A) evaluate the individuals' views and develop the objective table and contents. Through data collection and employing written sources and semi-structured interviews with psychology and architecture professors B) develop a visual questionnaire, according to the table and distribute them among the research population. In the present study, to fill out the questionnaire, 17 professors are interviewed, and 45 architecture students of Shahid Rajaee University are asked. Data are collected using interviews, observations, and questionnaires. The statistical population includes architecture students of Shahid Rajaee University. Also, the samples are selected by a cluster sampling technique. After classifying the obtained data using SPSS software, they are investigated and analyzed to extract desired boundaries from the students' views utilizing a t-test. Findings indicate that students consider in-between boundaries to be more desirable for spatial privacy in the presence of individuals and friendly gatherings.