Environmental Factors When a person tries to position their seat, you must recognize the four task situations (conversation, cooperation, coaction, and competition). When you're chatting with another person, you're usually sitting across from each other. An example of a conversation is when my roommate and I are going to eat. We don't sit next to each other unless someone else is coming to eat with us. The seated disposition opposed to conversation is cooperation. During cooperation, you are more likely to sit next to each other because you help each other and show each other useful information. Here on campus, in the library, in the student union, in the halls of the different departments, we could see cooperation at its best. I'm going to use myself as an example because when I was a freshman and sophomore here at Appalachian State, I had to go to study hall and find a tutor because of football. When I had private lessons, my tutor didn't sit across from me, she sat next to me because I felt like I was getting the most out of the conversation. However, the level of intimacy between two people depends on where you sit. If a couple is very intimate, they are likely to sit next to each other. But if a couple is not intimate but friends, they will sit opposite each other. When my girlfriend and I go out on a date, we sit across from each other. But when I'm at work, I see older couples, in their 40s, sitting next to each other. But one place where intimacy isn't involved is clubs, because alcohol is involved. Alcohol can increase the level of intimacy between two non-intimate people. Another reason that drives people's decisions is their seating arrangements: personal and personality differences. One example I've seen is leadership. Leadership is visible every day in our society. Leaders show who is responsible for the situation. You will see leadership in lectures, groups, meetings, classrooms when a decision is involved and at home at the dinner table. Another example I have is extroverted people. Extroverts tend to be outgoing, loud, and talkative people. I am one of those people. So I see Extroversion every day, for example: “I went to pick up my car in the south parking lot. I saw this girl who was doing so well”.