PSY30203 Ameer Farhan 0319304, Lim Joe Onn 0318679, Mustaqim Choo 319879, Naim Ariffin 0319698, Nurina Aida 0320035

SUBJECT: SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

COURSE CODE: PSY30203

TITLE: ASSIGNMENT 3

TUTOR: MS NORUL HIDAYAH

GROUP MEMBERS:

AMEER FARHAN (0319304)

LIM JOE ONN (0318679)

MUSTAQIM CHOO (0319879)

NAIM ARIFFIN (0319698)

NURINA AIDA (0320035)

PSY30203 Ameer Farhan 0319304, Lim Joe Onn 0318679, Mustaqim Choo 319879, Naim Ariffin 0319698, Nurina Aida 0320035

THE BOX

SOCIAL CONCEPTS INVOLVED

Stereotyping and prejudice.

PROJECT BACKGROUND

Stereotyping is a common phenomenon. It is inevitable especially in a multiracial country

such as Malaysia where people judge one another based on appearance, gender, ethnicity and

religion. The whole idea of The Box is to eliminate stereotyping.

PROJECT SITE

The Box proposed to be built right next to Maharajalela Monorail Station, Kuala Lumpur on

an available land at the coordinates 3.138571. 101.698965.

PURPOSE

The Box intends to reduce stereotyping and prejudices by encouraging interaction between

members of the public via multiple methods such as verbal communication without visual

contact and new interactive experiences.

SPECIAL FEATURES

The Box has a revolutionary form of food and beverage service that encourages people who

do not know one another to actually interact with each other in ways of which they cannot see

each other’s physical attributes and also accomplishing tasks together.

PSY30203 Ameer Farhan 0319304, Lim Joe Onn 0318679, Mustaqim Choo 319879, Naim Ariffin 0319698, Nurina Aida 0320035

It is a structure that is square and boring on the outside yet elaborate on the inside. It teaches

people to never judge a book by its cover. It is a restaurant that brings customers to a unique

social adventure. The ground floor of The Box consists of two entrances and exits that are

totally located totally opposite of both sides of The Box. Customers will choose one entrance

to enter the restaurant at the ground floor.

The restaurant is segregated into two parts by a veil, which separates customers from both

entrances. Waiters will guide the customers to their seats. Each seat is positioned directly

facing the veil. Customers can interact with the other customer behind the veil. They can talk

to one another but are not able to see each other. There is a rule where customers can only

order food and beverages for the person which is sitting at the other side of the veil.

Interaction via speech is encouraged.

After both of them are done dining, the waiter will guide both of the people to the meeting

room at the first floor where both of them will meet for the first time. After that, they will have

to cooperate with one another in order to overcome obstacles on the third floor. Then they will

be rewarded with a magnificent view at the rooftop garden. Lastly, they will pay at the exit.

Besides that, vending machines that sell drinks in The Box require two customers to cooperate

in order to open their bottles, which encourages customers to approach one another.

STRUCTURE AND DESIGN

The overall structure of The Box is the shape of a simple cube built with reinforced concrete.

The whole building is divided into three floors and one rooftop garden. There are no windows

in The Box, making the interior darker, which conveys a message that customers should not

‘judge by seeing’ but ‘judge by understanding’, which indirectly discourages stereotyping.

PSY30203 Ameer Farhan 0319304, Lim Joe Onn 0318679, Mustaqim Choo 319879, Naim Ariffin 0319698, Nurina Aida 0320035

The restaurant is situated at the ground floor. The ground floor consists of two entrances at

opposite sides of The Box. A walkway is situated right above the veil to make it easier for

waiters to serve food from the kitchen at the first floor to the ground floor. A staircase

connects both segregated parts of the dining area to the meeting room. The meeting room and

second floor are joined by a ladder. Accessories for the tasks given to customers are prepared

at the second floor and are constantly updated.

A stairway exit connects the second floor to the landscape designed rooftop garden. Interactive

spaces such as chess tables and picnic areas encourage communication between customers.

The stairway also connects directly to the ground floor where customers pay for their bill.

As the structure of The Box is confined, ventilation is utterly important. Air pumping and air

condition systems circulate fresh air into the building.

GAMES

A special committee decides the tasks given to the pair of customers. Games are updated

constantly to provide customers new experiences. Among the tasks needed to be completed by

the customers before leaving are true or false questions about the ethnic group of their partners

and searching for clues to unlock the exit doors. These tasks make customers understand more

about one another’s cultures or traditions and increase contact between different members of

society, which decreases prejudice.

PSYCHOLOGY INVOLVED

The whole idea of the box is to eliminate stereotyping between individuals and encourages

integration between members of the community. When customers are rewarded a magnificent

PSY30203 Ameer Farhan 0319304, Lim Joe Onn 0318679, Mustaqim Choo 319879, Naim Ariffin 0319698, Nurina Aida 0320035

view on a beautiful rooftop garden that could not be seen from the ground floor, they will be

surprised that a boring boxed shape building has this kind of amenity. The simple and boring

exterior but well-thought-out interior of the box gives out the message that people should

never judge a person solely by its appearance. Stereotyping is also eliminated when the

customers interact with each other via speech through the veil. Through this method of

communication, individuals judge one another through conveying ideas and understanding

them via speech instead of judging them merely through appearance and ethnicity. Thus,

social prejudice is decreased.

Stereotyping is also decreased via the contact hypothesis when both the customers cooperate

with each other to complete tasks on the second floor. The contact hypothesis suggests that

when given an opportunity to communicate with others, prejudice between different types of

people is decreased. It is one of the most effective ways to improve relations between people.

Last but not least, the contact hypothesis is also applied when customers buy drinks at the

vending machine where they can only open the bottled drinks by helping each other.

CONCLUSION

In a nutshell, when people interact with one another without looking at the appearances, they

truly understand the other person without any forms of stereotyping or prejudices beforehand.

Stereotyping and prejudices between different groups of people can be reduced via increased

contact between individuals from various backgrounds. The concept of The Box is effective

with the application of the contact hypothesis where stereotyping is decreased via

communication.