11/11/22, 12:58 PM Behavioural Approach In Geography (Behaviouralism) - UPSC

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Behavioural Approach in Geography (Behaviouralism) –

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By LotusArise January 23, 2021 4 Comments

In this article, You will read Behavioural Approach in Geography (Behaviouralism)

for UPSC (Geographical Thought in Human Geography).

Behavioral geography is an approach to human geography that attempts to

understand human activity in space, place, and environment by studying it at
the disaggregate level of analysis—at the level of the individual person.
Behavioral geographers analyze data on the behavior of individual people,
recognizing that individuals vary from each other.

Behavioural Approach
By the mid-1960s use of statistical techniques in research for precision has been
largely accepted by geographers. The duality of systematic versus regional
geography was resolved as both were now accepted as important components of
the discipline through interdependent and equally useful.

It was increasingly realized by the geographers that the models propounded and
tested with the help of quantitative techniques, provided poor descriptions of
geographic reality as well as the man-environment relationship.

Consequently, progress towards the development of the geographical theory was

glaringly slow and its predictive powers were weak. Theories such as Central Place
Theory, based on statistical and mathematical techniques, were found
inadequate to explain the spatial organization of
society.

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The economic rationality of decision-making was also criticized as it does not

explain the behaviour of man. It was a psychological twist in human geography
which emphasized the role of subjective and decision-making processes that
mediate the association between environment and spatial behaviour of man.

It can be said that the dissatisfaction with the models and theories developed by
the positivists, using the statistical techniques which were based on the
‘economic rationality’ of man led to the development of behavioural approach in
geography.

The axiom of ‘economic person’ who always tries to maximize his profit was
challenged by Wolpert, in his paper entitled ‘The Decision Process in Spatial
Context’, Wolpert (1964) compared the actual and potential labour productivity of
Swedish farmers and came to a conclusion that optimal farming practices were not
attainable. He concluded that the farmers were not optimizers but, satisfies.

Thus human behaviour was seen to be a product of decision-making and it was a

human tendency to have incomplete information, to make imperfect choices,
and even then be satisfied with sub-optimal options.

Behavioural Concept in Geography – Historical Perspective

The very emergence of behavioural concept had taken place in 1951 when Kirk
had used the term “Behavioural Environment” to explain some complicated
socio-economic problems, but this work could not receive attention in the
midst of the tornado of Quantitative Revolution
Similar work was done by Boulding in 1956 who presented a book titled
“Progress in Geography” in which he expressed arguments in favour of
behavioural explanation of some complicated geographical problems but he
also failed to get due recognition
By the end of the 1960s, there was a realization that scientific models and
theories are unable to provide a realistic explanation of several socio-
economic problems and in that situation, behavioural explanations were
sought and it was this approach that provided satisfactory conclusions.
Gradually, Quantitative Revolution started declining and Behavioural
Geographers started criticizing some components of the Quantitative
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Revolution like considering man as economic and rational, isotropic surface,

etc.
It is rightly observed that the emergence of behavioural geography was due
to disillusionment with the axioms on which the models of geography were
based as these axioms were far removed from reality (they were idealistic)
Minshull, in his book “Making of Geography“, stated that “by giving some
models and preparing some theoretical statements you cannot explain
geography”
In other words, behavioural revolution in counter-revolution of Quantitative
Revolution –“ where Quantitative Revolution failed to give a scientific
explanation, behavioural concept solved the problem”
Behavioural Revolution refined some loopholes of Quantitative Revolution,
therefore it is also called as refinement/extension of Quantitative Revolution
Behaviouralism is antithetical to Quantitative Revolution in 2 regards –
In Quantitative Revolution, the man was considered economically rational
and it neglected normative questions of a man like value system, culture,
moral, his choices, sentiments whereas in Behavioural Revolution,
perceptions of man are taken into consideration
Behaviouralism believed in per capita or per individual study whereas
Quantitative Revolution was based on gross generalization. In
behaviouralism, model building and theorization was not neglected. It
wanted to construct a law by induction, and collection of primary data by
field surveys. Thus, it is not against positivism but it differs on the point
that it is against overgeneralization and considering man as a point on
the surface

What is Behavioural geography?

The essence of behavioural approach in geography lies in the fact that the way
people behave is mediated by their understanding of the environment in
which they live or by the environment itself with which they are confronted
The behavioural approach has taken the view that a deeper understanding of
man environment interaction can be achieved by looking at the various
psychological processes through which man comes to know the environment
in which he lives and by examining the way in which these processes influence
the nature of resultant behaviour (i.e. perceptions of man, Downs concept,
Mental Maps, etc) at the psychological level
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The behaviouralistic approach is largely inductive aiming to build general

statements out of observations of ongoing processes i.e. generalisation
achieved through specific cases.

Models of Man-Environment interaction

The followers of behavioural geography do not recognize the man as a
rational person or an ‘economic man’ who always try to optimize profits
Man always does not take into consideration the profit aspect while
performing an economic function
Most of his decisions are based on behavioural environment rather than on
the objective or real environment
The decisions are influenced by Perceptions of man

Conventional Models of Man-Environment interaction

Boulding in 1956 presented a model for Man-Environment interaction

The fundamental arguments of behavioural geography are
People have environmental images (based on perception)
Those images can be identified accurately by researchers, and
There is a strong relationship between environmental images and actual
behaviour

Down’s Model (1970)

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It is completely based on perceptions from the real world

These perceptions are filtered as per the value systems to create an image
Image then helps in taking a decision, which is reflected in behaviour.

Porteous(1977) suggested 3 environments –

Physical Environment (Physical objects),

Personal Environment (perceived images of phenomenal or real environment),
and
Contextual Environment (culture, religion, beliefs, and expectations that
influence behaviour)

On the nature of changes in behavioural environment, American geographer Pred

presented a behavioural matrix in 1969 which is as follows –

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Application of perceived information creates different scenarios such as B11,

B32 etc.

American geographer Sonnenfield has also presented a model to explain the

importance of behavioural environment in Human Geography

He viewed that behavioural environment is in the centre of understanding of

the universe and once the universe is understood, the development plans can
be prepared for the betterment of society
His model is as follows –

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It consists of nested set of Environments according to which the perception of

any observer will be reflected in Behaviour
By presenting this model, Sonnenfield has also viewed that developed
societies have a greater geographical environment in comparison to
developing societies. Consequently, they are capable to make greater use of
resources
Developing societies have not been able to develop a greater operational
environment due to a lack of information. Consequently, They depend on
traditional operational behaviour

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Revolution has brought phenomenal changes in the understanding of socio-

economic problems in Geography

Olosor (Sweden) has rightly observed that the behavioural approach has the key
of social geography

Although every field of human geography is within the investigation realm of

behavioural approach, but there are two important fields which have received
greater advantages from this method –

1. Study of movement in Geography (contributors – Wolpert, BJL Berry,

Hagerstrand)
2. Study of Locational Decision (contributors – Smith, Gould, Hotteling,
Hagerstrand, Felter)

1. The study of movement can be broadly divided into –

(a). Consumer Movement / Marketing Behaviour

(b). Migration, and
(c). Intra-moves (Knox)

All these spatial activities can properly be explained with the help of
behavioural approach
Marketing pattern is no more simply depending on space proximity and
Nearest market is not necessarily the preferred market
Marketing depends on behavioural perceptions. Hence, there has been a need
to redirect transport system
Migration pattern has also the impact of behavioural pattern
All over the developing countries, there is a rural-urban migration because the
urban centres provide more job opportunities while in developed countries they
have urban-rural migration because urban areas are environmentally degraded
and is preferable to settle in nearby rural areas for healthier environment
Knox in his work “An introduction to the study of Urban Social Geography”
developed the concept of intra-moves
Intra-moves means residential movements within urban areas.
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2. All kinds of functional locations are influenced by Behavioural environment, so

behavioural explanation is needed

Hotteling cites an example that in the USA, Miami beach has tremendous
growth of ice-cream industry
According to Hoover, a minimum production cost centre is the most favourable
centre for industrial growth
According to Weaver, a minimum transport cost centre is most favourable for
industrial growth, But in the case of Miami, none of these 2 views are applicable
because here both the production and transport cost is maximum as milk is
brought from California (2000 Km away) and sugar from the northern parts of
USA
It is the behavioural environment of tourists due to which the industry has
emerged here. So, it is only the behavioural approach which can explain the
location of industries
It is in opposition to Quantitative Revolution’s optimum location where cost
should be minimum and profit should be maximum
Smith’s industrial location theory is known as maximum profit point theory
Industry will emerge at a point where profit is maximum
Purchasing capacity depends upon income and behaviour
This is in contradiction to theories of Quantitative Revolution
Gould worked in an agricultural location
He viewed that farmers often change the crop on the basis of changes in
demand and changes in meteorological conditions
Hagerstrand has given a model on the diffusion of innovation and their impact
on agricultural efficiency
He has viewed that all farmers of a region would not adopt new seeds and
techniques, only a few progressive farmers would take the risk and once the
high yield would be established, there would be a sweeping use of seed on new
environment
These are some studies and some examples to substantiate the fact that
behavioural revolution has brought about a major change in the explanation of
human geography in general and complicated socio-economic problems in
particular
Quantitative Revolution cannot be applied everywhere and perceptions of man
help us better to understand human geography.

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Limitations /Disadvantages
Harvey has a famous book to his credit known as “Explanation in Geography”
published in 1969, according to which behaviouralism is a complex
phenomenon and has been oversimplified in geographical explanation.
Behaviouralism plays a greater role in sociological and historical events
rather than events of geography
H.J.Eysenck (psychologist) has also viewed that this type of approach will
bring psychology of politics in social sciences as bringing subjectivity in
Geography will make it more complicated
Herbert Simon has also been of different view. According to him, behavioural
environment is a hypothetical perception. It needs satisfying knowledge which
is never possible
Skinner (psychologist) in his book “Beyond dignity and freedom” viewed that
behavioural approach may become the basis of reactionary political doctrines in
social sciences
Several geographers have also been afraid of the distortion and deviation of
behavioural environment due to ill-conceived and biased information. So,
Information is the principal issue
Perceptions can be Hypothetical which can reduce objectivity in Geography
The information can be irrelevant from Geographical perspective
If the flow of information is proper, then the behavioural information may be an
instrument of geographical explanations
But any situation leading to distortion of information will be suicidal for this
new anthropocentric approach in geography and will lead to deviation from
Man-Environment Focus.

Criticisms
One of the main weaknesses of behavioural geography is that it lacks in the
synthesis of empirical findings, poor communication, inadvertent
duplication, and conflicting technology
The terminology and concepts remain loosely defined and poorly integrated,
primarily owing to the lack of a systematically organized theoretical basis.
Another shortcoming of behavioural geography lies in the fact that most of its
data are generated in laboratory experiments on animals and the findings are
applied directly to human behaviour.
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Behaviouralist theories are elegant but unhelpful when it comes to

understanding the real world man-environment interaction.
Behavioural geography has too often put too much emphasis on ego-centred
interpretations of the environment.
It is difficult to bring the concept into the mainstream of geography due to the
lack of subjectivity
Another significant deficiency has been the gap between theory and practice
In fact, behavioural geographers remain observers than participants
Behaviouralism has failed to produce any model or law related to man
Some models that were built have limited credibility
Due to this, after 1970s, post-behaviouralism entered geographic researches
Post-behaviouralism is close to humanism in its methods, ideologies and
approaches
It finally merged into humanism and welfare geography

Despite several constraints and methodological limitations, behavioural geography

is now widely accepted within the positivist orientation. It seeks to account for
spatial patterns by establishing generalizations about people-environment
interrelationship, which may then be used to stimulate change through
environmental planning activities that modify the stimuli which affect the spatial
behaviour of us and others.

The research methods of behavioural geography vary substantially but the general
orientation – inductive generalization leading to planning for environmental
change remains. Eventually, it is hoped, a ‘powerful new theory’ will emerge.

Golledge argued that substantial advances in understanding spatial behaviour

have already been made by studying ‘individual preferences, opinions, attitudes,
cognitions, cognitive maps, perception, and so on – what he terms processes
variables.

Join the discussion

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4 COMMENTS   Oldest 

Suchismita
 1 year ago

Worth reading it 😘😘

3 Reply

ankit pandey
 11 months ago

lots of love sir/maidam……thanku very much…GOD BLESS U

5 Reply

Mrs. Sabitri Kumari Sharma

 8 months ago

How to represent Nature of geography in answer?

1 Reply

Nadeem Ahmad Gulam Hamid Ansari

 2 months ago

Thank you sir,

Very helpful 👍☺️

1 Reply

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