Changing elevator etiquette

The elevator has changed the urban landscape, and surprisingly, the small space of the elevator is also undergoing subtle changes: the social etiquette in the elevator is also derived and developed. Early elevators generally posted signs: Please enter and exit quickly, please face the elevator door. As elevators became more popular in the late 1880s, gentlemen who rode them found themselves in a dilemma: Do they need to take off their hats to get in? If a woman gets into an elevator, should they take off their hats? This is because at the time, elevators could be considered both private space and public transportation, and proper etiquette had not yet been developed. In 1886, The New York Times offered a compromise: men could wear hats in the elevators of crowded public buildings; But in the elevator of a hotel or private apartment building, they should take off their hats.

Much of the social etiquette that has developed with the popularity of elevators has been unspoken and conventional, appearing in a less rigid way. Anyone who works in a high-rise office building is familiar with the unwritten rule that elevator passengers should try to equally divide the space in the elevator, and it is considered impolite to get too close to other passengers. Elevator etiquette varies from time to time and from culture to culture. In Japan, for example, junior staff will let senior staff into the elevator first and then push the button for them.

Another piece of elevator etiquette is to keep conversation to a minimum. Passengers are advised to keep silent or greet briefly. Unless stepping into an empty elevator, two people should pause their conversation during the elevator ride so as not to disturb others. In addition, strangers in the elevator are advised to avoid eye contact. In general, you should not sing, whistle, or eat in the elevator, and even failing to face the elevator door can upset other passengers.

A few years ago, an academic named Rebecca Rousi conducted an anthropological study of elevator behavior in two office buildings in Australia. She found that higher-status or older men seemed to prefer to stand in the back of elevator cars. In front of them were younger men, and in front of them were women of all ages. Men look at the elevator floor monitor, they look at themselves in the side mirror, or at the reflection of others in the mirror; Women stare at the elevator floor monitor or at the floor, avoiding eye contact with other users. Rebecca Rousi believes that elevators present a unique social structure, and that each passenger's performance may stem from a subconscious power struggle.