Allocentric and Egocentric Behaviour of People While Wayfinding

Wayfinding is a daily task which is associated with efficient manoeuvrability within given space and time. Factors affecting wayfinding can be categorised as external and internal. Current study has been done to understand allocentric and egocentric behaviour of people while wayfinding. The study was conducted in two different phases on the participants of age group 25–45 years old. In the first phase, 180 participants were taken into consideration for asking a face-to-face questionnaire on wayfinding. A real-time experiment was conducted in Pune on another eight participants in the second phase. The area chosen for the experiment was unfamiliar to the participants. Results showed that ability to remember the landmarks differs significantly with the age and does not affect with the gender. Significant correlation found out between individual characteristics of a person and different wayfinding factors. The identified dominant factors which affect wayfinding were—modes of wayfinding, spatial anxiety and environmental factors.