The basic unit of ecological psychology, the behavior setting, has been conceptualized and studied from two contrasting but complementary perspectives. This article describes both and proposes development of an additional perspective incorporating the subjective experiences of setting occupants. According to the traditional view, behavior settings are self-regulating, extrapersonal systems that not only provide opportunities for occupants but also constrain their actions. The contemporary view focuses on individual and group sense-making in settings: Occupants attend to, assess, and act on environmental events in light of their current knowledge and beliefs. It also considers the larger contexts of settings. Ecological psychologists have largely neglected feelings and emotions arising from people’s direct experiences of, and in, the settings they occupy. Research is needed to link such experiences with the setting features identified by the traditional and contemporary perspectives. An ethnographer’s published account of a single behavior setting, a hostess club in Japan, provides illustrations for each viewpoint presented.
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