Proxemics: Understanding Personal Space
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 มิ.ย. 2023
- Proxemics involves the culturally dependent ways in which in which people use interpersonal distance to understand and mediate their interactions with other people.
Researcher Edward Hall (1966, p. 110) suggests that there exist 4 specific distance zones in western culture that communication can take place within:
Intimate Space (Touch - 45 cm): Reserved for close, intimate conversations, but may also be used in haptic communication (The appropriate use of touch). For example, a consoling hand on the shoulder in times of emotional distress.
Personal Space (45 cm - 1.2 m): Permits interaction with close friends, and could be used by teachers to discuss personal matters such as test feedback, home life, and so on.
Social Space (1.2 m - 3.6 m): One of the most appropriate zones to act within in the classroom as a teacher. Seen as a friendly space, which is not too distant in terms of interaction.
Public Space (3.6 m - 7.6 m): Though teachers may appear to be formal while presenting in this zone, students may view interactions in this zone as distant, resulting in lack of attention.
Imagining being at a party and watching a Japanese dude and an Italian slowly move around the room
I had a professor in college who had a very very large personal zone. I actually watched someone talk to him who had a small personal zone, and the professor kept backing up, which would cause the other person to move forward. He had a tendency to leave right after class, run to his office, and get behind his desk, so people couldn't get near to him. I had a question after class, and managed to get to the front of the classroom before he left. I stood far away from him as I asked my question. He started to answer it and work on the board. I moved back when needed, giving him his room. I wouldn't get within his space at all. He stayed and talked with me for half an hour. If you pay attention to people, sometimes they tell you what they need without saying a word.
Get on a crowded elevator and don’t face the door. Just stand there facing everyone. No one can look at you.
... You're supposed to make eye contact with random people in the store?
I'm autistic, do people in shops make eye contact?!?! It had literally never occurred to me 😅
For a swede, watching this video is probably enough social contact for a week
In the UK we pretend no one exists so avoid eye contact at all costs.
I don't even make eye contact. I just start looking at whatever is on the shelves until the person goes away. Simple.
As an Arab person I can confirm we may get too intimate a lot of the time, be it getting too close, kissing on the cheek, boys holding hands and such, for others it might look too intimate but it's just a sign of strong friendship.
Never, I'm gonna be making eye contact with every single label of that very interesting shelf. Oh look they are bringing back vintage cereal mascots.
As a half Italian and half Japanese living in Italy, I grew up not even knowing that people look at each other in the eyes while they speak.
I am a foreigner living in Korea. In my home country, I am used to smiling at people whenever I make eye contact. But once I realized that in Korea they were only looking at me because I was different, and not as a form of acknowledgement, I just stopped making eye contact all together. 😂 I will feel their stares, and I want to look up and smile sooooo bad, but I have to keep reminding myself that it is weird to smile at them.
The most fun thing to see is an Italian and a Finnish person moving through the room while in conversation. It's the dance of personal space.
As an Italian, I'm used to kiss on cheeks people which I know just to greet.
In Iraqi-Kurdi culture, it's really common for men to show their male friends physical affection. I worked with a guy who was brand new to America and we became good friends despite the language barrier. At first, he did invade my intimate bubble a couple of times briefly, but he was cute and I took it as a way of communicating since we didn't have spoken language so it didn't bother me.
As an Italian, we also have a specific variation that is the space you can be eating a pizza with someone. It's called the Cal-zone
Personally never found it awkward, I smile at everyone because it brings me and the other person a kick of joy. I smile at passing bus drivers or cars, I smile when I pass people in the street, I smile when I enter a store, and every time I get a smile back like they weren’t expecting it and it brings me a lil bit of happiness.
this has the same vibe of two bros chillin in a hot tub five feet apart cause they aren't gay
having spent time with a Deaf community, where sign language was the dominant communication , the boundaries were different, partly from needing to eg tap on a shoulder to get attention to speak to someone, the personal space was much smaller
When I was in college, we had an anthropology course called, "qualitative methodologies" that included a unit on proxemics.