That person in line behind you standing too close. Crowds. Sitting between strangers in the bus. All of these situations can have a tendency to make us uncomfortable. This is because everyone carries around a bubble known as personal space that is almost an extension of our own bodies. The study of this is called “proxemics”. In each of the situations, a stranger is probably getting into your comfort zone. That zone, called the social distance, seems to be from four to twelve feet. With people we know better, the distance, called personal distance, is about eighteen inches to four feet. It differs for each person, as well as different cultures. One of the first days of my French class, my teacher was explaining that in France, conversations occur at a much closer distances than we’re used to in the US. As an example, the teacher had a mock conversation with a student, slowly moving closer, until eventually it got to the point where the student got too uncomfortable and had to take a step back. We all had a laugh, because it’s true that Americans seem to have bigger personal space bubbles than people from some other countries.
The amount of personal space you give someone shows how you feel towards the other person, the context of the conversation, and the goals you have for the relationship. Just by looking at the distance between them, it is possible to tell what sort of relationship people have. Women usually have smaller personal space bubbles than men, but we all give more space to those of higher status than us. By choosing the optimal distance, we are showing sensitivity to our feelings as well as the other person’s.
This video shows someone who is a "close talker" and has no regard for others’ personal space. It’s easy to see how uncomfortable they are! We tend to form low opinions of people of this sort.
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