Public here refers to the use of space in large-scale events. Social space is often divided further by gender, age, status, and other considerations, but for US-Americans the emphasis is often on informality and egalitarianism. Personal space begins around eighteen inches from another person and may extend out to about four feet. This is a space US-Americans reserve for their closest friends, lovers, and immediate family members.
This is the zone of tactile interaction where one can sense body heat, smell breath, touch skin, and hear the sounds of breathing. This is a zone of significant trust and requires overt or tacit permission to enter.
A stranger entering this zone is likely to be considered by US-Americans as an unwanted intruder at best and, at worst, a threat. This can result in some very awkward and nervous conversations and, when combined with touching, make US-Americans very uncomfortable until they get used to the local norms or at least tolerate them.
Or take the case of Anglo-British reserve, which permits little public touching, as compared with the almost constant tactile contact by Brazilians and other Latin Americans during conversations. In many cultures, standing closer to someone and even making physical contact while speaking may signify a closer bond or be used to convey a sense of personal connection.
On the other hand, if your conversation partner steps forward or leans in, they probably prefer a closer interaction; resist the urge to step backwards unless the interaction is making you intensely uncomfortable or anxious.
In this free resource, I break down the myriad factors that contribute to confident communication and guide you through how to use each aspect to your advantage. Holiday Marketing Ideas for Advisors. The term was coined by Edward Hall in and is just one aspect of nonverbal communication. Hall interviewed large numbers of people from all over the world to see whether there was any regularity to personal distance.
It might be the case, for example, that this is simply a personal idiosyncrasy, an individual difference that varies from person to person. What Hall found, however, was a great deal of consistency about personal space.
The closest of these zones is referred to as intimate distance , which includes the space from bodily contact, such as a hug, to the distance it would take to whisper to a confidant.
Very few of our public interactions occur within intimate distance. Even handshakes, which involve physical contact, tend not to take place within intimate distance: Instead the two greeting parties stand apart while extending their arms outward from their bodies to clasp hands.
In Tokyo, Seoul, Rio de Janeiro, and other cities, subways have special cars that are to be used only by women to avoid violations of their personal or intimate space by men.
A second zone, extending out beyond intimate distance, is personal distance. This is the zone within which people interact with family members or good friends. Of course, there are times when personal space or even intimate space is violated by strangers. This might occur, for example, in a crowded elevator.
However, the discomfort that people feel is likely to be transitory, since most elevator rides last only a moment or two. A packed subway car is another matter. In this case, the unwanted closeness may go on for considerable lengths of time, accompanied by physical jostling as the train moves and when people enter and exit the car. People often deal with the violation of their space by psychologically removing themselves from the situation, for example, by closing their eyes or by listening to music through earphones.
In fact, if two of your colleagues at work are carrying on a secret affair, they may unconsciously adjust their personal space from a social distance to a more intimate one.
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