How important is personal space? Unit 1 – Making sense of other people. Topic 2 – Non verbal communication.

Lesson objectives By the end of the lesson you will be able to; Understand the factors that affect personal space. Describe and evaluate studies of factors that affect personal space. Understand the practical implications of studies of factors that affect personal space.

Keywords Personal space – The distance we keep between ourselves and other people in everyday lives. Sex differences – Difference due to being either male or female, these could affect personal space between individuals. Individual differences – Factors that make one person not the same as another person, such as personality or age. Cultural norms – The range of behaviours that members of a particular social group or society can be expected to show. Status – A persons rank or position within society.

Starter activity Stand as close to each other as feels comfortable for you. 1st facing each other Then side by side Then back to back How did the distances vary?

Personal space. The distance that feels comfortable between you and other person is known as personal space. This distance varies depending on the circumstances you are in. After eye contact, personal space is the second most important non verbal communication signal that we use. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frQdjs9UaYA

Think about…… Think about the video you have just seen and your own experiences. Answer/discuss the following in your pairs; ‘How do you think being male or female might affect personal space?’

Argyle and Dean (965) Aim – To see if sex differences affect personal space. Method – One at a time, participants were asked to sit and have a conversation with another person who was a confederate to the experimenter (participants unaware). Sometimes the confederate was the same sex as participant other times they were opposite sexes. The confederate sat at different distances away from the participant and continually looked into their eyes. Results – The participants tended to break eye contact with the confederate of the opposite sex at a greater distance apart than when they were the same sex. Argyle and Dean thought this was the point where personal space was being invaded. Conclusion – We prefer to have a greater amount of personal space between ourselves and members of the opposite sex during normal conversations.

Practical Implications When a male is in conversation with a female he may not be aware that he is standing too close for her comfort.

Individual differences http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1Y-yR9QTX4 Think about Castiel and Dean – Who has personal space issues?

Willis (1966) Aim- To see if age has an effect on personal space. Method- Willis observed almost 800 individuals in different social situations. Results-Those he observed tended to stand closer to people their own age and further away from people who were either very much older or younger than themselves. Conclusion-Age differences affects how close people will stand to one another.

Williams (1971) Aim – To see if personality has an effect on personal space. Method – College students were given personality tests to see if they were extrovert (outgoing and social) or introvert (quiet and reserved). They were then sent to an office one by one to receive their college grades from a tutor. The researcher noted where they chose to sit in the office when receiving their grades. Results – Introverts sat further away from the tutor than extroverts. Conclusion – Whether someone is extrovert or introvert will affect their use of personal space.

Practical Implications People might think that if an older or younger person than themselves stands further away they are being unfriendly but the research shows that this is normal human behaviour. The research shows that if we try to stand closer to an older or younger person than ourselves it may make them feel uncomfortable. If we do not understand the personality differences between ourselves and the people we are talking to we may not realise we are causing them discomfort by standing too close to them.

Cultural Norms. Summer (1969) Aim – To see if there are cultural differences in the use of personal space. Method – Summer observed a group of white English people and groups of Arab people in conversation. Results - The comfortable conversation distance for the white English people was 1-1.5m, whereas the conversation distance for Arab people was much less than that. Conclusion – The use of personal space in normal conversation varies with culture.

Cultural Norms Other research has shown that when in conversation, people in Mediterranean cultures usually have a smaller amount of personal space between them than North European and American Cultures. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS. Helps us understand why people in Arab countries regard Europeans and Americans as unfriendly and untrustworthy. (we stand back in conversations). It also explains why Mediterranean's are seen as romantic to English.

Status

Zahn (1991) Aim – To see if status has an effect on personal space. Method – Zahn observed people of equal status approaching each other to have a conversation and people of unequal status. Results – Zahn found that people with lower status did not approach higher status people with the same degree of closeness as those of equal status. Conclusions – personal space varies with status.

Practical Implications. The study may imply that it feels more threatening to approach someone of higher status and we show our anxiety by keeping our distance. It also implies we feel more comfortable approach people of equal status.

Evaluation. Although these factors are useful in giving a general view of how personal space is used, they can also be misleading. Factors don’t operate in isolation from other non verbal factors. i.e. facial expressions could influence personal space. Distances are also affected by what's happening at the time and how much space is avaliable. Personality also come into play.