ZACK BEST PROXIMATE ENVIRONMENTS

The proximate environment includes everything that is physically present to the individual at a given moment. This is includes everything in a given room or region someone is in, but not outside of that. Proximate environments include: Space, Distance, Territory, and Privacy

SPACE - FIXED There are three different types of space in proximate environments: Fixed, Semi Fixed, and Non fixed-feature space. The first of these, fixed, deals primarily with a amount of space that is fixed and won’t change because of the type of structure it is. Typically, fixed space is the space inside a room or house, as seen in this picture.

SPACE – SEMI FIXED Semi fixed space is not permanently fixed the way it is because of the objects in the space, but typically the objects won’t be moved unless necessary. It refers to the placement of objects in the home, office, conference room, and other proximate environments.

SPACE – NON FIXED FEATURE Non fixed-feature space is the space immediately surrounding our body that each of us perceives to be ours. In this picture, it can be seen each man has a certain amount of space kept between him and his counterparts.

SPACE - VIOLATION Sometimes, other people invade our personal space, making us feel uncomfortable. Here, the man is putting his hand too close to the woman for her comfort, making her recoil.

DISTANCE - INTIMATE Distance is the amount of space we give other people in our environment. There are four types of distances: Intimate, Personal, Social, and Public Intimate space is usually shared by couples, such as in this photo, or among other relatives and family members, although not as close as with couples.

DISTANCE - PERSONAL Personal distance is the normal distance that is individuals put between themselves and others. This type of distance is used between distant relatives, friends, and one on one conversations with associates at work.

DISTANCE - SOCIAL Social distance is the distance that typically separates individuals engaged in a business transaction or consultation and is also appropriate for gatherings that are informal in nature. Social distance is most appropriate in the business world. Social distance is pictured here between the couple and the cashier.

DISTANCE - PUBLIC Public distance is the distance people maintain from strangers. The closest people come in the public distance range is typically 12 feet.

DISTANCE - VIOLATION As with violations with space, violations of distance is usually unwelcome. This picture shows that maintaining an intimate distance with someone in the public view, even if they are someone close, can be viewed as inappropriate.

TERRITORY - PUBLIC Territory is an area controlled by an individual, family, or other face-to- face collectivity. It emphasizes physical possession, actual or potential. There are several types of territory: Public, home, interactional, body, and use-space. Public territories are areas individuals may freely enter, such as train stations.

TERRITORY - HOME Home territories give freedom of interaction to the individuals who claim the territory. These territories can include anything from private clubs and houses to reserved seats at an event.

TERRITORY - INTERACTIONAL Interactional territories are where people gather informally to partake in an event. This can range anywhere from a party to an informal meeting in a dining area. Here, the example given is of a baseball game.

TERRITORY - BODY Body territories consist of space that is reserved for use by our bodies. There are eight different territories of self that exist. The “stall” space is the most clear-cut of these eight, with examples like telephone booths, toilets, and parking places.

TERRITORY- USE-SPACE Use-space is the space immediately surrounding us that we must have in order to perform personal functions. Weight lifting is a good example of this, seeing as how weight lifters need a good amount of space to perform effieciently.

TERRITORY - VIOLATION Violations of territory can irritate people as much as violations of space. If someone improperly parks in a parking space, as seen here, people become upset because they see it as that could have been their parking spot.

PRIVACY – PHYSICAL PRIVACY Privacy is defined as selective control of access to one’s self or to one’s group. There are four types of privacy: physical, social, psychological, and information. Physical privacy is the measure of the degree to which one person is physically inaccessible to others. This is demonstrated when someone locks themselves in their room.

PRIVACY – SOCIAL PRIVACY Social privacy is both an individual and a group state in which the option to withdraw from social interaction with another person exists. This privacy can be seen in this image by the way both individuals have shut themselves off from others.

PRIVACY – PSYCHOLOGICAL PRIVACY Psychological privacy is people’s ability to exercise control over both thoughts and feelings that can be expressed by them and to them. A pictorial example of this is difficult, since this deals more with how we limit ourselves from revealing more than what we are thinking, but this example shows how the people in this photo keep their thoughts to themselves by reading.

PRIVACY – INFORMATION PRIVACY Information privacy is people’s capacity to prevent the gathering and dissemination of information about themselves without their knowledge or permission. Information is normally kept private when making a business transaction or at a doctor’s appointment. In this example, it looks as though the man is writing down his info at the doctor’s office.

PRIVACY - VIOLATION When any of these dimensions of privacy are violated, we feel threatened. Physical privacy is the privacy that is most likely to be violated, although now in the information age, social and information privacy are being invaded more and more.