Proxemics

"The study of the spatial requirements of humans and animals and the effect of population density on behavior, communication, and social interaction."

Recently, I was in line at the DMV and every time the lady standing behind me would move she would bump into my purse. I immediately felt uncomfortable and as if my personal space had been intruded upon. Because of the four different types of proxemics, which are intimate, personal, social, and public distance, we experience different emotions when being within a certain distance from another person(s) depending on the environment, relationship, and situation.

Intimate Distance is used for very confidential communication. This is mostly exchanged between  couples or significant others. Kissing, holding hands, or hugging are examples of intimate distance. Also, this type of proxemics if usually exchanged in an environment that both or all individuals are comfortable and familiar with.

This picture is an example of intimate distance because they are within less than four inches of each other and physicaly toughing.

Personal Distance is  used when communicating between close friends and family. Sitting at the dinner table with family, walking with a group of friends, or having a one-on-one conversation with someone are examples of personal distance.

Social Distance is used in business transactions, meeting new people, or interacting with a group of people. This type of proxemics tends to very depending on the culture, which causes people to be uncomfortable when encountering and meeting someone from a different culture.

A study conducted with a group of students, American, Italian, and Japanese, who were studying abroad to see how they interacted with the other individuals from their culture and with each other. It was observed that when the American students interacted, they stood at what our culture perceives to be an appropriate distance when communicating in a crowd (4-12 feet) while talking loudly, where as the Italian students stood very close to each other and would even "leaning on each other", and the Japanese students also stood close together but talked in very low voices.
When the students began to interact with each other, Benjamin Michael, the author of the article, states, "Some awkward shuffling takes place. A Japanese student winces at an Americans' booming voice. Another American back away as an Italian encroaches on his personal space. One of the Italians strains to clearly hear a Japanese girl who is speaking to him." This study exhibits the importance of social distance in each culture and how it is important to know what to expect when encountering someone from another culture.

This drawing represents the different distances between cultural groups in social distances and the amount of noise that is generated from the groups.

Public Distance is measured in 12 or more feet between persons. This is usually the extent of the interaction between strangers when in public setting. For example, when two strangers sit on a park bench, they do not typically sit next to each other because this would be interfering with their public distances.

This picture is an example of public distance because each the individuals chose to site by themselves on separate benches, even thought there is enough space for both of them on one bench.