Fundamentally, all human being’s capabilities and performances reflect a complex collaboration of biological and social-environmental factors. In fact, unique environments that are “nurtured” in one’s life can greatly influence the “nature” of basic biological processes. Such is the case with personal space. Even though human beings have a “natural” need to interact through human contact, the social-environmental factors in a human being’s culture dictate how much personal space is acceptable. Thus, it isn’t nature alone that determines what exact distance is comfortable between human beings during conversations. Instead, it is the individual’s cultural environment that determines the appropriate personal space necessary to feel comfortable. Indeed, research on personal space is an excellent example of how a supposed biological factor is influenced by social-environmental factors.
There are various perceptions on what constitutes personal space in different countries and cultures around the world. Personal space is the means of man’s affiliation with other people, society, and the surrounding culture. Personal space refers to the bubble, or appropriate distance, around a human being that determines how close individuals stand together during interactions without being offensive. While personal space is usually respected and instinctive during conversation, anxiety or fear can occur when this space is invaded. Furthermore, the intensity of the arousal depends on the relationship between the two conversationalists (Trolley, “Personal Space”). In essence, there is a “nurture” component that is learned through one’s environment since differences exist between cultures.
Research by Edward Hall in the 1960’s documents the interaction...
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...l space when a culture itself is strict in its views.
Strict or relaxed, all human beings are part of the human race, the largest “community” consisting of every culture and every country. And in this human race, individuals thrive on interaction with others. However, this interaction is affected by one’s experiences in a community. The politics, religion, status, age, and social standards of people determine acceptable boundaries for personal space. What is acceptable in the United States differs from what is acceptable in Europe or the Middle East when interacting in each other’s space. Indeed, despite biological similarities as a human race, the social influences that surround an individual affect behavior (Trolley, “Personal Space”). Therefore, each culture must be sensitive to others’ established boundaries, knowing that personal space is just that: personal.
A characteristic of humanity is social contact, each individual needs significant social interaction. Not only must humans have interaction, but must share things in common to care and love. This h...
First I would like to look at Georg Simmel, who puts emphasis of the importance of interaction between people. As he mentions in
There are some human phenomena, which seem to be the result of individual actions and personal decisions. Yet, these phenomena are often - on closer inspection – as much a result of social factors as of psychological ones.
"This report . . . is concerned with the structure of social encounters--the structure of those entities in social life that come into being whenever persons enter one another 's immediate physical presence. The key factor in this structure is the maintenance of a single definition of the situation" (1959,
‘An individual’s interaction with others and the world around them can enrich or limit their
There are two important areas in this research- territoriality and use of personal space, all while each have an important bearing on the kinds of messages we send as we use space. Standing at least three feet apart from someone is a norm for personal space.
Hall (as cited by Wood (2015), describes proxemics as space and how we use it. According to Gupta (2013), personal space refers to the space an individual maintains around himself or herself, while territory is a larger area an individual control, which can provide privacy (for example, an office or a specific chair in the conference room). Personal space is valued by many in America. When personal space is invaded it must be with an invite from the person with who the space is being invaded. My coworker and I have such great rapport, that we can go beyond the norms of proxemics and personal space. For an example, standing next to each other in a meeting may be uncomfortable to someone if they’re shoulders are touching. My coworker and I would both be comfortable if we were standing shoulder to shoulder during a meeting. Invading someone space is not always viewed as disrespectful or uncomfortable. For an example, sometimes in meetings, my coworker leans over to whisper in my ear. This would probably be ok with someone else as this is viewed as protocol for the speaker, versus speaking out
...ion society adopts: Although people can be good friends, there will always be a barrier standing between them, acting as a boundary that separates their social relations from their personal privacy, “walling in” what they do not wish to share with others.
Turkle provides dialogues of individuals who avoid social interactions at all cost and would rather communicate through technology, as it is just an inconvenience to have direct confrontations. These dialogues strongly support Turkle’s argument that we’re creating a greater gap between others and ourselves. The reason we are lonely is because we place less effort into building relations with others.
Civilizations are typically broken up into two categories: collectivist. Individualist cultures, like those of the United States and Western Europe, highlight personal accomplishment regardless of the expense of team goals, causing a powerful awareness of competition. Collectivist cultures, including these of China, Korea, and Asia, emphasize work and family team aims above desires or individual needs.
Social interaction is a constant and innate part of human nature. It is the contact between two or more persons. Humans were not made to be alone and therefore social interaction comes naturally to us. However, this interaction also influences our behaviors depending on how and who we are interacting with. Simply put, the society influences how we interact with each other. There are various terms, concepts and explanations surrounding human interaction and the way it helps us to function in society.
Norms are by definition general society guidelines and expectations of appropriate behavioral conduct in a particular environment or society. These guidelines could be formal and written such as laws that prohibit stealing or they could be implicit such as behavioral conduct or dress code. Every society has its own way of endorsing and enforcing certain norms and standards of proper behavior while renouncing and sanctioning improper behavior. In general, norms are of a significant importance because they guide our behavior and maintain order in society by providing conformity. Furthermore, norms render behavior predictable rather than random, thus allowing us to predict and understand other people’s actions and behaviors in different situations. On the other hand, divergence from norms is termed “deviance” and can lead to chaos and instability. It is noteworthy to mention, that the culture background and context play an important role as each culture processes its own norms, values, standards and expectations. For instance, in certain cultures shaking hands between opposite sexes is inappropriate, and this is the case in Yemen. Thus our perception of norms in different culture is critical: either we choose to understand an individual’s behavior according to his own culture context and set of norms (cultural relativity) or we choose to understand an individual’s behavior according to our own culture which we believe to be more superior (ethnocentrism). An example of ethnocentrism where norms and values of a certain culture have been imposed on another is the banning of the veil worn by muslim women in France. In contrast, cultural relativism appears in Lebanon where muslim women are perceived in terms of their own culture and are a...
While I was breaking the rule of personal space, I felt somewhat uncomfortable myself. I did learn that this is a real rule in our society and that I am not alone in how I feel. In my home, the kitchen is my personal space and I don’t like to have anyone in there when I am cooking a meal. I also don’t like people to stand too close to me when I am talking with them. I will automatically move a few steps away if someone, other than my family, is too close to me when they are conversing with me. Thus, breaking this rule was a little difficult for me and extremely fascinating at the same
Psychology is a social science study that covers diverse subject topics and carries out different forms of research in order to understand the development and function of human beings. A scientific study focuses on people's mind and its functions especially those affecting behavior in a particular context. Psychology is divided into different branches, and each branch addresses its own form of content in relation to mental processes and behavior. Social psychology is one of the psychology branches. This subdiscipline focuses on individuals and their thoughts. Experts in this field of study focus on why an individual acts as well as reacts the way he/she does. It studies the interaction between people, but the focus is on one human being rather than many individuals. Scientists as well as psychologists study it in order to understand how individuals influence and communicate with each other. This research paper seeks to address this branch of psychology in detail by explaining its meaning, the relationship between it and other fields of psychology and the differences as well as the similarities it has with these other fields. Further, the paper will also discuss the diverse research methods that are applicable with social psychology to determine how a person affects groups of people and how these groups affect an individual.
Bruess. Contemporary Issues in Interpersonal Communication. Los Angeles: Roxbury, 2005. Print.) Though these norms were taught, they were always just inferred. Learning the rules of Proxemics has been eye opening. It is nice to have the general guidelines of intimate, personal, social and public distance. When there are specific rules put in place it is much easier to convey how someone is violating them. For instance, a friend of mine, Mike, recently stopped by my house. It should be noted that Mike has been a notorious “close talker” in our friend group for years. Now that I know the specific distances, was able to talk to Mike about his close talking and that it was making some people uncomfortable. And, because we were alone, the minimalized embarrassment of the situation allowed him to be receptive to the notion that he was violating implicit social rules. I showed him the textbook and we talked about the different distances. Ultimately he thanked me for my candor and has been making strides in appropriate distances while in dyads and