Personal
Space
Title
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Accompanying
Materials
Accompanying Materials

8 tape measures

1 box of chalk

1 set of yellow cue cards
Contents may be subject to change depending upon availability.
Items of equivalent value may be substituted where necessary.
Personal Space
Did you know that the first person to actually talk about
‘personal space’ was a German born Swedish
psychologist called David Katz in 1937?
But what exactly is personal space?
What do you think is YOUR personal space?
Katz, D. (1937) Animals and Men. New York: Longmans, Green.
Definition of Personal Space
Definition of Personal Space – Bell (1996)
According to Bell et al (1996), personal space is a …
‘… portable, invisible boundary surrounding us, into
which others may not trespass. It regulates how closely
we interact with others, moves with us, and expands
and contracts according to the situation in which we
find ourselves.’
It is often described as being almost circular but with more
space in front than behind.
Bell, P.A., Greene, T.C., Fisher, J.D. & Baum, A. (1996) Environmental Psychology (4 th Ed.) Fort Worth: Harcourt
Brace.
Is this what your personal space looks like?
Diagram of Personal
Space
Your Personal Space
Think about your own personal space.
Does it depend who you are with as to how close you
stand?
Why?
What happens if you are standing very close to a stranger
when there is a common focal point – for example, watching
a band at a concert or supporting a team at a sporting
event?
Cartoon
“How many times do I have to tell you?
You’re crowding me!”
Edward T Hall – Proxemic Theory
Edward T Hall Proxemic Theory (1959)
According to the anthropologist Edward T Hall in 1959,
personal space can be defined as an …
‘… emotionally charged bubble of space which
surrounds each individual.’
The idea of an invisible bubble around us all of the time is
an easy concept to understand. If anyone ‘enters’ our
bubble, then they are invading our personal space.
Hall, E.T. (1959) The Silent Language. New York: Doubleday.
Hall’s Diagram:
Hall, E.T. (1966) The Hidden Dimension. Anchor Books.
Hall’s Diagram
Hall’s Four Distances of Personal Space
Hall identified four zones (or distances) of personal
space:
touching up to 0.5 m
intimate distance
0.5 m to 1.2 m
personal / casual distance
1.2 m to 4 m
social distance
over 4 m
public distance
1.2 m is the absolute minimum public distance for strangers.
3 m or 4 m is the maximum spacing for members within the
same group.
Hall’s Four
Distances
Personal
Space (2)
Intimate distance is the space around
us
thatofwe
keep
for
partners, children, close family members and friends.
Personal distance is the space around us when we are
talking to friends and acquaintances or when we are in a
group.
Social distance is the space around us that we reserve for
strangers, new friends and newly formed groups.
Public distance is the space around us when we are part of
a larger audience.
Personal Space Exercise
Personal Space
Exercise Part 1
Part 1 – Find your Personal Bubble:
Equipment needed – tape measure, chalk, blank table of results
(slide 15) and pen.
Get into groups of 3 – students X, Y and Z.
• Find a space in the room and X stands in the middle of it.
• Y approaches X from in front and stops as soon as X says
they would feel uncomfortable if Y remained there for any
length of time.
• Z uses the tape measure to measure the distance between
X and Y and notes down the measurement in the table (In
Front).
Part 1 continued
• X must remain facing forward and not turn to look at Y
as Y approaches X from behind. Y stops as soon as X
says they would feel uncomfortable if Y remained there
for any length of time.
• Z once again measures the distance between X and Y
and notes it down in the table (Behind).
Repeat this procedure with Y approaching X from the left
and from the right. Record the measurements in the table.
Using the measurements in the table, the chalk can be used
to draw a personal bubble around X.
Repeat this exercise until X, Y and Z have all got their own
personal bubble.
Table of Results
Table of Results:
Approach from:
In Front
Behind
Left
Right
Name: …………………………………
Distance (in metres)
Part 2 – Draw your own Personal Bubble:
Part 2
Use your Table of Results from Part 1.
On a piece of paper draw your own personal space shape.
Label it to show any interesting things, such as needing more
personal space in a particular direction.
Compare your diagram with others in your class.
Are there any clear differences between people?
What about gender differences between males and females?
Personal Space Cue Cards Activity
Personal Space Cue Cards
Activity
Get into groups of between 4 and 6.
Using the yellow cue cards discuss each scenario and how it
affects your personal space.
Personal Space Experiments
Many important studies have been carried out into personal
space, examining the effects of the following variables:
•
sex
•
age
•
culture
•
status.
When experimenters are carrying out research they often
have people working with them, known as confederates. The
people who are subjects in their experiments don’t know until
afterwards that these confederates are part of the experiment.
Felipe & Sommer 1966: Experiment
1
Felipe & Sommer 1966 Experiment 1 (1)
Experiment 1 - Aim:
To examine the effects of the invasion of personal space.
Procedure:
Research was carried out in a public library amongst people
of similar cultural backgrounds who were sitting alone. These
people were split into two groups:
1. Those where the confederate approached them, sat in the
chair next to them and moved the chair closer to them.
2. Those where the confederate approached them and sat in
the next-but-one chair.
Experiment 1 (2)
Findings:
When someone came and sat in the chair next to them and
moved the chair closer to them, 70% of the lone people left
within half-an-hour.
When someone came and sat in the next-but-one chair only
13% of the lone people left within half-an-hour.
Conclusion:
People found this invasion of their personal space disruptive.
Researchers also noted that those whose personal space had
been invaded moved their chair, put ‘barriers’ up such as
books and changed their body position to move away.
Felipe & Sommer 1966: Experiment
2
Felipe & Sommer 1966 Experiment 2 (1)
Experiment 2 - Aim:
To examine the effects of the invasion of personal space.
Procedure:
If a man was sitting alone on a bench in the grounds of a
mental institution then a confederate went and sat down
very close to him. If the man moved along the bench this
‘invader’ did the same. The length of time before the man
left the bench was noted.
Findings:
Experiment 2 (2)
Researchers found that 20% of men left within a minute
compared to no-one moving from a control group of men
sitting alone on a bench. 50% of the men left within 9
minutes of having their personal space ‘invaded’,
compared to only 8% of the control group moving within 9
minutes.
Conclusion:
People were unhappy to have their personal space
invaded.
Felipe, N.J. & Sommer, R. Invasions of Personal Space, Social Problems, 14 (1966), 206-214.
Argyle and Dean 1965
Argyle and Dean 1965 AQA KEY STUDY
Aim:
To examine whether sex differences have an effect on
personal space.
Procedure:
Participants were invited to have a one-to-one conversation
with a confederate. Some participants talked to
confederates of the same sex; others talked to
confederates of a different sex. In both situations the
confederate varied the distance away from the participant
but continually maintained eye contact.
Argyle and Dean 1965 (2)
Findings:
The participants broke eye contact with the confederate of
the opposite sex when they were further away than with the
confederate of the same sex.
Conclusion:
When talking to someone of the opposite sex people prefer
to have more personal space between them.
Consider: What are the implications of this in the
workplace?
Argyle, M. & Dean, J. Eye contact, distance and affiliation. Sociometry, 1965, 28: 289-304.
Fisher and Byrne 1975 (1)
Fisher and Byrne 1975
Aim:
To examine the difference between personal space for
men and for women.
Procedure:
Male and female participants in the experiment were sat
alone in a library when a confederate approached and
either sat next to or opposite the participant. After several
minutes the confederate left. Participants were then asked
for their impression of the confederate.
Findings:
Fisher and Byrne 1975 (2)
Females were unhappy to have the confederate sat next to
them but didn’t mind the confederate sat opposite.
Males were unhappy to have the confederate sat opposite
them but didn’t mind the confederate sat next to them.
Conclusion:
There are clear differences between male and female
personal space.
Consider: These results have implications for many aspects
of day-to-day life. Can you think of any such implications?
Fisher, J. & Byrne, D. (1975) Too close for comfort: sex differences in response to invasions of personal space.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32(1), 15-21.
Willis 1996 AQA KEY STUDY
Willis 1996
Aim:
To examine the effect of age differences on personal
space.
Procedure:
Nearly 800 individuals were observed in a variety of
social situations.
Willis 1996 (2)
Findings:
In general, people tended to stand closer to people of
their own age but stood further away from people who
were either a lot older or a lot younger.
Conclusion:
Age difference does have an effect on people’s personal
space.
Consider: Can you think of any situations where these
findings might be significant?
Willis, F. Initial speaking distance as a function of the speakers’ relationship. Psychonomic Science, 1996, 5, 221222.
Sommer 1969 AQA KEY STUDY
Sommer 1969
Aim:
To examine whether there are cultural differences in the
use of personal space.
Procedure:
Researchers observed groups of Arab people and groups
of white English people in conversation.
Sommer 1969 (2)
Findings:
The comfortable distance for conversation for Arab people
was under 1 m, whereas for white English people the
comfortable distance was between 1 m and 1.5 m.
Conclusion:
Different cultures are comfortable with different amounts of
personal space.
Consider: This research was carried out in 1969; do you
think the results are still valid.
Sommer, R. (1969) Personal space: The behavioural basis of design. Englecliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall Inc.
Zahn 1991 AQA KEY STUDY
Zahn 1991
Aim:
To examine the effects of status on personal space.
Procedure:
Researchers observed the interaction between office
workers: people of equal status approaching each other
to have a conversation and people of unequal status
doing the same.
Zahn 1991 (2)
Findings:
People of lower status did not have the same closeness of
interaction with people of higher status that they did with
people of the same status.
Conclusion:
Status does have an effect on personal space when
approaching another person.
Zahn, G.L. (1991) Face-to-Face Communication in an Office Setting: The Effects of Position, Proximity and
Exposure, Communication Research, 18(6), 737-754.
Practical Implications of Research (1)
Consider the following:
If people of equal status have a tendency to get nearer to
each other than people of unequal status then what
happens when two people are of unequal status, like a
teacher and a pupil?
The pupil (lower status) allows the teacher (higher status)
to approach quite closely, but it is unusual for a pupil to
approach a teacher with the same degree of closeness.
Think about how, when the class enters the room, the
pupils all try to sit at the back – further away from the
teacher!
Practical Implications of Research (2)
Consider the ethics of some of the experiments carried
out:
• Were those who unwittingly participated in experiments
deceived?
• Could the innate personality of the confederates used in
some of the research studies have influenced the
outcome of the experiments?
• Were these people (subjects) debriefed afterwards?
• Did these people give their consent to take part in the
research?
Worksheet on Personal Space
Worksheet on Personal Space
1.
Write your own definition of ‘personal space’.
2.
Think about an occasion when your personal space has been invaded. How did
it make you feel?
3.
Are there any situations where you would feel comfortable for people to be
within your personal space?
4.
Is there any difference between the personal space of males and females?
Give an example of, and further details about, a relevant study.
5.
Do cultural differences exist in defining personal space? Name a study on
cultural differences in personal space and give a brief overview of this study.
6.
What effect does status have on personal space? Give an example of a study
looking at this and state the findings.
7.
Name a research study that has looked at individual differences in personal
space and state the methodology, findings and conclusions.
Credits
With thanks to Victoria Carrington
Contact
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Web: www.uniview.co.uk
Material in this presentation
forms part of the Non-Verbal
Communication PsyKit (code
1650).
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