Non Verbal

2 Pages 522 Words

Humans, like most other species of animals, have what we call "personal space". When we interact with other individuals, we prefer to be close enough to them for effective communication, but not too close. We feel uncomfortable when an individual gets too close or invades our personal space. The selective advantage for this behavior may lie in our evolutionary history as a social species. Most of the members of our social group are potentially rivals or social enemies; these individuals were in the past (and in some cultures still are) capable of inflicting bodily injury. We are trying to serve two conflicting social demands: one, to interact socially and thus foster cooperative behaviors, and two, to avoid potentially harmful competitive interactions. Our personal space or preferred social distance is a reflection of this internal conflict.
Personal space is affected by a variety of social factors. For instance, the personal space of married individuals is smaller when approached by the spouse than when approached by some other individual. Preferred personal distance between a married man and a woman who is not his spouse is greater when his spouse is present than when his spouse is absent. Personal space is greater (and emotional reaction is stronger) when individuals are approached (experimentally) by strangers who are perceived as "unattractive" or "creepy" than when approached by "attractive" or "normal" strangers. Intentional invasion of personal space may be used as an intimidating or threatening behavior in situations of social conflict (as in "in your face").
There are also cultural differences in personal space and in tolerance of intrusion. Elevators, buses, theaters, and many other "crowding" situations tend to reduce personal space; people who routinely find themselves in such situations have smaller personal space and more tolerance for intrusion (at least in the crowding situations) than do people who are unused to cr...