Environmental Process Human Spatial Behaviour
Current Social Issues
Environmental Process Human Spatial Behaviour
-by Smita Ramachandran-
Anthropologist Edward T. Hall (1966) argues that a "hidden dimension" shapes much of our behaviour. What is this hidden dimension? Space. How do people use the space around them to regulate their social interactions? This is one of the questions asked by environmental researchers, who use the term proxemics to refer to the study of human spatial behaviour (Hall, 1959). A key idea is that individuals try to achieve an optimal degree of involvement and physical closeness with other people, depending on the specific situation. In other words, people use space to influence their interaction with other people (Richmond, McCroskey & Payne, 1991). Two important aspects of spatial behaviour are personal space and territoriality.
Personal Space
Suppose you are standing by yourself in a physician 's waiting room, and the nurse walks up to you. How close does the nurse actually come? Three inches? Ten inches? Two feet? Suppose you are sitting on a park bench, and a well-dressed man sits down immediately next to you. How does that make you feel? Would you feel differently if he sat five feet away? How close to other people do you usually stand? Does it make any difference if they are friends, strangers, or members of your family? Does it make any difference if you are in an elevator, standing at a party, or in line at the post office?
As these examples suggest, people have various preferred distances for social interaction, depending on whom they are with and the activity. People treat the physical space immediately around them as though it were a part of them; this zone has been called personal space. According to Sommer (1969), "Personal space refers to an area with an invisible boundary surrounding the person 's body into which intruders may not come. Like [porcupines], people like to be close enough to obtain warmth and comradeship but far enough away to avoid pricking
Environmental Process Human Spatial Behaviour
-by Smita Ramachandran-
Anthropologist Edward T. Hall (1966) argues that a "hidden dimension" shapes much of our behaviour. What is this hidden dimension? Space. How do people use the space around them to regulate their social interactions? This is one of the questions asked by environmental researchers, who use the term proxemics to refer to the study of human spatial behaviour (Hall, 1959). A key idea is that individuals try to achieve an optimal degree of involvement and physical closeness with other people, depending on the specific situation. In other words, people use space to influence their interaction with other people (Richmond, McCroskey & Payne, 1991). Two important aspects of spatial behaviour are personal space and territoriality.
Personal Space
Suppose you are standing by yourself in a physician 's waiting room, and the nurse walks up to you. How close does the nurse actually come? Three inches? Ten inches? Two feet? Suppose you are sitting on a park bench, and a well-dressed man sits down immediately next to you. How does that make you feel? Would you feel differently if he sat five feet away? How close to other people do you usually stand? Does it make any difference if they are friends, strangers, or members of your family? Does it make any difference if you are in an elevator, standing at a party, or in line at the post office?
As these examples suggest, people have various preferred distances for social interaction, depending on whom they are with and the activity. People treat the physical space immediately around them as though it were a part of them; this zone has been called personal space. According to Sommer (1969), "Personal space refers to an area with an invisible boundary surrounding the person 's body into which intruders may not come. Like [porcupines], people like to be close enough to obtain warmth and comradeship but far enough away to avoid pricking
References: and Bibliography: Donelson R. Forsyth, Group Dynamics Taylor, Peplau & Sears, Social Psychology