PERSONAL SPACE
A
People require a certain amount of
space between themselves and other people. This space is known as peripersonal
space or the space immediately surrounding the body. The idea of personal space
was first broached by Edward T. Hall, a cultural anthropologist, in his 1966
book The Hidden Dimension. Mr. Hall’s
concept formed the basis for his theory of proxemics, which studies how humans
use and organize space within a cultural framework. The theory has found
support in recent experiments conducted by present-day researchers.
B
Before anything else, why do people
need personal space and when does the need for it develop? To answer the second
question, Ralph Adolphs, a psychologist and neuroscientist at the California
Institute of Technology, conducted several studies throughout the 1990s and
early 2000s, eventually determining that people begin to manifest the need for
personal space as early as the preschool years—around the ages of 3 to 4. The
report was published in the journal Nature
in 2009.
C
Adolphs deduced that the part of the
brain responsible for the development of these invisible boundaries was the
amygdala, a structure associated with human emotions, in particular, fear. The
amygdala is aroused when something or someone unfamiliar comes too close, indicating
that peripersonal space is a defensive space, with the area closest to the
individual being considered the highest risk area. When space is encroached
upon, the individual will begin to feel strong feelings of discomfort and will
manifest this in defensive behaviors, such as putting the arms up or stepping
back. In most cases, people are aware that they are not actually in any
physical danger when their space is invaded. This seems to signify that much of
how space is delineated and organized is due to cultural upbringing. Encroachment
occurs when there is cultural misunderstanding or a breakdown in communication.
D
When personal space is intruded on,
an individual will usually make adjustments to correct the distance and restore
feelings of comfort and security. These boundaries are not always rigidly
maintained, however; the amygdala evaluates the individual’s reaction in cases
where no adjustment is made and accordingly changes the parameters for what is
and is not acceptable. For example, the
psychologist Robert Sommer noted that in a crowded subway car, people simply do
not have room to reclaim personal space. They cope with the perceived trespass
by becoming almost immobile so as to inhibit physical contact; in addition,
they avoid eye-to-eye contact with those crowding into their space. Thus, by
depriving oneself and other people of human characteristics, the person is able
to deal with the intrusion until such time that the boundaries can be
recovered.
E
Essentially, personal space appears
to be divided into three compartments. The first is called intimate space, that
area of space closest to the person and which is limited to loved ones such as
family, lover, and friends. Surrounding this intimate “layer” is a sphere known
as social space—that area where people interact with acquaintances and
strangers such as the postman, the ticket agent, the shopkeeper. Beyond this
area is another layer known as public space, where any interaction is detached
and mostly anonymous or even nonexistent, and includes people in a subway car,
a waiting room, or a shopping center.
F
Culturally, Americans seem to need
the most amount of personal space, with Europeans needing about half of what
Americans require. Asians appear to need the least amount of personal space and
think nothing of making physical contact with the person in front or in back of
them on a bus or in a line.
G
How have recent studies corroborated
Edward Hall’s theory? One study published in The Journal of Neuroscience specifically defines the limits of
personal space in terms of centimeters. That range is between 20 to 40
centimeters from the face. This was the first time a study clearly quantified
peripersonal space. The study was conducted by Dr. Chiara Sambo and Dr.
Giandomenico Iannetti of the University College of London. The experiments were
conducted on 15 individuals aged 20 to 37.
Each subject was connected to a device that recorded the blink
reflex—the muscles used to blink the eyes. The blink reflex is known to be a
defensive reaction. When a person anticipates that he is about to be struck,
his natural unconscious response is to blink.
H
The subjects were asked to hold
their hand in front of their face at varying distances from the face. The face
is considered a high-risk area, and people instinctively protect it when
potentially dangerous stimuli exist. The distances covered ranged from 4
centimeters to 60 centimeters. The more dangerous the individual considered the
shock, the more likely he was to blink his eyes. The researchers arrived at the
range of 20 to 40 centimeters by comparing the blink reflex data. Generally,
the test subjects felt more anxious the closer the stimulus was to the face.
I
Before undergoing the test, the
subjects scored themselves according to their perceived levels of anxiety. It
was discovered that persons with higher perceived anxiety levels had a larger
peripersonal space. It is these individuals that avoid crowded places if they
can help it.