Er. Question on personal space.

[burntcopper]

Okay, those of you who've met me in the flesh know that I have *no* concept of personal space. My parents regularly complain about this, and it's partially due to childhood upbringing of a very crowded society. 1 mm, 1 mile, I simply don't register the difference unless someone tells me. Which also often means I miss a few slash things... 'Look how close they're standing!' 'Your point is?' I know 3jane once commented on the whole Korean hand-holding thing betwixt men, and it not being a remotely gay thing there.

So...er... what do you lot consider reasonable personal space boundaries?

Comments

[cangetmad.livejournal.com]

Ooh, this is totally a psychology/linguistics-y thing - there are different set distances in different cultures for different situations (intimate, personal, social and public distance). And somewhere in my first-year linguistics notes I actually have some written down. Desperately looking for good cites online.

Here's a good one for Americans. About a third of the way down this page, too:

Intimate distance - up to 0.5 m ....much here is exposed, physical contact is possible and many cues like breathing, smell, body temperature sights and sounds become available.

Personal distance - 0.5 - 1.25 m ....this is the norm for everyday interaction with friends and colleagues. The more intimate cues are not available at this distance, though touch is still possible.

Social distance - 1.25 - 4 m....The distance for casual interactions, business dealings, shopping and so on. Verbal cues still available but many of the others are lost. People will avoid sitting next to others on buses because it may be seen as an invasion of this space.

Public distance 4 - 8 m..The distance at which communication in formal settings takes place, e.g. the lecture hall, or in a court room. This distance minimizes 'social' interaction and maintains the formality of the situation.

So, yeah, you grow up in one culture and your distances will be off-wack when you move into a new culture. There's a really neat theory about the fact that Westerners looking at Chinese traffic perceive there as being loads of near-crashes, when in fact there aren't any more than there are elsewhere - what the Westerners are reacting to are cars and bicyles invading their perception of personal space.

Look, I'm a geek! Hope that's useful.

[burntcopper.livejournal.com]

1.25 m? that's... a lot. Mind you, americans do have bigger personal space than your average brit. (it's basically to do with how closely packed your population is)