Proxemics

1. Proxemics The role of space and distance in human communication

2. Space matters • Metaphors, expressions related to space • “I feel close to you.” • “I need some space right now.” • Three’s a crowd • Keeping someone at arm’s length • “Don’t back me into a corner.” • Getting in someone’s grill.” • “Don’t be trying to get all up in here.” • “I need some elbow room.” • “You’re on my turf now.”

3. Territory vs. Personal Space • Territory is the physical area we claim as our own. • graffiti is used to mark a gang’s turf. • “keep out,” “private property,” “no trespassing” signs • Territory is defined by boundaries, occupancy, and ownership

4. Personal Space • Personal space is the social bubble we carry around with us. • Personal bubbles vary by gender, culture, situation • Personal space is dynamic, portable, situational or contextual

5. Space violations • President Lyndon B. Johnson was known for violating others’ personal space

6. Territory or space?

7. Types of space • Physical space • Borders, walls, cubicles • Your room • Psychological space • The effect of spaces on mood • Your sense of privacy • Virtual space • Facebook • Privacy violations on the web • Identity theft/information privacy

8. TSA scanner controversy • TSA’s practice of using body scanners or full body pat downs outraged many airline passengers. • Anger over privacy violations • Fears about health risks from radiation • Concerns about storing and sharing images Some companies sell scanner blocking underwear, but TSA warns this may result in a pat down.

9. Status and power • People with higher status may literally be higher • Top floor, corner office • Higher chair • People with higher status occupy more space. • High status people sit at the head of the table • High status people have greater permission to violate others’ space • Higher status people touch more objects, including other people’s.

10. Power and status--continued • Segregation in the 1950s and 1960s • May use desks or other furniture as barriers • Seating arrangements at weddings or other formal occasions may imply status differences • “Sorry Jane, you’re at the little kids table.” • Police interrogations—suspect is seated; detectives free to move about. Rosa Parks refused to sit in the back of the bus, as segregation laws in the pre-civil rights era required.

11. Power in the professor’s office • Instructors’ offices: Where does teacher sit relative to students? • Instructors’ office doors; open, closed, open a crack? • Students who remain in the doorway versus students who come in and sit down

12. Seating arrangements and communication • Opposite • adversarial/competitive • Adjacent • cooperative • Corners • cooperative • Power • head of rectangular table, facing the door

13. culture, gender, & situational differences • Women’s space is invaded more frequently than men’s • Men who have just met stay farther apart than women who have just met. • Holds true even for virtual environments (Second Life)

14. Space invaders • Tailgaters on the freeway • A parent searches a teen’s dresser or reads his/her diary. • You leave the room at a social event. While you’re gone someone takes “your” seat. • At the beach, some people plop their towels, cooler, boogie board right next to you. • At the ATM someone is standing too close behind you. • People who play loud music

15. Guarding our space • On the freeway; we don’t want to let that “jerk” merge in front of us. • Armrests in movie theaters and on airplanes. • Gang graffiti to mark turf. • Grumpy homeowners; “You kids get off my lawn.” • At the gym; occupying an exercise machine • A teen puts a sign on his/her bedroom door that says “Private” or “Keep Out.” • No trespassing signs • Parking spaces—a study of 400 drivers at a mall in Atlanta found that drivers protect their parking space. They leave more slowly if another motorist is waiting for their spot.

16. Edward T. Hall’s space zones • Intimate: 6-18 inches • close friends, family • Personal: 18 inches to 4 feet • common for most Westerners in everyday conversations. • touching possible, but only permissible touch • Social: 4 to 12 feet: • business environments, retail stores • Public: 12 feet or more: • public speaking, presentations • Lots of socially necessary exceptions • elevators, MD exams, crowded bus, train, concerts Social space When social space is violated, people compensate in other ways

17. Space violations can trigger reactions • Prevention • staking out territory • territorial markers • Defense • standing your ground • challenging the violation • Insulation • hoodie, earbuds, sunglasses • Withdrawal

18. Types of encroachment • Violation: unwarranted use of someone’s property • Walking into someone’s home without knocking • Borrowing a roommate’s clothes without asking • Mentally undressing someone with your eyes • Invasion • Permanent takeover • Parents or grandparents on Facebook • Sexual assault • Tagging • Contamination • Detritus left behind • littering • Smoking in someone’s car • Dog poop on your neighbor’s lawn • Using someone else’s toothbrush or deodorant

19. Physical distance implies social distance

20. Too close, too far, or just right?