Personal Space Differences

This week I have been researching personal space. It's such an interesting topic to me as it affects each one of us differently. Not only does culture affect what we view as personal space but even the type of community we live inside that culture can affect how we feel.

I was watching my dog earlier and I noticed something interesting. When a person or animal comes towards the house her body goes on high alert. They don't even have to ring the doorbell to get her attention. It's like she has a built-in sensor for someone crossing a certain line at the end of the driveway, this line circles the front and back of our house. She will protect her area by barking to warn all who trespass that a wild ferocious albeit small dog lives here. When you are inside, however, if she likes you it's all belly rubs and attention. If she doesn't like you she won't come within ten feet of you if she can help it. Believe me, it's that black and white and there is no rhyme or reason as to why. She just instantly knows if she accepts you or not.

So what is personal space? I'm sure you have heard people refer to a bubble around themselves. If we could all walk around with those blow-up bubbles it may make like more comfortable in some situations. Although I have lived in cities, for the majority of my life I have lived in more rural locations. I hate crowds with a passion - yes even before COVID. I like my own space and I hate public transport with a passion. So you can imagine my horror when I saw the following video -

The quality isn't very good but apparently, there are people whose job it is to literally push people onto the train! How horrifying is that!

Going back to crowds here's another video...The real horror starts around 37 seconds.

We all have our ideas about personal space. Below is a chart that roughly shows the accepted norms. Space is divided up into intimate, personal, social, and public.

Because different cultures can have a different view on personal space we need to take that into account before taking offense or jumping to an inaccurate conclusion. If you are talking to someone who comes from a different culture their idea on personal and intimate space might be smaller or larger than yours. 

The next video I found shows how people react when they feel someone is crossing the line and getting 'too close'.

 

Having personal space is something that although may vary affects everyone. In public settings, we need to remember that our space may not be the same as someone else's and that we need to try and understand how people react and why. Misunderstandings can occur and with that judgments about people that may not be correct. If you pay attention to people around you their body language or actions can help you understand if you are encroaching into their space and making them feel uncomfortable. If people are constantly backing up from you ... you might just be too close.

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