Personal Space

What is personal space? We define personal space as an invisible bubble that covers the immediate physical space surrounding us, and in which if ever to be invaded by other people would be highly uncomfortable or threatening, depending on the relation between you and the other person.

This is a simple diagram to identify the certain distances you would feel comfortable with depending on the situation. However, this space can also be effected by the cultural background of each individual, some may be more tolerable to getting close, meaning that their personal space would be smaller. There are also other things that influence the size of a personal space, they include;

• Gender

• Age

• Personality

• "Abnormal" Behaviour

• Status

• Expectations & Social Perception

• Competition & Cooperation

• Situational effects on personal space

But, research has lead us to believe that the space is not circular, but elliptical instead. As we would be more tolerating to people coming close to our sides than infront or behind us.

Personal space (or interpersonal distance) is a way of communication that cannot be understood independently of other aspects of nonverbal communication, things like orientation, touch and eye-contact. For example, in a crowded elevator, we allow others to invade that space, because they would try to avoid you by turning slightly to a different direction, as well as avoiding eye or physical contact. However, if the other person were to make no attempts to avoid physical contact, and looks you straight in the eye, which we can all agree would be very uncomfortable even to the point of threatening to some extent.

#ArchitecturalDesigns #February