In our day to day life, while interacting with people around us, oblivious of our body language, we encounter the problem of proximity. The violation of an “appropriate distance” by someone may induce a feeling of discomfort and raise warning signals, and may also lead to misinterpretation of gestures. The science of interpersonal distance is called
Proxemics. It plays a great role in affecting our communication, rapport and relationship with people. While interacting with people, we need to take care of this measurable distance and space, to make people feel comfortable and relaxed.
Proxemics is usually categorised by personal and physical territory. Personal territory relates to the space between two individuals. Distance between people standing in a queue or moving up and down in an elevator and so on. Proxemics is studied under four main categories:
Intimate Distance: It usually ranges from one foot or less and involves touching, whispering, and embracing. Considered inappropriate for public behaviour, it can be construed as indecency and intrusion of one’s intimate space.
Personal distance: Ranging from 2 – 4 feet of space, it is usually practised among friends and family members. It is considered to be the most appropriate while holding a conversation as it is easy to study the other person’s expressions, eye movement and body language. Handshakes can be conducted within the boundaries of personal distance.
Social Distance: Ranging from 4 – 10 feet of space and is typically exercised in the communication between business associates and strangers, co-workers in the same room and acquaintances in social gatherings. It is far more likely to be considered as a formal relationship if the interaction is carried out across a desk. Generally, people within social distance refrain from any physical contact with each other. Here, the speech needs to be louder to ensure audibility and eye contact is essential to maintain interest in interaction. One needs to be very careful here, as the slightest encroachment could breed malaise.
Public Distance: Ranging from 12 – 25 feet of space, it is often described as the distance between a public speaker and his/her audience and teacher and students in a classroom. It requires exaggerated verbal and non-verbal techniques for effective communication. Hand gestures are essential to substitute subtle facial expressions along with prominent head movement and audible voice.
Proxemics related to physical territory involves the use of furniture and seating arrangements. The use of individual chairs with arm rest or divider in public places replaces singular benches to maintain dignified spacing between strangers.
Every culture follows different levels of physical closeness to suit their relationships, and individuals learn this while growing up in a society. It is quite important to understand these distances so as to approach others in a non-threatening and appropriate way. For building healthy relationships at work or home, maintaining these distances is vital; an arm’s length from the opposite gender especially during personal communication casts a good impression.
Paramita Mishra holds a PhD in Environmental Biology, and has been associated with teaching Communicative English and Personality Development for nine years now. She can be contacted at mishra.paramita@gmail.com