Scoot Over: Proxemics

Judee Burgoon wasn’t the first to define personal space. In the 1960s, Anthropologist Edward Hall coined the term proxemics to “refer to the study of people’s use of space as a special elaboration of culture” (Griffin, Ledbetter, & Sparks, 2015, p. 82).

In the image below, I’ve attempted to illustrate Edward Hall’s spatial interpretation. He believed that Americans have four proxemic zones.

Proxemic choices are influenced by culture, relationship status, gender, age, geographic location, and personality. Burgoon gives an example that people from Mediterranean cultures interact in closer proximity than those from Scandinavian cultures (Burgoon, Berger, & Roloff, 2016, p. 1).

Close proximity is reserved for private interactions and generally indicates closeness and attraction. “People also adopt closer distances when they wish to show approval or to ingratiate themselves with the target of the approach. Farther distances are reserved for more social, impersonal, formal, and public interactions (Burgoon, Berger, & Roloff, 2016, p. 2).

In one organization I’ve worked with I was hired around the same time as a new colleague. When our supervisor spoke to us from their cubicle I would tend to get up and walk over so I could see them face to face. My new colleague also did this. Looking at this through the lens of EVT, I was seeking approval and working to ingratiate myself to this supervisor.

References:

Burgoon, J. K. (2016). Expectancy Violations Theory (C. R. Berger & M. E. Roloff, Eds.). The International Encyclopedia of Interpersonal Communication, First Edition, 1-9. doi:DOI:10.1002/9781118540190.wbeic0102

Griffin, E. A., Ledbetter, A., & Sparks, G. G. (2015). A first look at communication theory. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.