Answer:
Proxemics: Spatial Factors
Proxemics is the study of how people unconsciously structure the space around them. This structuring varies with every culture. North Americans, for example, maintain a protective “body bubble” of space about 2 feet in diameter around them when they interact with strangers or casual acquaintances. Violators of that space are considered intruders and cause the person to become defensive (Figure 12-12). In the Middle East, no such bubble exists, and it is proper to invade this area. In fact, not to do so may be interpreted as unfriendly and aloof. Arabs prefer to stand close enough to touch and smell the other person. Americans, however, if forced to stand close together, as on a crowded subway, will use their eyes (i.e., distant gaze) to maintain a more proper distance. An arm’s length is a good measure of the appropriate personal distance for most people. A wife can stand inside her husband’s bubble, but she will be unhappy if another woman invades this sphere of privacy, and vice versa.
Robert Frost said, “Good fences make good neighbors.” In suburbs and small towns, people are more likely to talk to each other while in their backyards if a fence indicates the boundary than if there is a communal yard (McCaskey, 1979). Marking the boundary helps maintain territoriality and actually brings the neighbors closer together than when there is no fence.
Intimate space has been classified as that ranging from close physical contact to 18 inches, personal space from 18 inches to 4 feet, social space from 4 feet to 12 feet, and public space from 12 feet and beyond. Placing a desk between two people shifts personal space to social space. The office desk also can be a barrier to communication when it is placed between the physician and patient, thereby emphasizing the illusion of the physician’s importance and power. There may be occasions when this is desired, but it usually is not necessary in a family physician’s office. Office furniture should be arranged so that a minimum number of obstacles lie between physician and patient.
Automobiles magnify the size of one’s personal space up to 10 times. Compare the relationship of two people having a conversation with that of “road rage” when one invades the other’s space by cutting in front of them.
Explanation:
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