Abstract
This article reviews research concerning interpersonal distance as a function of interpersonal relationships, attraction, and reactions to spatial invasion. To integrate research findings, we propose a simple model, based on the idea that people seek an optimal distance from others that becomes smaller with friends and larger for individuals who do not expect to interact. The model describes comfort-discomfort as a function of interaction distance in three situations: interacting friends, interacting strangers, and strangers who do not expect interaction. These three personal space profiles are discussed in terms of qualifying variables, such as seated vs. standing interaction, sex composition of the dyad, intimacy of conversation topics, and situational variables.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aiello, J. R. (1972). A test of equilibrium theory: Visual interaction in relation to orientation, distance and sex of interactants.Psychonomic Science 27(6): 335–336.
Aiello, J. R. (1973). Gaze direction during interaction. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Eastern Psychological Association.
Aiello, J. R. (1975). A further look at equilibrium theory: Visual interaction as a function of interpersonal distance. Unpublished manuscript, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J.
Aiello, J. R., and Cooper, R. E. (1972). The use of personal space as function of social affect.Proceedings of the 80th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association 7: 207–208.
Aiello, J. R., and Jones, S. E. (1971). Field study of the proxemic behavior of young school children in three subcultural groups.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 19: 351–356.
Aiello, J. R., Love, K., and Epstein, Y. (1975). Effects of crowding on the spatial behavior of dormitory residents. Unpublished manuscript, Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J.
Allgeier, A. R., and Byrne, D. (1973). Attraction toward the opposite sex as a determinant of physical proximity.Journal of Social Psychology 90: 213–219.
Altman, I. (1975).The Environment and Social Behavior: Privacy, Personal Space, Territory, and Crowding. Brooks-Cole, Monterey, Calif.
Altman, I., and Taylor, D. (1973).Social Penetration: The Development of Interpersonal Relationships. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York.
Argyle, M., and Dean, J. (1965). Eye-contact, distance and affiliation.Sociometry 28: 289–304.
Argyle, M., and Ingham, R. (1972). Gaze, mutual gaze and proximity.Semiotica 6(1): 32–50.
Averill, J. R. (1973). Personal control over aversive stimuli and its relation to stress.Psychological Bulletin 30: 263–270.
Barash, D. P. (1973). Human ethology: Personal space reiterated.Environment and Behavior 5(1): 67–73.
Barefoot, J. C., Hoople, H., and McClay, D. (1972). Avoidance of an act which would violate personal space.Psychonomic Science 28: 205–206.
Bass, M. H., and Weinstein, M. S. (1971). Early Development of interpersonal distance in children.Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science 3(4): 368–376.
Baum, A., Riess, M., and O'Hara, J. (1974). Architectural variants of reaction to spatial invasion.Environment and Behavior 6(1): 91–100.
Baxter, J. C., and Deanovich, B. F. (1970). Anxiety arousing effects of inappropriate crowding.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 35: 174–178.
Baxter, J. C., and Rozelle, R. M. (1975). Nonverbal expression as a function of crowding during a simulated police-citizen encounter.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 32: 40–54.
Bergman, B. A. (1971). The effects of group size, personal space, and success-failure on physiological arousal, test performance, and questionnaire response. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Temple University, Philadelphia (University Microfilms, No. 71-31072).
Byrne, D., Ervin, C., and Lamberth, J. (1970). Continuity between the experimental study of attraction and real-life computer dating.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 16: 157–165.
Byrne, D., Baskett, G. D., and Hodges, L. (1971). Behavioral indicators of interpersonal attraction.Journal of Applied Social Psychology 1: 137–149.
Cheyne, J. A., and Efran, N. G. (1972). The effect of spatial and interpersonal variables on the invasion of group-controlled territories.Sociometry 35(3): 477–489.
Cook, M. (1970). Experiments on orientation and proxemics.Human Relations 23(1): 61–76.
Dabbs, J M. (1971). Physical closeness and negative feelings.Psychonomic Science 23(2): 141–143.
Dabbs, J. M. (1972). Sex, setting, and reactions to crowding on sidewalks.Proceedings of the 80th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, pp. 205–206.
Dinges, N. G., and Oetting, E. R. (1972). Interaction distance anxiety in the counseling dyad.Journal of Counseling Psychology 19(2): 146–149.
Dosey, M., and Meisels, M. (1969). Personal space and self-protection.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 11: 93–97.
Duke, M. P., and Nowicki, S. (1972). A new measure and social learning model for interpersonal distance.Journal of Experimental Research in Personality 6: 1–16.
Edwards, D. J. A. (1972). Approaching the unfamiliar: A study of human interaction distances.Journal of Behavioral Sciences 1(4): 249–250.
Efran, M. G., and Cheyne, J. A. (1972). The study of movement and affect in territorial behavior.Man-Environment Systems 3: 348–350.
Efran, M. G., and Cheyne, J. A. (1973). Shared space: The cooperative control of spatial areas by two interacting individuals.Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science 5: 201–210.
Efran, M. G., and Cheyne, J. A. (1974). Affective concomitants of the invasion of shared space: Behavioral, physiological, and verbal indicators.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 29(2): 219–226.
Evans, G., and Howard, R. B. (1972). A methodological investigation of personal space.Proceedings of the Third Environmental Design Research Association Conference, Los Angeles.
Evans, G. W., and Howard, R. B. (1973). Personal space.Psychological Bulletin 80(4): 334–344.
Felipe, N. J., and Sommer, R. (1966). Invasions of personal space.Social Problems 14: 206–214.
Fisher, J. D. (1974). Situation-specific variables as determinants of perceived environmental aesthetic quality and perceived crowdedness.Journal of Research in Personality 8:177–188.
Fisher, J. D., and Byrne, D. (1975). Too close for comfort: Sex differences in response to invasions of personal space.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 32(1): 15–21.
Fry, A. M., and Willis, F. N. (1971). Invasion of personal space as a function of the age of the invader.Psychological Record 21: 385–389.
Garfinkel, H. (1964). Studies in the routine grounds of everyday activities.Social Problems 11: 225–250.
Goffman, E. (1971).Relations in Public. Basic Books, New York.
Goldberg, G. N., Kiesler, C. A., and Collins, B. E. (1969). Visual behavior and face-to-face distance during interaction.Sociometry 32: 43–53.
Goldring, P. (1967). Role of distance and posture in the evaluation of interactions.Proceedings of the 75th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association 2: 243–244.
Guardo, C. J., and Meisels, M. (1971). Child-parent spatial patterns under praise and reproof.Developmental Psychology 5(2): 365.
Haase, R. S. (1970). The relationship of sex and instructional set to the regulation of interpersonal interaction distance in the counseling analogue.Journal of Counseling Psychology 17: 233–236.
Haase, R. S., and Pepper, D. T. (1972). Nonverbal components of empathic communication.Journal of Counseling Psychology 19(5): 417–424.
Hall, E. T. (1959).The Silent Language. Doubleday, New York.
Hall, E. T. (1963). A system for the notation of proxemic behavior.American Anthropologist 65: 1003–1026.
Hall, E. T. (1966).The Hidden Dimension. Doubleday, New York.
Hammes, J. A. (1964). The personal distance effect as a function of esthetic stimulus, anxiety and sex.Journal of Clinical Psychology 20(3): 353–354.
Heshka, S., and Nelson, Y. (1972). Interpersonal speaking distance as a function of age, sex, and relationship.Sociometry 35: 491–498.
Karabenick, S. A., and Meisels, M. (1972). Effects of performance evaluation on interpersonal distance.Journal of Personality 40(2): 275–286.
Kelley, F. D. (1972). Communicational significance of therapist proxemic cues.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 39(2): 345.
King, M. G. (1966), Interpersonal relations in preschool children and average approach distance.Journal of Genetic Psychology 109: 109–116.
Kleck, R. (1967). The effects of interpersonal affect on errors made when reconstructing a stimulus display.Psychonomic Science 9(8): 449–450.
Kleck, R. (1970). Interaction distance and nonverbal agreeing responses.British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 9: 180–182.
Kleck, R. E., Buck, P. L., Goller, W. D., London, R. S., Pfeiffer, J. R., and Vukcevic, D. P. (1968). Effect of stigmatizing conditions on the use of personal space.Psychological Reports 23: 111–118.
Knowles, E. S. (1972). Boundaries around social space: Dyadic responses to an invader.Environment and Behavior 4(4): 437–447.
Knowles, E. S. (1973). Boundaries around group interaction: The effect of group size and member status on boundary permeability.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 26(3): 327–332.
Knowles, E., and Johnsen, P. (1974). Intrapersonal consistency in interpersonal distance. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Eastern Psychological Association, Philadelphia.
Korner, I. N., and Misra, R. K. (1967). Perception of human relationships as a function of inter-individual distance.Journal of Psychological Researchers 11: 129–132.
Kuethe, J. L. (1962). Social schemas.Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 64: 31–38.
Leibman, M. (1970). The effects of sex and race norms on personal space.Environment and Behavior 2(2): 208–246.
Linder, D. E. (1974).Personal Space. General Learning Press, Morristown, N.J.
Little, K. B. (1965). Personal space.Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 1: 237–247.
Little, K. B. (1968). Cultural variations in social schemata.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 10: 1–7.
Littte, K. B., Ulehla, F. J., and Henderson, C. (1968). Value congruence and interaction distance.Journal of Social Psychology 75: 249–253.
Long, B. H., and Henderson, E. H. (1970). Social schemata of school beginners: Some demographic correlates.Merrill-Palmer Quarterly 16(4): 305–324.
Lyman, S. M., and Scott, M. B. (1967). Territoriality: A neglected sociological dimension.Social Problems 15(2): 236–249.
Mahoney, E. R. (1974). Compensatory reactions to spatial immediacy.Sociometry 37(3): 423–431.
McBride, G., King, M. G., and James, J. W. (1965). Social proximity effects on galvanic skin responses in adult humans.Journal of Psychology 61: 153–157.
McDowell, K. V. (1972). Violations of personal space.Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science 4: 210–217.
Mehrabian, A. (1968a). Inference of attitudes from the posture, orientation, and distance of a communicator.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 32: 296–308.
Mehrabian, A. (1968b). Relationship of attitude to seated posture, orientation, and distance.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 10: 26–30.
Mehrabian, A. (1972).Nonverbal Communication. Aldine-Atherton, Chicago.
Mehrabian, A., and Diamond. S. (1971). Effects of furniture arrangement, props and personality on social interaction.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 20: 18–30.
Meisels, M., and Guardo, C. J. (1969). Development of personal space schemata.Child Development 40: 1167–1178.
Patterson, M. (1973a). Compensation in nonverbal immediacy behaviors: A review.Sociometry 36: 237–252.
Patterson, M. L. (1973b). Stability of nonverbal immediacy behaviors.Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 9: 97–109.
Patterson, M. L., and Sechrest, L. B. (1970). Interpersonal distance and impression formation.Journal of Personality 38: 161–166.
Patterson, M. L., Mullens, S., and Romano, J. (1971). Compensatory reactions to spatial intrusion.Sociometry 34: 114–121.
Pedersen, D. M., and Shears, L. M. (1973). A review of personal space research in the framework of general systems theory.Psychological Bulletin 80(5): 367–388.
Pellegrini, R. J., and Empey, J. (1970). Interpersonal spatial orientation in dyads.Journal of Psychology 76: 67–70.
Porter, E., Argyle, M., and Salter, V. (1970). What is signalled by proximity?Perceptual and Motor Skills 30(1): 39–42.
Price, G. H., and Dabbs, J. M., Jr. (1974). Sex, setting, and personal space: Changes as children grow older. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the American Psychological Association. New Orleans.
Rawls, J. R., Trego, R. E., McGaffey, C. N., and Rawls, D. J. (1972). Personal space as a predictor of performance under close working conditions.Journal of Social Psychology 86: 261–267.
Rosenfeld, H. M. (1965). Effect of an approval-seeking induction on interpersonal proximity.Psychological Reports 17: 120–122.
Rosenfeld, H. M. (1966). Approval-seeking and approval-inducing functions of verbal and nonverbal responses in the dyad.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 4: 597–605.
Rosenfeld, H. M. (1967). Nonverbal reciprocation approval: An experimental analysis.Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 3: 102–111.
Russo, N. F. (1975). Eye-contact, interpersonal distance, and equilibrium theory.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 31: 497–502.
Seguin, C. A. (1967). The “individual space.”International Journal of Neuropsychiatry 3: 108–117.
Smith, G. H. (1953). Size-distance judgments of human faces (projected images).Journal of General Psychology 49: 45–64.
Smith, G. H. (1954). Personality scores and personal distance effect.Journal of Social Psychology 39: 57–62.
Sommer, R. (1959). Studies in personal space.Sociometry 22: 247–260.
Sommer, R. (1962). The distance for comfortable conversation: A further study.Sociometry 25: 111–116.
Sommer, R. (1963). Further studies of small group ecology.Sociometry 28: 337–348.
Sommer, R. (1968). Intimacy ratings in five countries.International Journal of Psychology 3: 109–114.
Sommer, R. (1969).Personal Space: The Behavioral Basis of Design. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
Sundstrom, E. (1975). Toward an interpersonal model of crowding.Sociological Symposium, No. 14, pp. 129–144.
Tesch, F. E., Huston, T. L., and Indenbaum, E. A. (1973). Attitude similarity, attraction, and physical proximity in a dynamic space.Journal of Applied Social Psychology 3(1): 63–72.
Tolor, A., and Salafia, W. R. (1970). Validation study of the social schemata technique.Proceedings of the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association 5 (2): 547–548.
Watson, O. M., and Graves, T. D. (1966). Quantitative research in proxemic behavior.American Anthropologist 68: 971–985.
Willis, F. N. (1966). Initial speaking distance as a function of the speakers' relationship.Psychonomic Science 5: 221–222.
Worthington, M. (1974). Personal space as a function of the stigma effect.Environment and Behavior 6(3): 289–297.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sundstrom, E., Altman, I. Interpersonal relationships and personal space: Research review and theoretical model. Hum Ecol 4, 47–67 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01531456
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01531456