Business Culture Tips
Personal Space
The way personal space is structured is referred to as proxemics. Personalspace, or distance from other persons is a powerful concept, and research sug-gests it directly relates to our interpretation of the meaning of messages conveyedby the other person. The important aspect of proxemics is that areas very close toour body is usually reserved for people we are intimate with, whereas space fur-ther away from our body is open to persons one is less intimate with. This princi-ple is generally universal.
0u2014u20148 inches is intimate space reserved for family and close friends.
18 inches to 4 feet is personal space used in most interpersonal interactions.
4u2014u201412 feet is social-consultative space used in more formal interactions.
Recognize the boundaries of your personal space and that of others. If youare typical of most Americans, it ranges between 30 and 36 inches. Be prepared,however, not to back up or move away from someone who has a personal spacethat is smaller than your own. Hang in there, take a deep breath, and stand yourground. For most of us, merely the awareness of our personal space is enough toconsciously prompt us to stand firm when speaking with someone. If you have asmaller than average personal space, make sure you keep your distance so thatyou do not intimidate someone who possesses a larger personal space. P.S. Ifyou want to have fun at a social gathering, step inside the personal space bounda-ry of a friend. With some practice, you can back them up around the entire roomwithout them even being aware of what is happening.
In US, the standard space between you and your conversation partner shouldbe about two feet. Most U. S. executives will be uncomfortable standing at acloser distance.