{"id":116729,"date":"2022-03-29T10:21:08","date_gmt":"2022-03-29T10:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cernelic.hr\/?p=116729"},"modified":"2022-04-26T10:12:12","modified_gmt":"2022-04-26T10:12:12","slug":"how-space-affects-interactions-and-the-ways-we-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cernelic.hr\/en\/blog\/how-space-affects-interactions-and-the-ways-we-work\/","title":{"rendered":"How Space Affects Interactions and the Ways We Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even if you\u2019ve never heard the term proxemics [prok-see-miks], you have a sense of what it means if you\u2019ve ever encountered a\u00a0close-talker<\/a>. You know, the person who gets too close for comfort in conversation. Our perception of space affects our relationships. And, there are unwritten social norms that dictate how close or far we position ourselves physically. Since these norms affect how we work with each other, it\u2019s worth taking a look at them and some of the research that\u2019s been done on proxemics.<\/p>\n

Proxemics in a Nutshell<\/h2>\n

Proxemics is how we think about and move through space. The term was coined by the cultural anthropologist Edward T. Hall<\/a>, who is widely considered the father of the study of personal space.<\/p>\n

Hall conducted extensive research on people\u2019s use of space in cities, offices, and classified space into four types. Beck Johnson, Senior Research Specialist for Haworth\u2019s Human Performance Lab, helps explain them.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

4 Types of Space<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Public Distance<\/strong>
    \n\u201cPublic distance is when you\u2019re so far away from somebody that you would need to raise your voice so they can hear you appropriately,\u201d says Beck. Hall said this zone starts 12 feet away from a person. At this distance, an alert person can take evasive or defensive action if threatened. Fine details of the skin and eyes are no longer visible. And, language becomes more formal at this distance.<\/li>\n
  2. Social Distance<\/strong>
    \n\u201cSocial distance is where you\u2019re close enough that you have the ability to hear the person you\u2019re conversing with but not so close that you have the ability to touch each other,\u201d Beck explains. Think of this as the zone where nobody touches or expects to touch someone unless there is a special effort.<\/li>\n
  3. Personal Space<\/strong>
    \n\u201cIf I can reach out and touch you, that means we\u2019re in personal space,\u201d says Beck.<\/li>\n
  4. Intimate Space<\/strong>
    \n\u201cCloser than that is intimate space\u2014that\u2019s when you would be touching at multiple points,\u201d she concludes.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    The Perception of Space and the Role of Culture<\/a><\/h2>\n

    According to Hall, our sense of space is a synthesis of many sensory inputs: visual, auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory, and thermal. In addition, our perceptions are shaped by the patterns of our culture.<\/p>\n

    \u201cOne of the things to remember when thinking about proxemics is that the actual distance between public, social, personal, and intimate space is rooted in overall culture,\u201d Beck says. \u201cHowever, these spaces are relative. In Western cultures, we tend to have a sense of really large personal space. In other cultures, those personal spaces can shrink down a little bit more.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Let\u2019s take a look at a few of these cultural differences.<\/p>\n

    In a published study comparing interpersonal distances around the globe, researchers found that people in warmer countries preferred closer distances with strangers compared to people who live in colder locales. In fact, this tendency has even been observed within the United States, where people living along warm latitudes exhibited closer contact behavior and touch than those who live in colder climates, according to the\u00a0Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    In the US, intimate space is typically only shared between couples and family members. Even when standing in a crowded line, Americans maintain an invisible bubble around themselves. In contrast, the Chinese perceive a problem if there is too much space between friends. It\u2019s not uncommon for men to wrap an arm around another man\u2019s shoulders, or for women to walk hand-in-hand. In public, Chinese people are used to being in much closer proximity to each other, even being in each other\u2019s intimate space, according to a\u00a0study that analyzed proxemics<\/a>\u00a0between Americans and Chinese.<\/p>\n

    Proxemics in the Workplace<\/strong>
    \nTo illustrate how proxemics affect the workplace, Beck cites this example: \u201cTypically when you have a couch, there are three cushions and usually you only see two people sitting at it. Why isn\u2019t there anybody sitting in the middle? Because it feels inappropriate\u2014it feels like you\u2019re invading someone\u2019s space.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    To counter the awkwardness of a big gap on a sofa, our seating team designed Cabana Lounge. Think of it as a Goldilocks solution: not too big, not too small\u2014just right.<\/p>\n

    \u201cBy creating a design that\u2019s two-and-a-half seats, we\u2019ve made it more efficient in terms of floor space while leaving enough space between for people to sit without feeling like they\u2019re violating personal or intimate space,\u201d Beck says. \u201cThe added feature of something like a table puts a barrier between them, making them more comfortable in face-to-face conversation even though they could reach out and touch each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

    By bringing people together in closer proximity\u2014but not so close that they feel awkward or threatened\u2014lounge solutions like Cabana Lounge can foster feelings of trust and a spirit of collaboration. Providing both\u00a0\u201cme\u201d and \u201cwe\u201d spaces<\/a>\u00a0in a work environment enhances employee comfort and well-being.<\/p>\n

    \u201cThe actual distance between public, social, personal, and intimate space is rooted in overall culture. However, these spaces are relative. In Western culture, we tend to have a sense of really large personal space.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u2013 Beck Johnson, Senior Research Specialist at Haworth<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Source: by Haworth, Inc.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Even if you\u2019ve never heard the term proxemics [prok-see-miks], you have a sense of what it means if you\u2019ve ever encountered a\u00a0close-talker. You know, the person who gets too close for comfort in conversation. Our perception of space affects our relationships. And, there are unwritten social norms that dictate how close or far we position […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":116733,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[534],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cernelic.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cernelic.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cernelic.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cernelic.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cernelic.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116729"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cernelic.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116830,"href":"https:\/\/cernelic.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116729\/revisions\/116830"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cernelic.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cernelic.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cernelic.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cernelic.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}