What Does “personal Space” Mean to the Rest of the World?
We all have an invisible bubble that we call our “personal space.” If someone lingers inside for too long, you feel uncomfortable. But each person’s bubble size differs from culture to culture. This is what these bubbles look like around the world.
A recent study published in the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology shows that culture plays a significant role when it comes to personal space. Using a graphical survey, the researchers asked 9,000 participants from 42 different countries how far strangers, acquaintances, and close friends would need to stand to feel comfortable.
Countries that value their personal space highly include Romania, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Uganda. Participants from all five locations would prefer that you stand more than 120 cm or approximately four feet away. But attendees from Argentina, Peru, Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Austria don’t mind if you freeze about 90cm or less than three feet away. The US is not that far off, expecting strangers to keep a cool 95cm distance between them.
However, no one likes it when a stranger is two and a half feet or less. So stop it. Unless you are riding in a cramped subway train or something and there is nothing you can do about it. It is also important to note that women and older participants from all cultures needed more space.
As expected, knowing someone bridges the gap for most cultures, especially if you know them well enough. For example, Norwegian participants develop close relationships with those they consider to be close friends. The same goes for Germany and Romania. On the other hand, members from Saudi Arabia said they like to keep their distance even with their best friends. The researchers speculate that climate may have something to do with these differences. For example, they found that participants from colder countries were more than happy to snuggle up with their close friends, perhaps to keep warm.