Personal Space

Have you ever been casual talking to someone and felt yourself slowly take steps backwards? It happens all the time. Someone moves closer making you feel uncomfortable, and you take a few steps away from them. I observed several instances where personal space was a factor and affected the conversation. When you don't know the person, I had a hard time for myself even to move closer to them. The closer I got to them, the further they would move away. When I observed personal space with a man, he didn't back away as quickly, it was slower. The eye contact was less as well. With a women, she backed away more abruptly. However, For these two people I did not know them. I then did it with two people I know very well, and distance did not matter, and they did not back away. I observed my little cousins and how close they got to others. They have no limits on personal space, they got right up in peoples faces without thinking twice about it. They are six and eight years old so they haven't quiet grasped the idea of personal space. I then moved on to observe race and how close some races can be to each other, and how far away others are. I observed two African American girls chatting, they seemed to be farther away. I also observed to Latin guys who were further away as well. In many cultures, they see being so close to someone as threatening.

Next I observed the different genders talking to each other. Many times girls stood closer to each other and in clusters. They didn't seem to have a problem with being close to one another. Guys usually tended to stay farther back and stayed on average, 30 inches away, if not more. When genders would interact with each other such as a boy and a girl, it depended on there relationship. I observed a couple, who didn't really have personal space limits. But then I observed to be what I would imagine, just friends, They followed the 18 inch rule. As I was observing, the same gender conversations, they tended to be further apart than those that were different gender conversations. It also depends on the context and setting of the interaction. I've been to plenty of concerts where there is no personal space. Elbows are touching and many times people get pushed because of how close one another are. There are other times, such as in elevators where its the social norm to look forward and not look at one another.

There are many differences between the type of person you are talking to as well. Friends, usually don't have 'boundaries'. There are many times where one of my teachers would get very close to my face, and I truly felt uncomfortable. I think personal space truly depends on the person. Some people get very offended when you stand so close or feel more uncomfortable. Other times, they feel more in power when they stand so close to you. I for example, Don't like standing close to people unless I know them. Personal space truly depends on many factors. I don't think you can say an 'average', because for everyone it is different. I have also had my personal space invaded several times. There are many times where I usually back up because someones too close to me, Such as some teachers and coaches. Several times they try to invade your personal space in order to show power. I don't get mad when someone invades my personal space I just feel very uncomfortable and tend to back away. If someone moved my 'marker' when I was gone, I wouldn't really care. I don't get angry over that kind of stuff. I do get angry when people go into my room and take stuff without asking. I think that is an example of  invading my personal space.You know what someones personal space is by observing how they feel as you move closer and farther away. I think it truly depends on how comfortable with the person you are talking with.

Who am I?

My Name is Emma and I'm a senior. I plan on attending University of Missouri(Mizzou) for college. I hope to major in Environmental Law. I play softball and I am a pitcher. I teach sports to little kids as my job. Some of the biggest influences in my life at this time are my friends and family. I hate public speaking and used to be deathly afraid of escalators. Some of my goals in life are to be successful, travel a lot and eventually move out of the united states, preferably to Australia. My goal in life is to spend at least five years traveling the world living in different cultures and getting the real experience.