Preferred Interpersonal Distances: A Global Comparison

Agnieszka Sorokowska; Piotr Sorokowski; Peter Hilpert; Katarzyna Cantarero; Tomasz Frackowiak; Khodabakhsh Ahmadi; Ahmad M. Alghraibeh; Richmond Aryeetey; Anna Bertoni; Karim Bettache; Sheyla Blumen; Marta Błażejewska; Tiago Bortolini; Marina Butovskaya; Felipe Nalon Castro; Hakan Cetinkaya; Diana Cunha; Daniel David; Oana A. David; Fahd A. Dileym; Alejandra del Carmen Domínguez Espinosa; Silvia Donato; Daria Dronova; Seda Dural; Jitka Fialová; Maryanne Fisher; Evrim Gulbetekin; Aslıhan Hamamcıoğlu Akkaya; Ivana Hromatko; Raffaella Iafrate; Mariana Iesyp; Bawo James; Jelena Jaranovic; Feng Jiang; Charles Obadiah Kimamo; Grete Kjelvik; Fırat Koç; Amos Laar; Fívia de Araújo Lopes; Guillermo Macbeth; Nicole M. Marcano; Rocio Martinez; Norbert Mesko; Natalya Molodovskaya; Khadijeh Moradi; Zahrasadat Motahari; Alexandra Mühlhauser; Jean Carlos Natividade; Joseph Ntayi; Elisabeth Oberzaucher; Oluyinka Ojedokun; Mohd Sofian Bin Omar-Fauzee; Ike E. Onyishi; Anna Paluszak; Alda Portugal; Eugenia Razumiejczyk; Anu Realo; Ana Paula Relvas; Maria Rivas; Muhammad Rizwan; Svjetlana Salkičević; Ivan Sarmány-Schuller; Susanne Schmehl; Oksana Senyk; Charlotte Sinding; Eftychia Stamkou; Stanislava Stoyanova; Denisa Šukolová; Nina Sutresna; Meri Tadinac; Andero Teras; Edna Lúcia Tinoco Ponciano; Ritu Tripathi; Nachiketa Tripathi; Mamta Tripathi; Olja Uhryn; Maria Emília Yamamoto; Gyesook Yoo; John D. Pierce

doi:10.1177/0022022117698039

Preferred Interpersonal Distances: A Global Comparison

Agnieszka Sorokowska, Piotr Sorokowski, Peter Hilpert, Katarzyna Cantarero, Tomasz Frackowiak, Khodabakhsh Ahmadi, Ahmad M. Alghraibeh, Richmond Aryeetey, Anna Bertoni, Karim Bettache, Sheyla Blumen, Marta Błażejewska, Tiago Bortolini, Marina Butovskaya, Felipe Nalon Castro, Hakan Cetinkaya, Diana Cunha, Daniel David, Oana A. David, Fahd A. DileymAlejandra del Carmen Domínguez Espinosa, Silvia Donato, Daria Dronova, Seda Dural, Jitka Fialová, Maryanne Fisher, Evrim Gulbetekin, Aslıhan Hamamcıoğlu Akkaya, Ivana Hromatko, Raffaella Iafrate, Mariana Iesyp, Bawo James, Jelena Jaranovic, Feng Jiang, Charles Obadiah Kimamo, Grete Kjelvik, Fırat Koç, Amos Laar, Fívia de Araújo Lopes, Guillermo Macbeth, Nicole M. Marcano, Rocio Martinez, Norbert Mesko, Natalya Molodovskaya, Khadijeh Moradi, Zahrasadat Motahari, Alexandra Mühlhauser, Jean Carlos Natividade, Joseph Ntayi, Elisabeth Oberzaucher, Oluyinka Ojedokun, Mohd Sofian Bin Omar-Fauzee, Ike E. Onyishi, Anna Paluszak, Alda Portugal, Eugenia Razumiejczyk, Anu Realo, Ana Paula Relvas, Maria Rivas, Muhammad Rizwan, Svjetlana Salkičević, Ivan Sarmány-Schuller, Susanne Schmehl, Oksana Senyk, Charlotte Sinding, Eftychia Stamkou, Stanislava Stoyanova, Denisa Šukolová, Nina Sutresna, Meri Tadinac, Andero Teras, Edna Lúcia Tinoco Ponciano, Ritu Tripathi, Nachiketa Tripathi, Mamta Tripathi, Olja Uhryn, Maria Emília Yamamoto, Gyesook Yoo, John D. Pierce

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278 Scopus citations

Abstract

Human spatial behavior has been the focus of hundreds of previous research studies. However, the conclusions and generalizability of previous studies on interpersonal distance preferences were limited by some important methodological and sampling issues. The objective of the present study was to compare preferred interpersonal distances across the world and to overcome the problems observed in previous studies. We present an extensive analysis of interpersonal distances over a large data set (N = 8,943 participants from 42 countries). We attempted to relate the preferred social, personal, and intimate distances observed in each country to a set of individual characteristics of the participants, and some attributes of their cultures. Our study indicates that individual characteristics (age and gender) influence interpersonal space preferences and that some variation in results can be explained by temperature in a given region. We also present objective values of preferred interpersonal distances in different regions, which might be used as a reference data point in future studies.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	577-592
Number of pages	16
Journal	Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology
Volume	48
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022117698039
State	Published - 1 May 2017

Keywords

cultural psychology
culture
interpersonal distance
spatial behavior

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10.1177/0022022117698039

Cite this

Sorokowska, A., Sorokowski, P., Hilpert, P., Cantarero, K., Frackowiak, T., Ahmadi, K., Alghraibeh, A. M., Aryeetey, R., Bertoni, A., Bettache, K., Blumen, S., Błażejewska, M., Bortolini, T., Butovskaya, M., Castro, F. N., Cetinkaya, H., Cunha, D., David, D., David, O. A., ... Pierce, J. D. (2017). Preferred Interpersonal Distances: A Global Comparison. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 48(4), 577-592. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022117698039

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title = "Preferred Interpersonal Distances: A Global Comparison",

abstract = "Human spatial behavior has been the focus of hundreds of previous research studies. However, the conclusions and generalizability of previous studies on interpersonal distance preferences were limited by some important methodological and sampling issues. The objective of the present study was to compare preferred interpersonal distances across the world and to overcome the problems observed in previous studies. We present an extensive analysis of interpersonal distances over a large data set (N = 8,943 participants from 42 countries). We attempted to relate the preferred social, personal, and intimate distances observed in each country to a set of individual characteristics of the participants, and some attributes of their cultures. Our study indicates that individual characteristics (age and gender) influence interpersonal space preferences and that some variation in results can be explained by temperature in a given region. We also present objective values of preferred interpersonal distances in different regions, which might be used as a reference data point in future studies.",

keywords = "cultural psychology, culture, interpersonal distance, spatial behavior",

author = "Agnieszka Sorokowska and Piotr Sorokowski and Peter Hilpert and Katarzyna Cantarero and Tomasz Frackowiak and Khodabakhsh Ahmadi and Alghraibeh, {Ahmad M.} and Richmond Aryeetey and Anna Bertoni and Karim Bettache and Sheyla Blumen and Marta B{\l}a{\.z}ejewska and Tiago Bortolini and Marina Butovskaya and Castro, {Felipe Nalon} and Hakan Cetinkaya and Diana Cunha and Daniel David and David, {Oana A.} and Dileym, {Fahd A.} and {Dom{\'i}nguez Espinosa}, {Alejandra del Carmen} and Silvia Donato and Daria Dronova and Seda Dural and Jitka Fialov{\'a} and Maryanne Fisher and Evrim Gulbetekin and {Hamamcıoğlu Akkaya}, Aslıhan and Ivana Hromatko and Raffaella Iafrate and Mariana Iesyp and Bawo James and Jelena Jaranovic and Feng Jiang and Kimamo, {Charles Obadiah} and Grete Kjelvik and Fırat Ko{\c c} and Amos Laar and {de Ara{\'u}jo Lopes}, F{\'i}via and Guillermo Macbeth and Marcano, {Nicole M.} and Rocio Martinez and Norbert Mesko and Natalya Molodovskaya and Khadijeh Moradi and Zahrasadat Motahari and Alexandra M{\"u}hlhauser and Natividade, {Jean Carlos} and Joseph Ntayi and Elisabeth Oberzaucher and Oluyinka Ojedokun and Omar-Fauzee, {Mohd Sofian Bin} and Onyishi, {Ike E.} and Anna Paluszak and Alda Portugal and Eugenia Razumiejczyk and Anu Realo and Relvas, {Ana Paula} and Maria Rivas and Muhammad Rizwan and Svjetlana Salki{\v c}evi{\'c} and Ivan Sarm{\'a}ny-Schuller and Susanne Schmehl and Oksana Senyk and Charlotte Sinding and Eftychia Stamkou and Stanislava Stoyanova and Denisa {\v S}ukolov{\'a} and Nina Sutresna and Meri Tadinac and Andero Teras and {Tinoco Ponciano}, {Edna L{\'u}cia} and Ritu Tripathi and Nachiketa Tripathi and Mamta Tripathi and Olja Uhryn and Yamamoto, {Maria Em{\'i}lia} and Gyesook Yoo and Pierce, {John D.}",

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Sorokowska, A, Sorokowski, P, Hilpert, P, Cantarero, K, Frackowiak, T, Ahmadi, K, Alghraibeh, AM, Aryeetey, R, Bertoni, A, Bettache, K, Blumen, S, Błażejewska, M, Bortolini, T, Butovskaya, M, Castro, FN, Cetinkaya, H, Cunha, D, David, D, David, OA, Dileym, FA, Domínguez Espinosa, ADC, Donato, S, Dronova, D, Dural, S, Fialová, J, Fisher, M, Gulbetekin, E, Hamamcıoğlu Akkaya, A, Hromatko, I, Iafrate, R, Iesyp, M, James, B, Jaranovic, J, Jiang, F, Kimamo, CO, Kjelvik, G, Koç, F, Laar, A, de Araújo Lopes, F, Macbeth, G, Marcano, NM, Martinez, R, Mesko, N, Molodovskaya, N, Moradi, K, Motahari, Z, Mühlhauser, A, Natividade, JC, Ntayi, J, Oberzaucher, E, Ojedokun, O, Omar-Fauzee, MSB, Onyishi, IE, Paluszak, A, Portugal, A, Razumiejczyk, E, Realo, A, Relvas, AP, Rivas, M, Rizwan, M, Salkičević, S, Sarmány-Schuller, I, Schmehl, S, Senyk, O, Sinding, C, Stamkou, E, Stoyanova, S, Šukolová, D, Sutresna, N, Tadinac, M, Teras, A, Tinoco Ponciano, EL, Tripathi, R, Tripathi, N, Tripathi, M, Uhryn, O, Yamamoto, ME, Yoo, G & Pierce, JD 2017, 'Preferred Interpersonal Distances: A Global Comparison', Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, vol. 48, no. 4, pp. 577-592. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022117698039

TY - JOUR

T1 - Preferred Interpersonal Distances

T2 - A Global Comparison

AU - Sorokowska, Agnieszka

AU - Sorokowski, Piotr

AU - Hilpert, Peter

AU - Cantarero, Katarzyna

AU - Frackowiak, Tomasz

AU - Ahmadi, Khodabakhsh

AU - Alghraibeh, Ahmad M.

AU - Aryeetey, Richmond

AU - Bertoni, Anna

AU - Bettache, Karim

AU - Blumen, Sheyla

AU - Błażejewska, Marta

AU - Bortolini, Tiago

AU - Butovskaya, Marina

AU - Castro, Felipe Nalon

AU - Cetinkaya, Hakan

AU - Cunha, Diana

AU - David, Daniel

AU - David, Oana A.

AU - Dileym, Fahd A.

AU - Domínguez Espinosa, Alejandra del Carmen

AU - Donato, Silvia

AU - Dronova, Daria

AU - Dural, Seda

AU - Fialová, Jitka

AU - Fisher, Maryanne

AU - Gulbetekin, Evrim

AU - Hamamcıoğlu Akkaya, Aslıhan

AU - Hromatko, Ivana

AU - Iafrate, Raffaella

AU - Iesyp, Mariana

AU - James, Bawo

AU - Jaranovic, Jelena

AU - Jiang, Feng

AU - Kimamo, Charles Obadiah

AU - Kjelvik, Grete

AU - Koç, Fırat

AU - Laar, Amos

AU - de Araújo Lopes, Fívia

AU - Macbeth, Guillermo

AU - Marcano, Nicole M.

AU - Martinez, Rocio

AU - Mesko, Norbert

AU - Molodovskaya, Natalya

AU - Moradi, Khadijeh

AU - Motahari, Zahrasadat

AU - Mühlhauser, Alexandra

AU - Natividade, Jean Carlos

AU - Ntayi, Joseph

AU - Oberzaucher, Elisabeth

AU - Ojedokun, Oluyinka

AU - Omar-Fauzee, Mohd Sofian Bin

AU - Onyishi, Ike E.

AU - Paluszak, Anna

AU - Portugal, Alda

AU - Razumiejczyk, Eugenia

AU - Realo, Anu

AU - Relvas, Ana Paula

AU - Rivas, Maria

AU - Rizwan, Muhammad

AU - Salkičević, Svjetlana

AU - Sarmány-Schuller, Ivan

AU - Schmehl, Susanne

AU - Senyk, Oksana

AU - Sinding, Charlotte

AU - Stamkou, Eftychia

AU - Stoyanova, Stanislava

AU - Šukolová, Denisa

AU - Sutresna, Nina

AU - Tadinac, Meri

AU - Teras, Andero

AU - Tinoco Ponciano, Edna Lúcia

AU - Tripathi, Ritu

AU - Tripathi, Nachiketa

AU - Tripathi, Mamta

AU - Uhryn, Olja

AU - Yamamoto, Maria Emília

AU - Yoo, Gyesook

AU - Pierce, John D.

PY - 2017/5/1

Y1 - 2017/5/1

N2 - Human spatial behavior has been the focus of hundreds of previous research studies. However, the conclusions and generalizability of previous studies on interpersonal distance preferences were limited by some important methodological and sampling issues. The objective of the present study was to compare preferred interpersonal distances across the world and to overcome the problems observed in previous studies. We present an extensive analysis of interpersonal distances over a large data set (N = 8,943 participants from 42 countries). We attempted to relate the preferred social, personal, and intimate distances observed in each country to a set of individual characteristics of the participants, and some attributes of their cultures. Our study indicates that individual characteristics (age and gender) influence interpersonal space preferences and that some variation in results can be explained by temperature in a given region. We also present objective values of preferred interpersonal distances in different regions, which might be used as a reference data point in future studies.

AB - Human spatial behavior has been the focus of hundreds of previous research studies. However, the conclusions and generalizability of previous studies on interpersonal distance preferences were limited by some important methodological and sampling issues. The objective of the present study was to compare preferred interpersonal distances across the world and to overcome the problems observed in previous studies. We present an extensive analysis of interpersonal distances over a large data set (N = 8,943 participants from 42 countries). We attempted to relate the preferred social, personal, and intimate distances observed in each country to a set of individual characteristics of the participants, and some attributes of their cultures. Our study indicates that individual characteristics (age and gender) influence interpersonal space preferences and that some variation in results can be explained by temperature in a given region. We also present objective values of preferred interpersonal distances in different regions, which might be used as a reference data point in future studies.

KW - cultural psychology

KW - culture

KW - interpersonal distance

KW - spatial behavior

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85018758377&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1177/0022022117698039

DO - 10.1177/0022022117698039

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85018758377

SN - 0022-0221

VL - 48

SP - 577

EP - 592

JO - Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology

JF - Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology

IS - 4

ER -

Preferred Interpersonal Distances: A Global Comparison

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