A photogrammetric technique for measuring human interaction distances

Abstract

In recent years, field studies in the area of human ecology have been concerned with investigations of interpersonal distance patterns. Some researchers, for example, find wide differences in spatial behavior among culture groups (e.g., Aiello & Jones, 1971; Watson & Graves, 1966), others find only slight variations (Willis, 1966) or none at all (Forston & Larson, 1968). Many of the past studies have relied on eyeball techniques, often obtrusive and imprecise (Aiello & Jones, 1971; Hall, 1955); very little attention has been paid to the use of photographic recordings. One of the reasons for the present paucity of photographic studies is that it is difficult to obtain good photographs of dyadic groupings in the horizontal plane which are free from obstructions by other persons in the immediate vicinity; it is also difficult to remain unobtrusive. Another problem seems to be the inadequacy of present photogrammetric methods to take into account the S's angle of orientation in determining the physical distance between interacting members. Because of existing inadequacies in interpersonal distance measurement techniques, a photogrammetric method was developed to help overcome some of the problems involved. The method has been recently utilized, with considerable success, in two independent cross-subcultural studies of proxemic behavior of black and white primary school children, observed in school playground settings (Scherer, 1972).