An Investigation Into Interpersonal Space and Conversation Distances of Chinese People for Different Artwork Styles and Genders

Abstract

In modern life, people's demand for quality of life is also increasing, and the five senses experience is becoming the goal pursued by urban life, among which visual perception is the most direct and primary experience for human beings to receive external information, and is the most basic way of emotional experience. The so-called "judging people by their appearance" is a visually oriented "love at first sight", which actually affects people's psychology. The prevalence of artwork in overly busy offices suggests the hypothesis that, in addition to making interior spaces more aesthetically pleasing, the content of artwork may also affect our interpersonal distance as people's eyes scan over it. This study explored the interpersonal space (IPS) and conversation distances of Chinese people influenced by the presence of artwork in their interiors, and assessed the effects of both gender and artwork style (positive, neutral, and negative) on interpersonal space (IPS) and conversation distances. Fifty-one participants were recruited for this study. Participants were required to follow the same approach procedures in a face-to-face interpersonal space (IPS) and conversation distance task. The results showed that both gender and artwork style type had significant effects on interpersonal space (IPS) and conversational distance (p<0.05), where both greater interpersonal space (IPS) and conversational distance were preferred when the participant was female, and the effect of artwork style type was slightly more significant than gender（d1>d2), where both greater interpersonal space (IPS) and conversational distance were preferred when the artwork style was cluttered lines, gray colors, and negative emotions, and The opposite was true when the artwork style was fine lines, bright colors, and positive emotions, while the interpersonal space (IPS) and conversation distance values were in the middle of the distance generated by the positive and negative factors when the artwork style was not emotionally biased. This study may help to understand the benefits of people using positive or negative art decorations in a busy office environment with applications to interior design and social interaction.