Further Considerations of the Phenomenology of Proxemics

Abstract

Subjective distance is the individual's experience of a particular objective interpersonal distance. In the present experiments, this distance was measured by subjects positioning two inanimate forms at a separation distance they judged as identical to an actual social spacing preceding the measurement task. In Exp. 1, subjective distances for 30 males and 30 females were assessed following a condition of inappropriate spatial closeness; the subjects significantly underestimated the objective interpersonal distance. This replicated an earlier finding despite the fact that the method of measuring subjective distance was dramatically altered. The consistency of this finding provided some validity for the subjective-distance construct. In Exp. 2, a cognitive reappraisal of close interpersonal spacing by 20 subjects significantly reduced the underestimation effect of Exp. 1. A theoretical analysis of the subjective distance data emphasized perceived size as a salient psychological cue to distance perception in a proxemic situation.