Social Distance

Abstract

The main idea behind the concept of social distance is that any given social relationship, in addition to other characteristics, always involves elements of “nearness” and “distance.” There is, however, a diversity of ways distance is conceptualized as a sociological notion. Most notably, social researchers emphasize the affective (e.g., how members of a group feel about “others”), normative (e.g., how “us” is distinguished from “them”), interactive (e.g., how long and often people interact with each other), and cultural‐habitual (e.g., to what extent two groups share similar traits) dimensions of social distance. In addition to the impact of social distance on other social processes, how these different dimensions interact with each other and with other (especially spatial) types of distance are among salient areas of research. It is widely noted that, as interactions with “strangers” increase, norms distinguishing “us” from “them” become growingly more problematic in modern societies, giving way to both more tolerant and xenophobic attitudes. In all likelihood, therefore, social distance will continue to be a significant area of research for contemporary scholars.