The effect of gender, religiosity and personality on the interpersonal distance preference: a virtual reality study

Abstract

ABSTRACT Interpersonal distance (ID) is an important aspect of human nonverbal behavior. Both situational and dispositional factors play roles in interpersonal distance preference (IDP). In the present study, we investigated the effect of gender, religiosity, and Big Five personality factors on IDP in an Iranian sample. Forty-six university students watched fourteen 360-degree video clips via a virtual reality headset. In each video-clip, a male or a female actor spoke toward the camera from a particular distance and participants rated the favorability of each distance. Results showed that at the middle-range distances, religious individuals exhibited a pronounced gender bias by rating their distance from the same gender actor more favorable than the same distance from the opposite gender actor. Furthermore, openness to experience was correlated with the favorability of the middle-range distances. These findings can be justified by dominant Islamic values in Iran and specific characteristics of openness to experience.