Proxemics: the use of space

A German fable tells this story. On a winter night, the porcupines gathered together to socialize. Because of the cold, they moved closer together for warmth, but this caused them to prick each other with their quills. So they moved farther apart, but then they became cold again. They continued to adjust themselves, until they found the optimum distance to be both warm and comfortable. That distance became known as "good manners."

Cultural differences in the use of space are a constant source of mis­understanding and confusion in preparing the settings for discourse. In traditional Japanese and Korean rooms, one leaves shoes at the door and sits on the floor at small, low tables. Chinese rooms use chairs and higher tables. Japanese and Korean rooms seem almost empty. This is because objects such as tables, cushions, or bedding not currently in use will be stored behind cupboard doors out of sight. Chinese rooms seem much fuller. In this comparison, Chinese rooms will seem more familiar to westerners, who are also accustomed to sitting in chairs at higher tables.

Differences will, nevertheless, be found between the western placement of furniture such as chairs and tables and the corresponding Chinese place­ment. A Chinese room will often have two chairs placed side by side with a small table between them. Two people who are to talk to each other will thus sit side by side rather than across from each other, as would be more commonly practiced in a western conversation. It is an interesting twist of contemporary technology and social practice that because of television many westerners are now adopting a pattern which in some ways is similar to the Chinese practice. Because television now often forms a focal point for western casual conversation, conversationalists often sit side by side looking at or toward the television set when they talk.

There are, of course, many other aspects of proxemics which might be considered in intercultural communication. One of these, however, is of recurring importance in preparing settings for intercultural communication, and that is the concept of personal space. It was clearly demonstrated some years ago (Hall 1959) that each person has a "bubble" of space in which he or she moves and in which he or she feels comfortable. Intrusions into that space are acceptable only under circumstances of intimate contact. Outside of that space is a second "bubble" of space in which normal interpersonal contacts take place. Then outside of that is a third "bubble" of public space.

People from reactive and linear-active cultures are generally uncomfortable when their "space bubble" is invaded by excitable multi-actives. They regard the space within 1.2 meters of their body as inviolable territory for strangers, with a smaller bubble of 0.5 meters for close friends and relatives.

Edward T. Hall, who first described these spaces (1959, 1969), points out that these spheres of space are one aspect of culture which comes into play in intercultural communication. One culture, that of Mexicans for example, will have a slightly smaller sphere of intimate space than another culture, such as that of North Americans. The result of this difference, which can be measured in just a few inches, is that when a North American and a Mexican stand together to converse, the Mexican will nudge slightly closer to the North American in order to get at the right distance for comfortable interpersonal discourse. The North American, who has a slightly larger intimate sphere, will feel that the Mexican is invading his or her intimate space and will, therefore, step back an inch or two. This will make the Mexican feel uncomfortable be­cause he or she will feel too distant and, therefore, he or she will move closer.

The net result of these cultural differences in intimate and personal spaces is that, where norms are different, you will find the person with the smaller sphere constantly moving closer to the other, and that other person constantly moving back a bit to increase the space. These two conversation­alists will create a kind of dance in which they will move across a consid­erable amount of space in the course of a brief conversation. If the space is crowded with other people, they will end up moving around and around in a circle while each person tries to find a comfortable position.

Westerners visiting Asia for the first time often notice this sort of proxemic problem. Generally speaking, Asians have a smaller sphere of personal space than westerners, with Americans at one extreme and Mediterraneans coming much closer to the Asian norm. Asians in North America will experience the opposite feeling, of people being quite distant from them.

This difference leads quite naturally to westerners having a very different experience of Asian city life than Asians themselves have. While such places as central Taipei, the Mongkok district of Hong Kong, or Namdaemun Market in Seoul are among the most densely packed places on earth, the physical crowding is not experienced in the same way by everyone. It depends on the person's expectations of personal space, and those expecta­tions depend, in part, on how space is used in that person's culture.

Thus, the use of space to communicate can be broken down into three categories.

Fixed-feature space. Fixed-feature space tells us what we do, where and how. We know what behavior is appropriate in a dining room, in a bed­room, in a ballroom, or in a church. People wrest and defend space and use space to indicate status or rank by the amount or location of their territory. The use of space reflects the centralization of modern French culture. Streets of cities radiate out like wheel spokes from the cen­ter—just look at a map of Paris. The French use public space, like sidewalk cafes, to socialize.

Semifixed-feature space. Semifixed-feature space extends this func­tion to movable objects. Some cultures easily move furniture, and others do not. One German executive working in the United States actually had the visitor's chair in his office bolted to the floor because it so greatly disturbed him to have a visitor reposition the chair when sitting down in front of his desk. In France, subordinates' desks cluster around their manager's central desk. Germans keep the doors in their offices and homes closed. Privacy and property are sacred. Rank or status can be communicated by placement of tables, seating, and so on.

The quickest way not to be invited back into a French home is to go wan­dering around through the rooms. The doors to the bedrooms—and espe­cially the bathroom—are kept closed and mean keep out. However, in an office in France, a closed door does not mean a "closed door policy." It only means that you have to open it to go in. North Americans working in France are astonished when they close an office door for privacy to reprimand or fire a person, only to have Monsieur Dumont or Madame Bertrand walk right in.