Some people like to stand close to those they are speaking to, regardless of how well they know them. Some people prefer to maintain a sizeable gap between them and who they are conversing with, even when they know them well. However, why is that the case? What is it that sets them apart? Proxemics is defined as “the study of human use of space and the effects that population density has on behavior, communication, and social interaction” (Dictionary 1). There are many factors that influence our comfort zones and our view of personal space. The three main determinants of human use of space in conversation are the relationship with those they are speaking with, their individual personality, and the culture they were raised in.
To begin, consider this. How comfortable would a person be talking to a stranger less than a foot away from their face? How comfortable would they be speaking with them from a few feet away? One would be much more comfortable in the latter situation than the former. The reason for this is because of the relationship the individual has with that person. Because that person does not know them well, they are uncomfortable speaking within such an intimate distance. The relationship between speakers is a determinant of how close they are comfortable being when speaking; there would be a greater comfortable distance between strangers/acquaintances than there would be between family, close friends, or significant others. To continue, people are more
In life, the people who are around you more tend to know you well enough for there to be a sufficient and ample amount of communication. This includes family, who are the more likely people to know you better because they generally understand you better. The way you communicate with family doesn’t necessarily matter if it is conducted in an informal way, however, communication with strange people including those you work with, for example, colleagues, is totally a different thing.
“Disrupting My Comfort Zone” by Brian Grazer is a short story about a forty-five-year- old man in the entertainment business, who purposely puts himself in rather difficult situations. He is constantly in search for new people to meet that can teach him something new, or challenge his previous beliefs. Grazer goes on to explain the reasoning behind his wacky behavior saying, “Disrupting my comfort zone, bombarding myself with challenging and situations, this is the best way I know to keep growing” (92). In other words, Grazer feels as if he has a need to constantly be developing himself. Challenging himself in this way is the only way he knows how.
They are also other factor, which are very important in face to face communication they are proximity, orientation and posture. Proximity is all about distance between me and the person I am about to communicate. Everyone needs personal body space. That personal space it s change varies with age. Babies and young children like to be very close, but we have to remember everybody is different and some children who are shy or they don’t know us may not like if we stay to close. This is because anyone like being to close to people who don’t know. Some people may feel discomfort when we approach them to close, so it is good to keep distance
For example, you would need to consider the environment if your setting is busy and the information you need to share is confidential and you may want to consider arranging a more appropriate time to talk. Some other factors to consider would be proximity, orientation and posture, for example, when dealing with a young child who you have not yet formed a strong relationship with, you would need to consider if you are too close to them so you do not come across as too intimidating and you would also need to use facial expressions to reassure them i.e. smiling and soft tones.
The theories I will focus on in this essay is Social Penetration Theory and Uncertainty Reduction Theory. The reason I choose both these theories focus on initial interactions with stingers and how relationships develop. The social penetration theory is an objective theory (A First Look at Communication, page 93) uses the example of peeling an onion. It shows the “multilayered structure of personality.” The theory explains that as you go from not knowing someone and over time developing a more personal relationship through stages of disclosure. The other theory I will highlight will be Uncertainty Reduction Theory which follows seven main assumptions on how we develop information about a new acquaintance in order to lower uncertainty and predict others behaviors. Overall I will outline the core beliefs of these two theories and tie them together as how they both help us develop relationships with new people. And explain how we interact in new social settings. Both these objective theories show similar links but in some ways are different.
Next is the Social distance, or 4 to 10 feet. This area is considered to be the more of a formal relationship zone. The closer end of the spectrum is reserved for those in a casual social gathering. Within the 10 feet, you can still hold a conversation at a normal tone and voice level, but can have distance.
After an interaction is initiated with a stranger or acquaintance, do your conversations typically proceed in disarray? Your mind races, you struggle with delivering a coherent message, but even more so the only thing you can focus on is your restless actions and how painfully inconsistent your paralanguage sounds. On the contrary, behind closed doors few people know that you are sort of like a big deal. Maybe you can’t relate to the prior, but it provides some insight into my own internal problem that I’ve struggled with until recently; appearing timid in certain social situations. Though, most of these episodes occur with unfamiliar people, it has surfaced among friends as well, but the likelihood and intensity of these behaviors appear to
The society that we live in defines what is believed to be the “correct” way to view physical space between those around us. In particular, America has specific contexts demonstrating how much space should be occupied between two people. A large space generally occurs between two strangers because in societal terms the lack of space between others indicates how much trust we exhibit with the other person. Similarly, a small space occurs between a friend or significant other and indicates the comfort he or she feels with each other. Furthermore, gender roles, which our society has created, dictate these rules and provide a basis of how we are to act. For example, women are expected to stand very close to each other because they are considered to be emotional beings that provide affection towards one another. Whereas, men are considered unemotional and therefore are expected to not prefer to be in contact with each other. In the reading, “Encounters
Patients and family members in medical intensive care units experience pain and anxiety while overcoming illness and disease. Nightingale was one of the first nurses to recognize that the relationship between health and comfort is strong and direct (Peterson & Bredow, 2013, p. 194). Kolcaba’s theory of comfort addresses the need for nurses to provide patients and families with relief, ease, and transcendence to facilitate health-seeking behavior (McEwen & Wills, 2011, p. 234). The purpose of this paper is to evaluate Kolcaba’s theory of comfort (CT) using the Synthesized Method described by McEwen and Wills (2011) and to describe how this theory can be applied in practice.
Comfort is defined by Merriam-Webster’s dictionary (2014) as “a state or situation in which you are relaxed and do not have any physically unpleasant feelings caused by pain, heat, cold, etc.” or as “a state or feeling of being less worried, upset, frightened, etc., during a time of trouble or emotional pain.” Dictionary.com (2014) defines comfort as “a feeling of relief or consolationm” or “a person or thing that gives consolation,”or “ a state of ease and satisfaction of bodily wants, with freedom from pain and anxiety.” Dictionary.com (2014) lists the origin of the word comfort as coming from the 13th century Old French term confort, meaning “source of alleviation or relief.” One can see there are multiple meanings and interpretations of the word comfort. This paper will set forth to discuss the word comfort as a concept and its interpretation and use in many disciplines, including its significance in nursing.
Public distance is beyond twelve feet, preserved by those who performing to watch a audience. (Gidden, 211). Personal space is from one and half to four feet, is the zone
I do feel as though I experience some form of communication apprehension if I am talking to a peer that I don’t know too well. I usually don’t know what to talk about. I hesitate in sharing some things because I’m not sure how the other person is going to react. A lot of the time I think interpersonal conversations with people I don’t know well drain me. For example, on campus I have a lot of acquaintances that I run into every now and then. I find it awkward having to mutually stop and have a quick usually impersonal interaction. If I know I’m going to run into someone like that I get anxious, I would much rather walk a different route and avoid the situation all
Do anxious people need more personal space than a regular person? Personal space is a distance boundary you feel comfortable being next to a person face to face. According to the popular article by Douglas Main, an average person has a boundary of 20 to 40 centimeters and an anxious person have a boundary of 30 to 50 centimeter, according to the original article by Chiara F. Sambo and Gian D. Iannetti. Two tests were conducted to verify if anxiety really causes a person to need a larger personal space. On the first test, participants will get stimulated and on the second test, participants will get questionnaires to answer.
Many people formed this personal space by placing luggage around them, extending a body part, or using a companion to consume space. Most people stood at least a half an arm’s distance away from each other, but if this distance felt threatened people were sure to express nonverbal and sometime verbal behaviors.
Proximity allows us to get to know a person more, for the exposure we had with them makes it less frightening to interact with them. Exposure increases attraction. However, when the initial interaction was unpleased, repeated exposure will not increase attention. Decrease on repeated exposure only happens when initial interaction was