A cultural view on personal space
It’s a well-known fact that the British prefer a large “bubble” of personal space around them. 1[■] And in South America, a friend may grab you by the arm during conversation to make their point.
Now, a study published in the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology has looked into why different cultures have such different approaches to personal space.
2[■] They developed an earlier study that divided individuals into “contact” and “non-contact” cultures. Contact cultures-southern European, Latin American and Arabian-engaged in more touching and stood closer during conversation than non-contact cultures in northern Europe, North America and parts of Asia.
To a degree, this proved correct. Argentina becomes known as the most touchy-feely nation; people here keep the same distance from a stranger as a British person would an acquaintance and a Canadian individual a close friend or partner. 3[■] They come out with the widest distance you should stand from a stranger-more than 1.3m-but one of the narrowest gaps for close friends, just 40cm, compared to nearly 60cm for a British person. So the theory of warm versus cold is not as straightforward as it sounds.
4[■] The higher a country’s average temperature, the closer people will stand to a stranger. But older people in warm climates keep a bigger distance from close friends and stand closer to strangers; women generally keep a greater distance from someone they don’t know.
The academics leading this study admit that there is a lot more to do. But what we do know is to keep your distance in Canada; prepare for a hug in Argentina. 5[■] They like to stand closer than anybody. To keep warm, perhaps.