December 13, 1999 How close is too close? Culture often holds the clue By Jennifer McNulty Sociologist Dane Archer could have titled his latest video on nonverbal communication "Space Invaders." The engaging 28-minute video, which is actually entitled Personal Space: Exploring Human Proxemics, covers many aspects of space, including cultural differences, how space reflects rank in the workplace and within families, the spatial secrets of successful architecture, and how spatial rules govern nearly all human territories, from benches to bathrooms. Friends or lovers? These images from UCSC sociologist Dane Archer's new video illustrates how strongly spatial relationships influence our assumptions about people. "Space affects everything, but the use of it is based on unwritten laws that vary from place to place," said Archer. "This video looks at those differences, and it shows what is revealed by the use of space in different settings and cultures." Ever since anthropologist Edward T. Hall began exploring space as the "silent language" in the 1950s, researchers have studied the ways in which people use and are affected by space. The study of spatial relations covers both space itself, or proxemics, as well as touch, or haptics. Archer's video, which was shot in Santa Cruz and features UCSC students, covers both areas. It is the latest in a series of educational videos that Archer has produced about nonverbal communication. Among the highlights of the video are field experiments that document how people react when their personal space is invaded, including covert glances, shifting position, trying to block out the invaders, and--finally--fleeing. Subsequent interviews with the unwitting "invadees" reveal their discomfort and the extent to which people rely on each other to follow society's unwritten yet implicit rules about space. "In the United States, it's our unconscious goal to maximize the distance between people," said Archer. "When our space is invaded, it's very stressful, but only 1 percent of people ever say anything to a space invader." The video, which is designed to be a teaching tool for college instructors of sociology, psychology, and anthropology, reveals cultural differences regarding space and touch and describes some of the differences between "noncontact" cultures like the United States, northern European countries, India, and Pakistan, and "contact" cultures in southern Europe, Latin America, and many Arab nations. Other highlights include: Illustrations of how workplace rank is reflected in the assignment of space and the interaction of subordinates and their superiors. A segment on handshakes and greeting rituals in Western cultures. Discussion of how space can impede or facilitate verbal communication, or sociofugal and sociopetal space. Architect Gary Garmann describing some of the design constraints he faced in designing an outdoor public eating spot. He also discusses the spiritually uplifting value of "heroic spaces," like cathedrals and, in an unlikely parallel, Hyatt Regency hotels. For more information about Archer's series on nonverbal communication or to order the video from the UC Extension Center for Media in Berkeley, visit the Exploring Nonverbal Communication Web site. Return to Front Page