This Is Clutch: Personal Space

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Personal Space

There's all sorts of personal space. There's personal space in a office, personal space while traveling, personal space while talking and we all have different comfort levels. Everyone reacts differently when their personal space is violated; like the other day I biked in a peloton for 4.5 hours bumping shoulders with my fellow riders. Then on the way home through the Marina I squeezed by an older woman on her beach cruiser and she started yelling at me because I was too close to her. Europeans typically are known for conversing at close proximity. Americans stand on average a few inches further away from one another. It's about comfort level and maybe Europeans have become accustomed to interacting in closer quarters. Is it possible that suburban sprawl has resulted in entitlement to more personal space in public places?

Office spaces create the most discrepancy and are revealing of a firms culture to a certain extent. What's with the cube design? Do we need to blocked off from others so we can pick our noses and surf the web at work? Why not open up the office place and foster an environment geared toward collaboration?

I think one of the most controversial places to violate someone's private space in a public setting is on an airplane. I've started asking people if I can put my seat back in an effort to better respect their space. It's a good policy but it can back fire. The most frustrating moment came when someone asked me to not put my seat back, but then the person in front of me jammed their seat into my lap; I was sandwiched on both ends. To make matters worse this person almost broke my laptop screen when it got wedged between the tray table and the table latch. Maybe there's a right and wrong time to violate personal space. Standing closer during a conversation creates intimacy, but jamming your seat into someone's lap should be done with finesse. Check out this instructional to prevent people from violating your space.