Preferred interpersonal distances: A global comparison
Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology • Vol/Iss. 48(4) • Sage • • Published In • Pages: 577-592 •
By Sorokowska, Agnieszka, Sorokowski, Piotr, Hilpert, Peter, Cantarero, Katarzyna, Frackowiak, Tomasz, Ahmadi, Khodabakhsh, Alghraibeh, Ahmad M., Aryeetey, Richmond, Bertoni, Anna, Bettache, Karim, Blumen, Sheyla, Błażejewska, Marta, Bortolini, Tiago, Butovskaya, Marina, Castro, Felipe Nalon, Cetinkaya, Hakan, Cunha, Diana, David, Daniel, David, Oana A., Dileym, Fahd A., Domínguez Espinosa, Alejandra del Carmen, Donato, Silvia, Dronova, Daria, Dural, Seda, Fialová, Jitka, Fisher, Maryanne L. , Gulbetekin, Evrim, Hamamcıoğlu Akkaya, Aslıhan, Hromatko, Ivana, Iafrate, Raffaella, Iesyp, Mariana, James, Bawo, Jaranovic, Jelena, Jiang, Feng, Kimamo, Charles Obadiah, Kjelvik, Grete, Koç, Fırat, Laar, Amos, de Araújo Lopes, Fívia, Macbeth, Guillermo, Marcano, Nicole M., Martinez, Rocio, Mesko, Norbert, Molodovskaya, Natalya, Moradi, Khadijeh, Motahari, Zahrasadat, Mühlhauser, Alexandra, Natividade, Jean Carlos, Ntayi, Joseph, Oberzaucher, Elisabeth, Ojedokun, Oluyinka, Omar-Fauzee, Mohd Sofian Bin, Onyishi, Ike E. , Paluszak, Anna, Portugal, Alda, Razumiejczyk, Eugenia
Hypothesis
Characteristics of interacting individuals-including age and gender-will predict preferences for interpersonal distances
Note
Women and younger people were predicted to maintain closer interpersonal distances. Variation in social distance was found to be explained by gender (p=0.04), with women preferring greater distances. Variation in personal distance was found to be explained by gender (p=0.03) and age (p=0.01), with women and older people preferring greater distances. Variation in intimate distance was found to be explained by age (p=0.02), with older people preferring greater distances.
| Test Name | Support | Significance | Coefficient | Tail |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multilevel Model | Partial | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN |
| Variable Name | Variable Type | OCM Term(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Age | Independent | Age Stratification |
| Gender | Independent | Gender Status |
| Social distance | Dependent | Proxemics, Social Personality |
| Personal distance | Dependent | Proxemics, Social Personality |
| Intimate distance | Dependent | Social Personality, Proxemics |