Speaking of nonverbal communication, we have to approach one of its subcategories, the Proxemics: the study of human use of space and how the space we choose to put between ourselves and other people affects our behaviour, communication and social interactions.
A good way to visualize this concept is to observe the Personal reaction bubbles diagram designed by the American anthropologist and researcher Edward Hall in 1963. Here’s some explanations.
Personal reaction bubbles are kind of imaginary borders around a person: from the farest to the nearest, they are called Public, Social, Personal and Intimate.
The Intimate space (at 1.5 feet or 0.45 meters) is used with life partners, your own children or parents or very close friends and is related to kissing, hugging, standing tight one an other, speaking in privacy.
Beyond this, we have the Personal zone (up to about 4 feet or 1.2 meters) which is the most common zone where we can effortlessly reach out and touch with people, like family and friends. When we want to talk with someone, we're comfortable having them in a 2-arm distance away.
Then it moves out to the Social space (at 12 feet or 3.6 meters) as for colleagues, acquaintances or when we meet someone for the first time or are in shared circle. This is the good distance where we can easily hear people or see their facial expressions.
The last circle is the Public zone (at 25 feet or 7.6 meters): when we don't know someone, we need to have enough space to figure out others’ intentions before approaching them. At this distance, we can see their entire body as well as their hand gestures and posture. This is also the zone chosen for public speaking.
Proxemics has a huge influence on our social demeanor but it remains a not visible part of interpersonal communication which is only revealed through observation.
Let’s have a look at some applications of the proxemics’ research results: for instance it has been discovered that as for film production the audience becomes more emotionally attached to the characters by decreasing the distance between the actors and the camera.
In the field of communication technology, studies have shown that people naturally prefer medias allowing proximity: the greater the perceived proximity, the more successful and effective the technology becomes.
Our spatial empathy has an impact as well on how we organize the space in the workplace, as for rethinking meeting rooms or open spaces.
In business it has been revealed that increasing face-to-face interactions between employees strengthens corporate culture.
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