Case study 3.2: How behaviour changes with social distance
Question 1
Non-verbal cues refer to body movement, gestures and other peripheral movements associated with the communication.
Good eye contact. Eye contact is a basic tool for establishing connections with the audience or others. Good eye contact shows interest in the subject of discussion. When communicating, it is paramount to hold eye contact with others for two or three seconds before darting, lest one looks anxious. The people have focused their gaze on what is happening in front of them with much interest. The event they are sharing seems interesting from their concentration.
Touch- the audience has various forms of touch such as pat in the back. Touch is important is steering concentration and emphasizing in different parts of the conversation. They are a group of people who seem to be comfortable around each other.
Gestures. A gesture is any physical movement that aids in expressing an idea, emotion or opinion. Vivid communication comes from punctuating words with spontaneous movements. Such gestures need not be overdone otherwise the meaning gets lost. The two guys in the second row are engaged in the conversation through touch and whispers. The girls on the front row are exchanging ideas by pointing towards the action.
Dressing the part. Clothes speak volumes and the appropriate attire helps to send the message across. Each person in the animated discussion is casually dressed indicating freedom and comfortability.
Question 2
With the exemption of the man in a white shirt, seated alone in the second row, the rest of the crowd seems to be comfortable with their intrusion of personal space. They are seated in a manner that indicates they are familiar with each other hence do not mind the space. We can see them leading towards each other in a consultative posture, an indication that the closeness is not a bother. the focus of the discussion would not be intriguing when personal space is observed.
Question 3
Personal space refers to the invisible border surrounding individuals and sets the level of comfort when we interact. Depending on individual preferences, the distance can be inches, feet or meters and varies with situations, upbringing or culture. Personal space also refers to the boundaries that guide the physical and psychic privacy of an individual.
All rules have exceptions and personal space is no different. Everyone has their boundaries when it comes to personal space and these rules vary from one person to another. In crowded places, the rules of personal space do not apply. It angers people when their personal space is intruded causing increased stress levels, an increase in heart rate, muscle tension and blood pressure increase for extreme cases.
In crowds, it is a challenge to keep people off from brushing against each other. Intimate distance is violated in crowds as people inch closer together. Much like in buses and trains, everyone falls within peripersonal space and sometimes too close to our pericutaneous space. Hence, people device mechanisms to cope with the discomfort brought by abuse of personal space. Such mechanisms include:
(i) Practising the Zen approach that is,
l Let it slide.
l View intrusion on personal space with compassion
(ii) Lean away from people intruding on personal space.
(iii) Stepping back from those intruding.
(iv) Explaining the need for more space.