PERSONAL SPACE AND SELF-PROTECTION

Personal space is theorized to act in part as a buffer zone which serves as protection against perceived threats to one's emotional well-being. It is predicted that greater spatial distances will be used under stress conditions, by highly anxious people, and by people who perceive their body-image boundaries as weak or unstructured. Such personality space was measured by having Ss approach each other, take a seat close or far from the E, and trace 1 silhouette in relation to another. The stress condition involved having the Ss' physical attractiveness called into question. Results were (1) a lack of consistency between the 3 experimental measures of personal space, (2) a highly significant stress effect, and (3) a lack of relationship between personal space and the personality variables. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.