Passage 4 Personal Space Alice and Jimmy are facing one another. As she steps backward, he steps forward. Then he takes another step forward, and she turns outward. He then turns outward, and she turns toward him and takes a step in his direction. He turns back toward her and also moves forward. They pause for a second, and each moves backward and turns slightly away from the other. Have Alice and Jimmy learned the latest disco dance? Were they playing tennis or softball? No, Alice and Jimmy were simply carrying on a conversation about their English professor. In addition to expressing their ideas through words, they were communicating nonverbally through their use of space and personal distance. Each was attempting to maintain a certain distance from the other, although their preferred distances were not always the same. Sometimes Alice wanted more space than Jimmy, and sometimes Jimmy wanted more space than Alice. These differences led to the fancy footwork of moving backward and forward, inward and outward. Each person’s preferred distance also changed throughout the conversation. When Alice disagreed with Jimmy, he wanted more space; when she flirted, he wanted less distance between them. The distance or space that Alice and Jimmy were manipulating is called personal space and is the three-dimensional area of space is a portable territory with invisible boundaries that expand or contract depending on the situation. Individuals carry it around with them constantly and position themselves in conversations in a way that will maintain it. Julie needs very little personal space and is constantly moving closer to people in order to reach the distance she prefers. Sandy, on the other hand, needs more personal space and frequently finds herself backed up against walls as a result of trying to move away from people. Each tries to maintain her personal space, although she may not always be successful. The purpose and function of personal space have been analyzed. Jimmy stands 4 feet from his boss, 8 feet from his congressman, 2 feet from his mother, and 10 inches from his girlfriend. Why is his personal space different for each person? According to this theory, Jimmy’s body-bufferzone is greatest for the congressman because the congressman is very intimidating to him. On the other hand, his girlfriend is least threatening to him so he maintains the smallest distance with her. Perhaps, the most important characteristic of personal space is that it is variable. Some people need more personal space than others. Furthermore, our personal space needs vary depending on our sex, age, cultural background, and relationship to the people with whom we are interacting. Another important characteristic of personal space is that it interacts with other dimensions of nonverbal communication. For example, our perception and use of space depends on whether people are standing, sitting, or lying down. They also depend on whether we are facing or turned away from one another, how much touching can and does occur, how much of each other we physically can see, how loud our voices are, and whether or not body odors or heat can be detected. Mary may feel “too close” to Tom even though she is 6 feet away from him. However, even at that distance she can smell unpleasant body smells; her ears hurt from his loud voice; and she doesn’t like the fact that he is looking directly into her eyes. Mark, on the other hand, does not feel too close to Jane, even though they are only 8 inches apart. However, they are sitting back to back, cannot see one another, and are having difficulty in hearing one another. Several different factors are thought to influence personal-space needs. The most obvious one is perhaps relationship between people. Some researchers identified four distinct categories of informal space associated with four different types of relationships. According to these researchers, personal space can be divided into 4 categories: intimate, casual-personal, sicioconsultive, and public. Intimate distance, from 0 to 18 inches, is used by people who are involved with one another on a personal level. Causal-personal distance, from 1.5 to 4 is conducted from 4 to 8 feet, or at a socio-consultive distance. Finally, public distance ranged from 8 feet to the limits of a person’s vision or hearing. Another obvious factor influencing personal space is personality. Although the findings have been inconclusive, the research has been very conclusive in the related area of personality problems. The research related to it supports the opinion that the boundaries of personal space represent “body-buffer zones” used to protect people from emotional and physical threats. (760 words) 96. The first paragraph describes Alice and Jimmy’s during their conversation.