Interpersonal Distance, Body Orientation, and Touch: Effects of Culture, Gender, and Age

Video recordings of naturally occurring interactions in England, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Greece, Scotland, and Ireland were coded and analyzed to examine the effects of culture, gender, and age on interpersonal distance, body orientation, and touch. Results partially supported expected diffe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of social psychology 1995-06, Vol.135 (3), p.281-297
Main Authors: Remland, Martin S., Jones, Tricia S., Brinkman, Heidi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Adults
Affective Behavior
Age Differences
Aged
Aging
Biological and medical sciences
Cross Cultural Studies
Cross-Cultural Comparison
Cultural Differences
Culture
Data analysis
Dyads
England
Female
Females
Field Studies
Foreign Countries
France
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gender
Gender Differences
Greece
Haptics
Human Body
Humans
Individual Characteristics
Individual Differences
Interpersonal Communication
Interpersonal Relations
Ireland
Italy
Latin Americans
Male
Males
Middle age
Middle Aged
Native Language
Native languages
Netherlands
Older Adults
Older people
Personality Traits
Physical Contact
Postsecondary Education
Posture
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Sampling
Scotland
Selection Criteria
Sex Differences
Sex Factors
Social Cognition
Social interactions. Communication. Group processes
Social psychology
Sociocultural Factors
Spatial Behavior
Touch
Touching
Videotape Recording
Videotape Recordings
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Description
Summary:Video recordings of naturally occurring interactions in England, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Greece, Scotland, and Ireland were coded and analyzed to examine the effects of culture, gender, and age on interpersonal distance, body orientation, and touch. Results partially supported expected differences between contact cultures of southern Europe and noncontact cultures of northern Europe with respect to touch. More touch was observed among Italian and Greek dyads than among English, French, and Dutch dyads. In addition, an interaction effect between age and gender for body orientation suggested opposite developmental trends for mixed-sex dyads and male dyads. Whereas mixed dyads tended to maintain less direct orientations as they aged, male dyads maintained more direct orientations.
ISSN:0022-4545
1940-1183
DOI:10.1080/00224545.1995.9713958