PersonalSpaceandtheImpactofEyeContact

1、PersonalSpaceandtheImpactofEyeContactPersonalspacealwaysdrawspsychologistsinterestsandattention，aspersonalspaceplayavitalroleineveryonesdailylife.Actually，personalspacenotonlyexistinthecommunicationwithclassmatesandteachersorparents，butalsoevenexistwiththestrangerwhomayseatnexttoyouonthebusHartnett，

2、Bailey，Hartley，1974.Withthepersonalspacehasbecomeanindispensablepartinpeoplesdaytodayactivities，personalspacehasgenerallyinfluencedpeoplescommunicationskillsandhumanbehaviorandsoon.Theinappropriateuseofpersonalspacewillnegativeimpactonsomeonesmood，anddirectlycausethebadresultstointerpersonalrelation

3、ships.Forinstance，whenyoutradewiththebusinessman，butifyouwouldntkeepthedistanceofpersonalspaceproperly，thismayletyoulosethechance.Moreover，somevariablefactorswillimpactpeoplesdifferentattitudestowardspersonalspace，forexample，culturedifferenceswillimpactonpeoplesawarenessofpersonalspaceRobertKillburr

4、y，ja.Asaresult，togetabetterunderstandingpersonalspace，alsotoprovideabetterstrategytohavebetterlifewhengetalongwithpeople，psychologistsstudyaboutpersonalspacetotrytogetabetterunderstandingofpersonalspace.Personalspace，bydefinition，meansofaphysicalzonearoundapersonBuchanan，GoldmanJuhnke，1977.Respectiv

5、ely，frompsychologicalperspective，personalspaceisonekindofnonverbalcommunication，whichisrelationshipbetweenpeopleandpeopleCostanzo，1992.Personalspaceaimstoplacestheproperlydistancebetweenpeopletoavoidthreatstosomeonesemotionalwell-beingandfeelings.Asaresult，thedistanceofpersonalspacemaybechangedbecau

6、seofdifferentconditionsHughesGoldman，1978.Inconsiderationofsocialaspects，someattitudinalbarriersandstereotypesarethefactorsthathavenegativelyimpactonpersonalspace.ThedisabledpersonshasalonghistorybeendiscriminateagainstKilbury，Bordieri，Wong，1996.Andobviouslyitisshowspeoplehasthetendencyofnegativeatt

7、itudesimpactonpersonalspacewhenpeoplehaveinteractionwiththedisabled.Kilburyetal.1996examinethatpeopleprefertogivemorepersonalspacetothedisabledpersonthanthehealthypersoninthesocialactivities.Actually，somevariablefactorsdeterminepersonalspaceindirectlyordirectly.BonvillianandNowlin1994pointsout“Diffe

8、rentcultureshavevaryingrulesonpersonalspaceandtouching，differentculturevaluesalsohaveinfluencesonpersonalspaceespeciallywhencommunicatingwithaforeigner.Forinstance，AmericansgetusedtostartaconversationverynearwithpeoplewhiletheArabsandAfricansprefertokeepmoredistance.Sothatmaycausemisunderstandings.B

9、onvillianNowlin，1994.Furthermore，culturedifferencesusuallydecidehowpeopleperceivepersonalspace.AsurveybyJuckett2020statesthatsomeLatinosprefertohavemorepersonalspacebecausetheyneedhavearelaxedpersonalrelationship.Intermsofpersonalspace，eyecontacthasnotbeenfrequentlymentioned.However，insomecases，eyec

10、ontactcouldbethemostimportantfactorsinpersonalspaceviolations.PreviousstudybyRotellaandBunker1978clearlyprovesthateyecontactasavariablefactorperformanimportantfunctiontoimpactonpersonalspace.Similarly，thiswasfoundtrueintheexperimenttoexaminedtherelationshipbetweenpersonalspaceandeyecontactBuchananet

11、al.，1977.Furthermore，HughesandGoldman1978dividedtheparticipantsinmaleandfemalesubjects，andprovesthattheeyecontactcouldbeinfluencedbygenderfactors.Femalesprefertoviolatethepersonalspacewithfemaleswhokeepgazingdirectlyoneformofeyecontactwhilethemalesshowanopposingresult.Inconclusion，eyecontactsignific

12、antlyaffecttheviolationofpersonalspace.Soastopredictthatpeopleprefertoneedmorepersonalspacewithsomeonekeepinganeyecontactthansomeonewhowithouttheeyecontact.Inthehypothesis，independentvariablesarewithorwithouteyecontact，andthedependentvariableishoweyecontactaffectedpersonalspace.Andforthepersonalspac

13、eexperiment，thedistancewillbemeasuredincentimeters.MethodMaterialsTapemeasures，marks，maskingtapes，datarecordingsheets，pensandpegsareusedduringtheprocessofpersonalspaceexperiment.ParticipantsTheparticipantsarecomefromIESthefoundationyearforUniversityofQueenslandstudentswhostudyBehaviorSciencein2020.T

14、heparticipantsaretotal86studentswithagesrangingfrom16to22yearsoldM=18.17，SD=1.22.Thenumberofmaleparticipantsis24andtheiragesrangingfrom17to21yearsM=18.16，SD=1.22，thenumberoffemalestudentsis62andtheiragesrangingfrom16to22yearsM=18.18，SD=1.22Theycomefromthefollowingcountries：Burma1，China79，Japan4，Taiw

15、an2，Vietnam1.Alloftheparticipantswouldnotgetanyawardforparticipatewiththeexperiment.Table1DetailsofAssistants，confederates，Rooms，DatesandTimesforAllExperiments.ClassRolesAgeGenderNationalitycountryoforiginBS1Assistant117femaleChinaAssistant220femaleChinaConfederate19maleChinaBS2Assistant120femaleIta

16、lianAssistant218femaleChineseConfederate17femaleChineseBS3Assistant117femaleChineseAssistant217femaleChineseConfederate17maleChineseBS4Assistant117femaleSingaporeAssistant217femaleHongKongConfederate17maleChinaBS5Assistant118maleChineseAssistant217maleMalaysianConfederate19maleChineseBS6Assistant121

17、femaleChineseAssistant219maleChineseConfederate23maleChineseBS7Assistant118femaleChineseAssistant219femaleChineseConfederate18maleJapanProcedureTheBehaviorScienceteacherexplainedtheprocedureatthebeginningoftheexperiment.Firstofall，theteacherselecedamaleconfederatetostandononemark3metersawayandinthep

18、rocessoftheexperiment，everyparticipantneedtowalktotheconfederatefacingforwardonebyoneandstoppedwhentheyfeeluncomfortable.Meanwhile，theteacheralsochosetwoassistantstohelpteachertorecordtheparticipantsinformationgender，name，nationalityageandthedistancecarefully，allofthemfromtheparticipants.Secondly，as

19、kedallparticipantsleaveroom，thentheteachercalledoneparticipantatonetimetowalktotheconfederate，inaddition，theorderofparticipantsisdecidedbythedrawingoflots，justoneatatime.ResultsTheparticipantspersonalspaceintwodifferentconditionshasbeenmeasuredandcalculated.However，theBS.02chosethemaleconfederatewhi

20、leotherclasseschosemaleconfederates，sothefinalresultsnotincludingBS.02.Forallstatisticaltests，analphalevelof0.05wasused.Thet-testscoreof6.31wasgreaterthanthecriticalone-tailedt-testscoreof1.66，hencetheresultsareremarkablenotbychance.Asfigure1showsthatthemeanforpersonalspacewitheyecontactM=71.30cm，SD

21、=56.06cmissignificantlylargerthanthemeanforpersonalspacewithouteyecontactM=46.51cm，SD=45.12cm.Moreover，table2indicatesthatthemeandistancefordifferentagesgroup.Table.2Comparisonofpersonalspacefor16and17yearoldparticipantswithparticipants18andolderAgewitheyecontactwithouteyecontact16and1758.1429.0018a

22、ndover78.0057.00DiscussionItishypothesisthatthepeoplewithaneyecontactneedmorepersonalspacethanwithoutaneyecontact.Theresultspointoutthatthemeanofdistanceforparticipantshaveeyecontactwiththeconfederate71.3cmisgreaterthanwithouteyecontact46.51cmThustheresultssupportthehypothesis.Inaddition，theresultsp

23、rovidetheevidencestoexaminesHughesandGoldmans1978summaryofeyecontacteffectsonpersonalspace.Becauseeyecontactisanimportantfactoronviolationofpersonalspace，eyecontactcouldmakepeoplefeelbethreatenRotellaandBunker，1978.Asmentionedbefore，someresearchesdiscussthesexhaveinfluencedoneyecontactHughesGoldman，

24、1978.Itissupportedasthetable3shows，theexperimentresultsalsoprovesthereisactuallyarelationshipbetweeneyecontactandsex.Malesneedlessobviouspersonalspacethanfemaleswhateverwithorwithouteyecontact.Table3.AcomparisonofmaleandfemalepersonalspacenotincludingBS2genderwitheyecontactwithouteyecontactmale39.50

25、24.00female83.6162.00Awiderangeofextraneousvariablesmayaffecttheresultsofthisexperiment.Firstofall，alltheparticipantscomesfromAsiancountries86of86.AccordingtoJuckett2020，differentcultureswillhavedifferentculturalcompetencyandmayhaveinfluencedtheirperceptionofpersonalspace.Whatsmore，Asianculturefeatu

26、reshashugedifferencesfromwesterncountries.MostofAsianshavethesameculturalvalues.Hence，culturevariablesmayhaveinfluencesonthefinalresults.Also，becauseoftheexperimenthappensinoneclass，andthepeopleintheirclasshavebeenfamiliarwitheachother.Inconsequence，therelationshipseg，classmates，friendsamongthemmaym

27、isleadthemtoperceivethepersonalspace.Thereweresomeothermethodologicalerrorsinthisexperiments.TheyparticipantsareallthestudentswhostudyingBehaviorScience.Theparticipantshavelearnedavarietyacademicknowledgeandinformationaboutpersonalspace.Thismayinducestudentsconsciouslytakeactionsintheprocessofexperi

28、ment.Admittedly，physicalappearancesfactorshaveinfluencedonthefinalresults.Andsomeconfederatesfactorse.g.，height，appearance，weightcouldnotbeexactlythesame.TheexperimentbyCochran，HaleandHissam1984statesthatthelocationsalsoimpacttheresults.Butthecurrentexperimenthappensindifferentclassroomsandfloors.Th

29、erefore，theseerrorsresultedincognitivebias.Theexperimentcouldbeimprovedbychangingtheexperimentaltaskstargetgroups.ThehypothesiscouldfocusontheAsianyoungstudentswhostudiesabroadinsteadoffocusingonwiderpopulation.Oriftheexperimentaimstoinvestigatethepersonalspaceofpeople，thisneedtowiderthesamplepopula

30、tionandtrytobalancethesex，agesandeducationalbackgrounds.Therearealsosomestrengthsofthisexperiment.Theexperimentmethodwassimilartohowthescientistsdidbefore，anditwouldhelpstudentsgetabetterstandingofpersonalspaceandexperiencetheresultsbythemselves.Additionally，pointingoutthevariablesanderrorscouldhelp

31、studentstoimproveexperimentproceduresbetterandcontrolthevariablestodecreaseerrors.Table.4.PersonalspaceforBS2Thisclasshadafemaleconfederategenderwitheyecontactwithouteyecontactmale92.0015.00female17.7333.27Thereremainsmanyareasaboutpersonalspacethatworthdiscovering.Thecurrentexperimentisdesignedtove

32、rifythepreviousstudies.ItwouldbelearnedalotifcompareotherclassesdataallmaleconfederateswithBS.02datafemaleconfederates，andexplorehowtheconfederatesgenderhaveinfluencedonthefinalresultsastable4shows.Itwouldalsobeinterestingtofindarelationshipthathowthedifferentcountriese.g，Italy，Australia，Germanoftheconfederateswouldimpactonpersonalspace.Ref