COM 170 Communication Environments

Bill Petkanas

Some Principles of Proxemics

1. All life is territorial; all living things use space in particular ways.

2. Human territoriality may have a genetic base, but it is culturally modified.

3. Every culture has four zones (according to some anthropologists). These zones represent typical American space:



0-1½ feet	1½-4 feet	4-12 feet	12-25 feet
Intimate	Personal	Social	Public
Considered part of the body - highly exclusive.	Where friends can stand	Most conversation takes place in this zone	Limit of being in the "same space" as another person

4. American culture defines space functionally (according to its use) and does not mix functions easily.

The image “http://muweb.millersville.edu/~scassel/image003.jpg” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors. 5. When it is necessary to use a space for something other than its usual function, we symbolically "purify" the space.

6. We are territorially fixated and aggressive.

7. We organize space along borders.

8. Space is used to represent group identity.

9. Space is used to represent

a. relationships

b. status

c. authority

d. rites of passage

10. Privacy is visual.

11. In crowded conditions, different rules emerge.

a. symbolic barriers

b. pull in personal space.

c. pull in personal objects

d. etc.