Interpersonal Spacing on Public Benches in “Contact”<i>Vs.</i>“Noncontact” Cultures

Abstract

Summary Edward Hall suggests that people of “contact” cultures (such as Southern Europe and Arab countries) maintain closer interpersonal spacing than people of “noncontact” cultures (such as North America and Northern Europe). This hypothesis was tested by comparing spacing between unacquainted male pairs seated on public benches in Spain (n = 26), Morocco (n = 25), and the United States (n = 38). Pairs in the United States usually sat closer than pairs in Spain or Morocco, contradicting Hall's contention, though some of the observed spacing differences may be accounted for by differences in the length and shape of benches in each country. The data reported here are consistent with the hypothesis that, under a given set of physical constraints, the spacing pattern of noninteracting strangers is similar across cultures.