Non-Verbal
Communication has to deal a lot with Proxemics. Proxemics is the study of the
spaces people keeps between themselves when maintaining in face-to-face
encounters. Proxemics not only vary by culture they also vary by person. Touching
is culture specific. Some cultures are more likely to stand closer to each other
such as Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and Latin American Cultures. And others
that aren’t like Northern Europeans. There are four space zones: Intimate,
Personal, Social Consultative, and Public. An example of how Proxemics works is
like the way a lecture hall fills up on the first day of class, in the
beginning people are sitting at least 2 or 3 seats away from each other because
the other students are strangers, the only people who sit together are people
who are friends or know each other. Then as the class room fills up people are
forced to sit next to each other. Even though we may not concisely think about
it notice people are aware when someone comes into their personal zone or into
the zone of someone for whom they think they have a special claim to. The textbook
gave the example of a young male seeing his girlfriend being spoken to by
another young guy and he is in her personal zone, the threatened male is likely
to join in the two talking to alter the proxemics situation. And to push the
other guy out. Personal space is occasionally modified by the conditions
imposed by the physical situation in which people are found in.
Source:
Salzmann, Z., Stanlaw, J., & Adachi, N. (2012). Language, Culture, and Society: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology. Westview Press
This is very interesting! I am very intrigued by proxemics as I am planning on pursuing a career in architecture; more specifically I will be working on creating spaces that provide people wth a good opportunity to communicate. My specific area of study is sociology so that I can more easily understand and pursue this unique feature of communication. If you don't mind, regarding proxemics, what would you recommend the style of work spaces to resemble in a very team oriented work space? This is regarding distance of coworkers, orientation of desks, and any additional installments to ensure productive collaboration. Thanks for the read!
ReplyDeleteI think the idea of proxemics is extremely fascinating! Reading your post made me think of my own idea of personal space and how that varies from person to person. Such as how my speech coach in high school had a very small personal space zone and would constantly hug and hold her speech kids before and after every speech practice whether they liked it or not. I also tend to think about how even though I like to have plenty of personal space I can learn to deal with it if it is bothered with. However, there are some people that absolutely cannot deal with such an occurrence and it can have a serious effect on their behavior and performances in the rest of their activities through the rest of the day. It's all very interesting to me!
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