Distance Zones (Sociology Class) - Research Paper Example

& Number: Proxemics (A study of distance or spatial zones) 15 September (word count – 689) It was anthropologist Edward T.Hall who is generally credited with creating the term of proxemics or the study of behavioral, cultural and sociological aspects of distance between people as they interact with each other in the course of their lives. Different cultures have a bit of differences between how people also communicate with each other besides using language but other forms of non-verbal communications, such as putting distance between another man or woman as they speak to each other, body language, eye contact and hand gestures.

People also behave differently when put together in close proximity than if there is some distance. In his groundbreaking study, Prof. Hall introduced the four notations in his system, which are the public, social, personal and intimate distance (Weiten, Dunn & Hammer 247). The diagram as shown below illustrates his theory on how distance affects the way people will interact:Figure 1. Halls 4 Distance Zones or what he called as reaction bubbles (1966) Source: Wikipedia: Proxemics. 30 July 2011. Web. 15 Sept. 2011.