Proxemics - “the study of the spatial requirements of humans and the effects of population density on behavior, communication, and social interaction” (Proxemics 2016).

Edward T. Hall first coined the term as “The spatial dimension of non verbal behavior” (HALL 1963) in the journal American Anthropologist. Proxemics revolves around the concept of personal space, the area around a person’s body which they believe belongs to them in the moment. When this personal space is encroached upon, most people react with anxiety or discomfort (Hall 1966). But every person & culture has their own idea of personal space and reacts differently to intrusions of that space. One person may get extremely anxious and irritated as a stranger encroaches on their personal space, while another may not even take notice.
Hall noted that our sense of personal space was broken up into four zones, categorized not only by physical distance but also level of discomfort by relationship status. Hall created what he called the personal reaction bubbles (Figure 1), which illustrate the physical space taken up by the four zones of a person’s personal space.

Intimate Space
This is the smallest zone surrounding and including the person’s body. This zone is meant for inti- mate loved ones, embracing, touching, or whispering.

Personal Space
This zone is the second smallest, reserved from close family and friends.

Social Space
This zone is reserved for acquaintances and new friends – people you are willing to interact with but are not comfortable with getting too close. This may also be reserved for interacting with a small group of friends.

Public Space
This is the largest zone, generally reserved for public speaking or other situations where a single person is speaking to a large group of people.

Although Hall tried to physically measure the radius of each zone, the size of a person’s reaction bubbles varies from person-to-person; from culture-to-culture; and from situation-to-situation. In any particular situation, a person’s reaction bubbles can be affected by a number of factors such as: kinesthetic, touching, visual factors, thermal factors, olfactory factors, and voice loudness (Proxemics 2016).