and Business Context ................................................ Part IV: Putting the Body into Social
cooperative creatures. As humans strive for dominance, systems must be put
in place to avoid chaos. Territorial perimeters, where everyone knows and
respects one another’s space, is one cooperative system.
A man is said to be king of his castle. As reigning sovereign, whether your
castle is a flat in the heart of the city, a country farmhouse, or a caravan, you
know that you’ve the right to be dominant in your own territory. And, every-
one else has the right to be dominant in his. When someone enters your
space without being invited, you may feel a little edgy. Whether it’s fighter
planes attacking from above, or a mother bursting into her teenage son’s
room, the likelihood is that the person whose space has been invaded is
going to fight back.
Although you may feel perfectly confident, comfortable, and at home in one
surrounding, when you enter another, your feelings change. Say that you work
in your own office. You feel comfortable and in control of your environment
because you’re in familiar surroundings. Then you’re called into your boss’s
office. Suddenly the comfort level changes. You’re now entering someone
else’s territory and the control shifts from you to the person whose space
you’ve penetrated. Your body language changes from dominant to submissive
without you even realising it.
Knowing Your Space ....................................................................................
Humans have circles of space around them, which range from no space at all
(touching) to far enough away that, even though you can be seen, you’re not
close enough to touch. As with animals, humans protect their territory by fol-
lowing accepted codes of behaviour. Whereas birds sing to proclaim their
dominance over a particular part of a hedgerow, and dogs lift their legs to
stake claim to a lamppost, humans indicate through their body movements
what they perceive to be their territory, and how near and how far a person
may penetrate it.
The five zones ....................................................................................
In his book, The Hidden Dimension, the American anthropologist Edward T
Hall, defined proxemicsas the study of the human use of space within the
context of culture. Understanding that cultural influences impact upon how
people move within their space, and the amount of space a person is com-
fortable with, Hall divided space into five distinct areas. The relationship you
have with another person determines how near you allow that person to
come to you.
