Space Invaders - Territories and Personal SpaceThe above illustration shows the negative reaction of a woman
on whose territory a man is encroaching. She leans backward,
attempting to keep a comfortable distance. However, the man
may be from a culture with a smaller Personal Zone and he is
moving forward to a distance that is comfortable for him. The
woman may interpret this as a sexual move.
Why Japanese Always Lead When They Waltz
At our international conferences, city-born Americans usually
stand 18 to 48 inches (46—122cm) from each other and stand in
the same place while talking. If you watch a Japanese and an
American talking, the two will slowly begin to move around
the room, the American moving backwards away from the
Japanese and the Japanese moving forward. This is an attempt
by both the American and Japanese to adjust to a culturally
comfortable distance from the other. The Japanese, with his
smaller 10-inch (25cm) Intimate Zone, continually steps
forward to adjust to his spatial need, but this invades the
American's Intimate Zone, forcing him to step backwards to
make his own spatial adjustment. Video recordings of this
phenomenon replayed at high speed give the illusion that the
two men are waltzing around the room with the Japanese
leading. This is one of the reasons why, when negotiating busi-
ness, Asians, Europeans or Americans often look at each other
with suspicion. The Europeans or Americans refer to the
Asians as 'pushy' and 'familiar' and the Asians refer to the
Europeans or Americans as 'cold', 'stand-offish' and 'cool'.
This lack of awareness of Intimate Zone variations between
cultures can easily lead to misconceptions and inaccurate
assumptions about one culture by another.
Country vs. City Spatial Zones
As mentioned, the amount of Personal Space someone needs is