The Definitive Book of Body Languagequent use of it. The cafe diner may even go so far as to carve
his initials into 'his' place at the table and the businessman
marks his territory at the conference table with things such as
a personal folder, pens, books and clothing spread around his
18-inch (46cm) Intimate Zone border.
Studies carried out by Desmond Morris into seating posi-
tions in libraries showed that leaving a book or personal object
on a library desk reserved that place for an average of 77
minutes; leaving a jacket over a chair reserved it for two hours.
At home a family member might mark his or her favourite
chair by leaving a personal object, such as a handbag or mag-
azine, on or near it to show their claim and ownership of the
space.
If the boss of the house asks a visitor to be seated and the
person innocently sits in the wrong chair, the boss can become
agitated about this invasion of his territory and be put on the
defensive. A simple question such as, 'Which chair is yours?'
can avoid the negative results of making such a territorial
error.Car TerritoryPeople driving a car can react in a way that's often completely
unlike their normal social, territorial behaviour.
A motor vehicle seems to have a magnifying effect on the
size of a person's Personal Space. In some cases, this territory
is magnified up to 10 times the normal size, so the driver feels
that he has a claim to an area of 25 to 30 feet (8-10 metres)
in front of and behind his car. When another driver cuts in
front of him, even if it wasn't dangerous, the driver may go
through a physiological change, becoming angry and even
attacking the other driver in what is now known as 'Road
Rage'. Compare this to the situation that occurs when the
same person is stepping into a lift and another person steps in
front of him, invading his personal territory. His reaction in
those circumstances is normally apologetic and he allows the