The Effect of Gender on Personal Space

Paper Summary:

This paper presents a study carried out to determine whether or not there is a difference between the genders in regard to their requirements for personal space. It sets out the methods used and results obtained and includes a literature review on the subject.

Outline:
Introduction
Methods
Variables
Subjects
Risks/Benefits
Analysis & Results
Discussion
Future Study
Limitation
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Gender falls under the personal category and the research has produced differing results about its affects on personal space. However according to Gifford (2002), "Generally, male-male pairs keep the largest distances ... followed by female-female pairs and male-female pairs" (p. 127). This is supported by many others such as Evans and Cherulnik who stated that "Past research, done largely with American college student Ss, has shown strong effects of sex composition on patterns of interaction in dyads. Female dyads interact at closer distances,2 with more eye contact3 and facing more directly,4 and women seem to have smaller personal space requirements" (1980, p. 139). However, Gifford also acknowledged that there are contradictory findings (2002, p127).
Gifford goes on to explain that socialization maybe one factor that explains the differences found in the sexes. This fits well with the Social Learning theory which has been utilized to explain the differences in personal space. This theory "asserts that personal space is a gradually learned behaviour resulting from an individual's history of reinforcement" (2002, p. 137). This begins to happen at a very early age so that "By the age of 3, children already stay further from boys than girls, a pattern that generally holds throughout life" (Gifford, 2002, p. 137). Gifford also found that at age 4 there were four rules that children tended to follow. The first one was that as mentioned earlier boys stand further apart than girls. The second was that people stand closer to people they know. The third is that people allow more distances during an informal setting. Finally, strangers sit farther away than usual in a formal while friends sit closer (2002, p. 137)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Buchanan, D. R., Junkee, P. & Goldman, M. (1976). Violation of Personal Space as a Function of Sex. The Jornal Of Social Psychology, 99, p. 187-192.
• Evans, R. M. Paul D. Cherulnik, et al. (1980) Sex Composition and Intimacy In Dyads: A field Study. The Journal of Social Psycology, 110, p. 139-140.
• Gifford, R. (2002). Environmental Psychology: Principles and Practice (3rd ed.). Canada: Optimal Books.
• Gifford, R. & Price, J. (1979). Personal space in nursery school children. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, 11(4), p318-326.
• Hayduk, L. A. (1983). Personal Space: Where We Now Stand. Psychological Bulletin, 93(2), p. 293-335.

More papers on The Effect of Gender on Personal Space:

• Analytical Essay # 130549 : "The Effect of Ideology on Soviet Science"
• Cause and Effect Essay # 5686 : "The Effect of NAFTA on the US"
• Cause and Effect Essay # 62496 : "Birth-Order Effects Theory"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: