different personal space

Different aspects of personal space

As a scholar from China, this is the first time I stepped into a different culture. As a result of knowing a little about the culture of Singapore, I encountered a lot of embarrassments and difficulties. Some of those situations impressed me and I wanted to explore more about it. Eventually, I learned a lot from my explorations which includes doing researches, questionnaires, and studies. Among those, what intrigued me most is the experience related to the aspect of personal space.

When the befrienders (local seniors who help us adjust to the life in Singapore) brought us to play games outside, I intended to hold a male-senior’s hand as we always do in China to show our friendliness to him. To my surprise, that senior became a little angry with what I have done and he walked quicker trying to let my hands go. I felt that there must be some cultural shocks about this, and what happened next proved what I thought. We entered the elevator along with about 15 other students.  More locals wanted in but could see that it was "full", so they formed a small crowd outside the elevator.  Just as the elevator door was about to close, it suddenly re-opened.  Another Chinese student, had pushed through the waiting crowd, pressed the button, and worked her way into the crowded elevator.  Since Chinese like to be close with each other, I smiled when she went in. After that, one of my local friends told me that girl should never did that again, Singaporean hate this kind of behavior, it destroyed their personal space. Having gone through those two experiences, I began to contemplate and do some research about it which interests me a lot.

I found from our daily life that everyone is surrounded by an invisible zone of psychological comfort. This protective bubble acts as a buffer zone against unwanted touching. Our comfort zone varies depending on the different culture. Yes, different cultures have different concepts of personal space. Given the fact that Singaporean learned more from English culture, Singaporeans have strict concept of space. For example, Americans have a large personal space.  We can stand in line tightly, as long as all are facing in the same direction, but we don't want to stand close to anybody in face-to-face encounters.  If you enter that space without having earned the right, Americans get very uncomfortable.  On the contrary, Cambodians prefer to stand close to one another, maybe even touching each other occasionally.  Omanis sometimes stand so close they can rest their hands on each other's shoulders.  Egyptians not only stand almost touching noses, but they raise their voices, speaking loudly to each other.

Where does the difference come from?

Firstly, I think that it has a great amount to do with the space available within that country. Canada only has 3.5 people per square kilometer, whereas in small countries with massive populations, they have to get used to living in dense areas. However, another example proves me not exactly right. India is one of the most populous countries but they have a very strict sense of personal space. They bow and say Namaste instead of shaking hands.

Another reason I found is that our status, confidence, and power of the people around us affect our aspect of personal space. Because the people who possess the most power and authority command a greater amount of personal space that they can call their own.

I am very interested by those kinds of studies and I will continue to explore what’s the advantages and disadvantages do those different kinds of aspect of space have in different areas of our life.