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Do you ever feel angry about someone who stands too close, talks too loudly or makes eye contact for too long?For many of us, the answer is probably yes．But what makes us feel uncomfortable with those“close talkers”?Or with strangers who stand very near to us in a line?
Scholars began studying personal space decades ago, in a field known as proxemics．They found that humans tend to avoid eye contact if they feel someone is standing too close．They put a distance between themselves and strangers．According to scientists, personal space involves not only an imaginary space around the body, but around all the senses．People may feel their space is being violated when they encounter an unwelcome sound, scent or stare：the woman on the bus shouting into her mobile phone or the co-worker sitting next to you putting on some perfume you don't like．
Whether people in recent times have become more protective of their personal space is hard to say．Yet studies of airlines show strong desire to have some space to oneself．In a recent survey from Trip Advisor, a travel website, travelers said that if they had to pay for certain benefits, they would rather have larger seats and more legroom than massages and extra food．A current advertisement for Eos Airlines, which flies between New York and London, is promoting the fact that it offers“21 square feet of personal space”．
While people may want space, they rarely know how deep these proxemics are．Scholars know that commuters hold newspapers in front of them to read, but also to shield themselves from strangers．“If you videotape people at a library table, it's very interesting that one of the corner seats will go first, followed by the chair diagonally opposite because that is farthest away,”said US proxemics expert Dane Archer．“If you break those rules, it's fascinating,”he added,“People will pile up books as if to make a wall．”
Preferences for personal space differ from culture to culture．Scholars have found that Americans generally prefer more personal space than people in Mediterranean and Latin American cultures and mean in Arab cultures．“In the US, it's closely linked to ideas of individuals,”said Kathryn Sorrells, a US communication studies professor．“It's part of a culture that highly values independence, privacy and capitalism．”
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