Background: Convention refugees are individuals who have fled their home countries due to a substantiated fear of persecution. Many young Convention refugees are disconnected from their environment as they enter schools and communities, and are often misunderstood due to cultural barriers. Given the universality of human movement, the physical…

If interpersonal spacing is a component of sex-role development, then gender identity development may partly mediate age and sex differences in personal space, as well as variations in distances due to the sex of the stimulus person. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate this possibility. Personal space preferences of 36 male and…

This paper provides a literature review of the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) as applied in persuasion. Specifically, the paper addresses distraction with regard to effects on persuasion. In addition, the application of proxemic violations as peripheral cues in message processing is discussed. Finally, the paper proposes to shed new light on…

A study assessed whether space violations of women occur even when women do not yield their space, and further examined who violated the space of women when it was violated. Two persons of average height and weight (either a male-male, male-female, or female-female combination) were positioned across from each other in a busy hallway such that…

The effects of crowding and sex on reactions to a side-to-side invasion of personal space were examined. Male or female experimenters violated the personal space of 40 male and 40 female subjects who were sitting at library tables that were either crowded (several persons present) or uncrowded (subjects sat alone). The subjects' body movements,…

In recent years the college dormitory has become a popular setting for examining chronic effects of crowding and high density in humans. Possible differences between corridor- and suite-type residents were investigated to examine the degree to which corridor- and suite-design dormitories influence assertive behavior of the residents. It was…

This paper discusses the image of the "Ibasyo" or psychologically comfortable space of children not attending school. It suggests that psychological healthiness is dependent upon whether or not an individual has his or her individual space. The images of psychologically comfortable space through the "circle, triangle, and…

A study investigated the extent to which American university student interviewers perceived differences in certain nonverbal cues (conversational space and hand gestures) in interviews with persons from another culture and whether the American students perceived such observations affected their ability to listen to the interviewee. Subjects were…

Presumably, during persuasion, a violation of a subject's expected distance would act as a distraction, increase the likelihood of message acceptance, create fewer counterarguments, and shift the listener's focus from message content to speaker characteristics. Forty-nine undergraduate speech students participated in a study at a major…

Since attraction and close proxemic distances have been found to be associated throughout the study of nonverbal communication, a study was conducted that hypothesized that attraction would be a more important predictor of seat selection than any other variables. Subjects included students enrolled in introductory speech communication classes who…

Participant observation and author introspection were used to collect data in this study of nonverbal communication among Italian Americans in three large American cities. Discussion is given to kinesics (gestures and signs), haptics (touch), proxemics (interiors of homes, exteriors of homes, and spatial arrangements at a wedding dinner), and…

Research has found that the need for personal space is greater for normal persons who are interacting with stigmatized persons, such as overweight people, and that one who is identified as deviant may be more sensitive to environmental cues and react more strongly to affective stimuli. To investigate the reactions to approach/distance among…

Because proficiency in nonverbal communication is as important in international business communication as it is in one's own culture, temporary residents need to learn how to improve communication. This paper explores several ways business communication specialists can help improve sojourners' nonverbal fluency for specific cultures. Temporary…

This document discusses research in the context of four basic issues in the area of crowding and personal space. The research upon which the author draws is from a series of three laboratory studies of the effects of manning levels on group experiences, performance, and verbal interaction. In these studies, groups of male college students worked…

Cognitive appraisals are believed to influence how women judge or appraise risk in acquaintance interactions which lead to sexual assault. Ways in which men and women judge the presence of risk factors in scripted acquaintance rape scenarios, and whether alcohol was a significant factor in assessing risk, are examined in this paper. Participants…