Personal space issues disorder

Personal Space - Why You Need Less or More Than Others

by Andrea M. Darcy

Been accused of being clingy or standoffish? Or just told you don’t seem to respect other’s personal space, and you aren’t sure what that’s about?

What is personal space?

Personal space is the distance each person needs between their body and other people to feel comfortable and at ease.

You could indeed it call it ‘personal distance’. Psychologists also throw around the term ‘interpersonal space’, seeing as it’s not just about you but also those around you.

The changing space around you

Interpersonal space is not a fixed ratio. It’s entirely normal to have one personal distance around people you know really well like your family, and another entirely for friends then colleagues.

And most of us tend to at times misjudge our actual ‘spacing’, so to speak. An interesting study at the University of Victoria, Canada, found that we tend to correctly judge how far we are away from others in non personal situations. Such as, say, at a meeting. But in personal situations, with people we know well, we tend to think we are farther away from others than we actually are.

Is personal space a choice?

On one hand, we do of course have choice over how close we stand to others. On the other hand, it’s been found there is genetic component at play to what our comfort levels will or won’t be with that.

According to Michael Graziano, Princeton neuroscientist and the author of ‘The Spaces Between Us’, our personal ‘buffer zone’ is hardwired into our brain from birth. Some of us are born with far less of a buffer zone than others.

Your brain’s decision about taking space

Neuroscientists, call the brain’s representation of the area surrounding us ‘peripersonal space’. On a practical side, our understanding of the space around us means we know how to, say, reach out and grab objects.

By: Internet Archive Book Images

But peripersonal space also acts as a safety margin for us to decide if ‘incoming objects’ are or aren’t acceptable (including people).

Research done on monkeys showed that the same areas of the brain that activated when they were physically touched activated when things simply came near them. And that the mere threat of an incoming object meant the monkeys physically prepared to defend themselves.

Which could explain why we feel more of a psychological need for space if we don’t know someone. Particularly if we tend to fear intimacy, we’d register that person as a threat.

Mental health diagnoses and space issues

If your brain has less of a buffer zone, you can end up with learning difficulties and social difficulties. And might end up with a mental health diagnosis. These can include:

Dyspraxia.

Dyspraxia is a learning difference that is diagnosed when a child struggles with understanding where their body is in space. As well as physically bumping into things and having coordination issues, such as with holding things, they can struggle with reading and writing. And socially they can misjudge personal space, standing too close, pushing by people when there isn’t room, and mistakenly upsetting others.

Autism spectrum disorder and Asperger’s

Autism has as a symptom highly attuned senses, which can lead to sensory overload. So while for a normal person being brushed on the arm is hardly noticeable, for a person with autism, it could be a strong or even overwhelming sensation. This of course means that those with the cognitive difference of autism can need a big personal space to feel calm and safe.

Asperger’s is now considered to be part of the autism spectrum. It’s not uncommon if you have Asperger’s to hate being touched by others, unless it’s by someone you know well.

Anxiety disorders.

By: D. Sinclair Terrasidius

If we have severe anxiety, our mind is constantly searching for danger. So anyone coming into our interpersonal space could feel more threatening than usual as we are ‘on guard’. With social anxiety disorder, this becomes the main issue.

What about people who stand way too close?

Are they taller than you? An interesting study using virtual reality looked at how body size related to diminishing personal space. It concluded taller people were more likely to have a smaller personal space.

The study discovered that if we perceived ourselves as bigger, our personal space diminished. Even if it was just a trick of a virtual reality headset making us feel bigger, it led to feeling more deserving of taking up space.

Childhood abuse and issues with body boundaries

Do you often feel uncomfortable with your personal space is invaded, but find you can’t stand up for yourself or say no?
Let people come too close, or touch you when you don’t want to be touched?
Or even have sex with people you aren’t at all comfortable with?

Childhood abuse means an adult has totally violated our personal space. It can mean we grow up into an adult with a hidden core belief that we don’t deserve to have our personal space respected.

Why the space between people matters

Still not convinced personal space is a big deal? It directly affects the way you relate and come across to others. Making an effort to be aware of and respect personal space means you can:

help others feel more comfortable around you
be more comfortable around others
understand why others feel the way they do around you
stop sending the wrong signals to others
show self-respect and take better care of yourself
recognise when a need for space is a warning to be alert for your personal safety.

Personal space examples

Confused about what equals a ‘big’ or ‘small’ personal space? This definition can vary by culture. For example, the double cheek kiss of France would seem like no personal space at all to someone from, say, Japan. But in general:

1)You love hugging all your friends and even strangers, and often lean in to touch people’s arm as you speak. You have a small personal space.

2) Or perhaps you don’t like anyone touching you except your significant other. And the idea of a stranger hugging you terrifies you. This is an example of a big personal space.

3) You are comfortable hugging people you know, you are fine to stand next to people, and you don’t mind if a person you just met is a bit touchy feely in an amicable way. But you don’t seek it out. You have an average personal space.

Need support to look at where your personal space issues come from? We connect you with a highly rated team of friendly mental health experts in central London. Or use our booking platform to source a UK-wide registered talk therapist or online therapist now.

Still have a question about personal space and mental health? Post below.

Andrea M. Darcy is the editor-in-chief and lead writer of this site. Diagnosed with ADHD when a young person and with high sensitivity, she’s always been a fan of personal space!

Amygdala found to govern notion of personal space | Spectrum

THIS ARTICLE IS MORE THAN FIVE YEARS OLD

This article is more than five years old. Autism research - and science in general - is constantly evolving, so older articles may contain information or theories that have been reevaluated since their original publication date.

Too close for comfort: A woman lacking an amygdala is comfortable being twice as close to another person as are healthy controls.

How close is too close when you stand next to someone? For someone without an amygdala, that’s a tough question to answer.

A report in the October issue of Nature Neuroscience says the amygdala — the brain region that controls emotions, as well as the way individuals interpret and respond to social situations and recognize possible threats — governs the preference for personal space¹.

The amygdala is also thought to be involved in some social and emotional aspects of autism, so the finding may explain personal space peculiarities observed in autism spectrum conditions.

Published studies on personal space in autism are scarce so far, but there is some anecdotal evidence that people with autism aren’t aware of other people’s personal space limits — standing too close or too far from people during social interactions, for instance, or walking between two people in conversation.

A related condition called Williams syndrome, meanwhile, is characterized by outgoing individuals who tend to violate other people’s personal space, touching or standing too close to people they don’t know well.

“We know — anecdotally, at least — that many people on the autism spectrum appear to treat personal space differently than typically developing people,” says Sarah Parsons, senior research fellow at the University of Birmingham’s Autism Centre for Education and Research.

Parsons’ research suggests that individuals with autism are significantly more likely than matched controls to infringe on other people’s personal space in virtual reality environments. For instance, the team’s studies suggest that children with autism spectrum disorders and lower verbal skills are more likely to bump into other people or objects in a virtual café; those with autism and strong verbal skills do the opposite, slightly shying away from others²^,³.

The new report on personal space is based on a woman known as S.M., the famous case study subject who lacks a functional amygdala. Both lobes of the woman’s amygdala are calcified as a result of a rare genetic disease.

Ralph Adolphs and his colleagues at the California Institute of Technology have found that S.M. tends to have problems judging what’s appropriate in social situations. She also has trouble recognizing emotions — especially fear — when she looks at other people’s facial expressions.

They report in this paper that S.M. is comfortable being twice as close — about one foot, rather than two feet — to another person compared with 20 healthy controls of different ages, genders and ethnicities.

“There’s a range within the control group,” says first author Dan Kennedy, a postdoctoral fellow in Adolphs’ lab. “But every one of the individuals preferred a larger distance than [S.M.].”

Close encounters:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in eight healthy controls also revealed that activation of the amygdala is significantly greater when the individual is told that the experimenter is standing beside the MRI machine than when the experimenter is 15 feet away.

“It makes sense to me that the amygdala would be involved in what’s appropriate for personal space,” says Melissa Bauman, assistant adjunct professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of California, Davis’ MIND Institute.

Bauman and others have shown that amygdala damage in adult rhesus monkeys makes the monkeys more likely to approach other monkeys or humans⁴. When the damage occurs earlier in development, in baby rhesus monkeys, however, they become less fearful of new inanimate objects, such as rubber snakes, but more fearful in their social interactions with other monkeys⁵^,⁶.

Differences in amygdala size and activity have also been detected in people with autism⁷, though the findings so far have been something of a mixed bag. Some studies have found that the amygdala is smaller in those with autism⁸, whereas others report that it is larger⁹. One study found that the larger the amygdala, the more severe the social and communication problems seen in children with autism spectrum disorders¹⁰.

It’s unclear whether the amygdala directly regulates personal space interactions or whether it’s involved in learning social norms and behaviors, including acceptable distance for personal space, says Katherine Loveland, professor and assistant dean of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston.

Although non-verbal social behaviors — including personal space — are not as well studied as other features of autism, Loveland notes, it’s possible that some of the unusual physical actions associated with autism reflect differences in the way individuals understand and use personal space.

Because the amygdala contributes to the emotional importance or salience that individuals attribute to their experiences, explains Adam Anderson, associate professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, it might also be difficult to tease apart the amygdala’s role in personal space from its importance in learning social behaviors in general.

“It’s something that clearly is shaped by the culture you’re born in,” explains Anderson, who was not involved in the study. “Our suggestion is that amygdala function is involved in learning these rules.”

References:

Kennedy D.P. et al. Nat. Neurosci. 12, 1226-1227 (2009) PubMed
Parsons S. et al. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 34, 449-466 (2004) PubMed
Parsons S. et al. Autism 9, 95-117 (2005) PubMed
Emery N.J. et al. Behav. Neurosci. 115, 515-544 (2001) PubMed
Bauman M.D. et al. J. Cogn. Neurosci. 16, 1388-1411 (2004) PubMed
Prather M.D. et al. Neuroscience 106, 653-658 (2001) PubMed
Kleinhans N.M. et al. Am. J. Psychiatry 166, 467-475 (2009) PubMed
Rojas D. C. et al. Am. J. Psychiatry 161, 2038-2044 (2004) PubMed
Abell F. et al. Neuroreport 10, 1647-1651 (1999) PubMed
Schumann C.M. et al. Biol. Psychiatry Epub ahead of print (2009) PubMed

Psychology of a person's personal space: invasion and preservation

Almost every one of us is familiar with the situation when an outsider or a fairly close person invades our personal space.

This is a work colleague who asks for the hundredth time to fill in because he has family problems. Or a relative once again asks for a loan, "forgetting" to give back the previously taken money. Or a school friend who thinks that calling you at one in the morning is normal, because she feels bad, and you will listen.

A person's personal space is violated if someone from his environment constantly loads up with his problems and complaints about life (health, spouse, boss, etc. ). Often, parents are also the culprits, who try to make decisions for their long-grown child. In a word, there are many examples of how members of society overstep the personal boundaries of a person. And if it seems to you for a long time that your own "I" is often infringed, then it's enough to let everything take its course.

Why do we need personal boundaries

For a visual example, compare yourself to a sovereign state where you are the full ruler.

Would you agree that an invasion of your territory by someone from outside would be considered a crime?

By allowing another person (relative or stranger) to invade your personal space, you thereby commit a crime against yourself. You yourself immerse yourself in a negative model of relationships, trying to please the requests of friends, colleagues, relatives. In other words, become a neurotic who is ready to do anything to solve other people's problems. If you yourself are used to burdening someone from your environment with your requests, stories and complaints, then it is you who become the criminal. In this case, you (even unconsciously) violate the personal space of a person.

Why is it bad not to have your own "I" and personal space

Why does a person need the boundaries of his own "I"? After all, helping others is a noble cause. Benefits another, and makes us kinder, more merciful, more tolerant of others. And if we respond to someone's call at will, then we feel satisfaction from this.

However, if we are forced, for example, to constantly do work for a negligent colleague or take responsibility for the maintenance of an overgrown brother, the situation changes somewhat. We do not want to help by force, but "necessary." This “tortured” support gives rise to internal discomfort. Fears take over, then we think: “And if by my refusal I make it worse, and we stop communicating.”

We say "yes" even in cases where it is completely disadvantageous to ourselves.

We listen to an hour-long tearful story from a friend about parting with her boyfriend instead of taking a break after a hard day's work, we solve the problems of spouses when they are able to cope with them on their own, we agree to substitutions at work to the detriment of our own plans.

Violation of personal space is not always obvious - after all, you are helping, because "it's okay, you'll think about yourself another time." But in reality, others simply manipulate you. They use it for their own purposes.

The habit of solving other people's problems leads to the fact that a person takes on an overwhelming burden of responsibility. And often this is used simultaneously by work colleagues, family members, and friends. Attempts to embrace the immensity lead to the fact that a person quickly burns out. He strives to be in time for everything and everywhere, to help everyone, not to forget about anyone. But in fact, he makes a big mistake, forgetting about his own needs and needs.

The word "yes" and the word "no" in a person's personal space

The psychology of personal space implies that a member of society must be able to refuse requests from strangers. Stepping on the throat of their own desires, people answer “yes”, agree to assignments and wishes that are obviously unfavorable for them. It is these people who are prone to stress and nervous breakdowns.

For example, two brothers live. One has a family, a successful career, many hobbies. Another does not want to strain to get a decent salary, constantly looking for adventure. And constantly whining, envying his lucky relative. A brother, feeling not only responsibility for his relative, but also hidden shame for his successes, always comes to the rescue. He gives his money, knowing that the relative will not put it into business, but will spend it on drinking. He gets him a job, realizing that he is not ready for responsibility. In short, the relationship is parasitic. When one only gives, and the other only receives.

The trouble is that intrusion into personal space sooner or later leads to unpleasant consequences. By saying yes to everyone around us, we are wasting ourselves. We get angry, we understand that we are being used, we get tired, we don’t have time and energy to solve our personal problems. But at the same time, every time we readily run to console a friend, help out colleagues, agree to live according to the instructions of our parents. We say “yes” not because we are so kind and really want to help, listen, please. More often than not, we are afraid of becoming objectionable and uncomfortable. Simply put, we become neurotic victims who constantly owe someone.

Read on How to learn to say “No”

Our thoughts that destroy the boundaries of personal space

People with violated personal boundaries think about themselves and others around this way:

"Building personal boundaries can affect how others treat me"

This argument is made by a person who is constantly persuaded to perform some undesirable action for him. Fear of being a white crow does not allow to express their opinion, to act differently from what others want. A person is afraid of condemnation, worries that they will no longer appreciate him. This fear of being "expelled from society" is the primary fear of man.
"I must"

So think those who arbitrarily shouldered the solution of other people's problems. This is exactly what a mother thinks, who is exhausted, dragging on herself the worries of an adult lazy son. Often the word "should" sounds in relation to a number of people - employees at work, home, neighbors, friends. The only way to deal with the thought that you owe everyone is to change your attitude towards yourself and restore self-worth.
"I can push my problems into the background"

This is the opinion of people who are used to sacrificing personal time, pleasures, needs for the sake of others. The person-victim considers his problems to be secondary, not significant, like most of the events in his life. It is easier for him to convince himself that his own life is considered secondary than to admit that he is afraid to stop an overly assertive trespasser.
"I am responsible for everyone"

This phrase is close to people who control the lives of others. A high level of responsibility leads to the fact that a person simply sits on the neck. Without his help, even the smallest things are not done, whether it is screwing in a light bulb or serious life decisions.
"I'm afraid that people associate with me for profit"

So thinks a man who is not accustomed to saying no, no matter how unreasonable the request may be. Realizing in his heart that his loved ones use him, he suspects everyone around him. It seems to him that the interest of others is built only on the search for profit, but he still does not find the strength to refuse.
"If I refuse, no one will help me either"

This opinion forces one to take on a deliberately unprofitable and even unpleasant business. It seems to a person that the refusal will lead to the fact that in case of trouble he will be left alone, so he “prepares the ground” for potential help in the future.

Where to start building the boundaries of personal space

If it seems to you that others are sitting on your neck, then it's time to work on yourself. Not over them. The psychology of personal space implies that a person must constantly strive for self-knowledge. But while you "resolve" other people's problems, your own remain unresolved.

So answer these questions honestly to yourself:

How important are relationships with those who invade my personal space the most?
How much time, not to the detriment of myself, can I devote to solving other people's problems?
Am I helping because I really feel the need to? Or do I act so as not to be left without friends (not to be lonely, misunderstood)?
Are people overstepping the line by delving into my life?
What is my priority in life?
What actions that I don't want can I refuse to perform?

How not to be considered an egoist, building the boundaries of your space

Despite the fact that the personal boundaries of a person must be erected, it is not always permissible to be zealous in this matter. If a loved one has a problem, it will be strange to stay away. Yes, you will have to experience a lot of unpleasant feelings, it will be hard. But you need to understand that a call from him at one in the morning is not a call from that same school friend. This is not a situation for control of personal boundaries, do not confuse.

However, help is not always necessary and reasonable. Example: you are angry, but you constantly act as a sponsor for poor relatives. In your heart you understand that you don't owe them anything, that your well-being is the result of hard work. But you can’t refuse requests for a loan of money, requests to let you live, take you somewhere, and so on. There is even a “weighty” argument - you are relatives. You end up driving yourself into a frenzy when you get angry but still help. It is important to understand here that without help, relatives might have learned to solve problems themselves. But why? Because they have you.

Violated personal space: who is to blame and what to do

Violation of personal space is brought into our lives by colleagues, parents, spouses, and comrades.

Feeling angry at the inability to pronounce the word "no", people tend to blame everyone but themselves for this.

In fact, the victim herself is guilty that everyone rides on her. If a husband is used to taking out evil on his wife, even in cases where it is not her fault, who is to blame? Husband? The poor thing cries, feels like a victim of a tyrant. But why did she allow her to raise her voice, why didn’t she tell her tyrant spouse that she was not obliged to take on all the negativity?

We must be prepared for the fact that any person will test our strength. Hang all the dogs on the one who allows it. Buzzing in the ears of those who are ready to listen.

The constant feeling of being a victim does not bring anything creative. Therefore, you should begin to reconsider your behavior, letting others know that they have gone over the line, invading your space. Believe me, when you define this very line for yourself, it will become visible to others.

Create a picture of your personal boundaries

To stop torturing yourself by letting everyone intrude into your life, imagine the following. As if life is a house in which everything is arranged according to your taste. And all the people in your destiny are guests of this dwelling, welcome and unexpected. For example, relatives (those who are always ready to come to the rescue, whose presence you are always glad to) are welcome guests, they can be allowed into almost any room of your house. But curious neighbors are those whom you don’t even want to let out of the threshold. According to this principle, start dividing your environment into “us” and “them”.

If a colleague is unpleasant for you, limit communication with him to discussing work issues. But do not agree to his invitation to sit over a cup of tea. If a friend is close to you, and you are ready to let him into your space, then feel free to share your joys and problems with him, listen to his stories. But do not forget - that he is a guest in your "house".

How not to cross the line yourself

You may not always be the victim. It happens that, without knowing it, people become violators of the boundaries of other people. Analyze if you are making the following mistakes:

№
Stories about the personal.

Often confession about intimate things is exaggerated for a long time, with details. People are not shy about, say, talking about a cheating husband, a harmful mother-in-law, sex life, nasty neighbors. Moreover, the discussion is conducted with a large crowd of people - during a working lunch, in a noisy courtyard. Throwing out intimate details on strangers somewhat infringes on their rights. Not every person really wants to savor the details of other people's quarrels or intrigues.

Advice: Don't discuss your personal life with everyone you meet.
With everyone on a friendly footing.

It seems that there are people who have not heard anything about a person's personal space. With each new acquaintance, they try to establish a strong connection: they treat them with homemade pies, they want to drag them to visit, they give advice, ask unethical questions, consider a colleague who barely spoke to them as their best friend.

Advice: Do not force your friendship.
Search for an object of adoration.

Some people consider it their duty to have someone in the team who is more attractive than others. And if one is found, a not always adequate reaction arises: instead of adult ways, such a “lover” turns into a child: endlessly scribbling text messages, sighing languidly, “accidentally” trying to sit closer, making ambiguous hints that embarrass the other.

Advice: If you are trying to win someone's heart, think about whether you are overstepping your bounds.
Desire to help.

Sometimes people sincerely want to help, but then they get into the role of a savior so much that they invade the forbidden zone. For example, after agreeing to drive your neighbor home in your car once, you decide to do it all the time, deciding that you are doing a good deed, although you are frankly uncomfortable together. In addition, when you find out that she has family difficulties, you put all your efforts into finding a psychologist for her, or you yourself reincarnate into a home-grown specialist in solving her problems.

Advice: Help if you are really asked;
Requests for help.

You have the right to ask for support if you can't manage on your own. But never try to make a deal with your conscience by burdening someone else with your tasks. If a friend helped you once, you do not need to constantly involve her in your problems. People will avoid you if they feel manipulated.

Advice: Learn to value your own and other people's space.

It is extremely important for any person to have their own boundaries, to understand who and when they can let into their lives. Try to clearly define the boundaries of personal space, because until you do this, those around you will not be able to observe them.

Do not be afraid to build a “fence” if you are oppressed by excessive attention and the constant presence of certain people in your life. You are more important to yourself than others.

Also understand how important it is not to disturb someone else's space even by accident. Just think now, are you overstepping boundaries, for example, in dealing with your friends or relatives simply because they “understand and always help”?

Personal space of a person (concept, boundaries, problems)

Personal space as a problem of privacy really belongs to the phenomena of modern culture, since in the middle of the 20th century such a question was not relevant at all in our country.

Researchers associate its occurrence with several factors, including:

And a change in the cultural norm
And increasing the social and economic status or empowerment of a person
And, accordingly, the growth of human claims

The concept of personal space

The very concept of personal space includes the definition of a form of non-verbal communication, which is designed to regulate the degree or level of freedom of a particular individual-personality.

To explain the functions of personal, private or personal space (privacy), several models with their mechanisms have been proposed today.

Yes,

There is a model of balance, according to which each individual has his own optimal and acceptable level of intimacy, according to which his personal space is built (this includes even the distances at which a person can allow other people to approach him).
There is also the Howard and Evans model, which interprets this concept as a natural mechanism formed and preserved by evolution to control intraspecific aggression.
At the end of the 70s. of the last century, the concept of selective control of one's privacy also appeared, and the effect of such selectivity can also occur at a subconscious level, when an individual in his communication himself assesses the degree of his openness to another person.

Problems of personal space

The problem of personal space and its violation began to be studied by the science of ethology (on the examples of animals) from the beginning of the last century, and from the middle of it took shape in the corresponding question of spatial human behavior in anthropology. The first researcher of which is recognized as E. Hall.

Today, this concept of private space is proposed to be considered in two categories:

As a distance of communication, which implies a personal relationship of a person with another
As a personal family space, which refers to the allocation of a certain territory and the assignment of exclusive rights to it.

Both cases have their own characteristics, characteristics and functions. Let's take a closer look.

Personal space - relationship distance

This category studies the physical openness of the individual, i.e. the real spatial readiness of a person to admit another person to himself.
It is directly influenced by factors:

The closeness of the relationship of these people
Their gender and age definitions
Cultural and ethnic background
Social status and lifestyle

Researchers have noted the following “parameters” for designing the dimensions of a person’s personal space (including interesting facts found on the example of animals), namely:

or aggression)

In reality, even in different cultures, similar trends can be traced in humans - the distance of communication among women is reduced compared to “male”, communication in pairs occurs a little further than for women, but closer than for men. Children violate this scheme due to their age-related curiosity.

The distance of communication and personal space varies according to the age of the individual

So, the baby is inseparable from the mother, it turns out that he does not have any personal space at all. He starts defending his privacy by the age of 3-4. The gender factor is added here - already by 8-9years, the individual's claims to his space begin (boys have more). This trend continues until the age of 16 or until the age of complete socialization of a person.

Cultural and ethnic privacy gradations

This is an obvious fact of the difference in the "rationing" of the distance of communication in different cultures. For example, the same E. Hall divided all world cultures according to the principle of contact (contact or non-contact). So, in contact cultures, there is a reduced distance between the participants in communication, high tactility is acceptable (they can touch each other) and emotional connection (look into the eyes, etc. ). However, further experiments showed a certain inconsistency of such a separation.

Personal space can be regulated not only by culture, but also by a person's subculture

For example, an urban subculture “requires” less space than a rural subculture;

Personal space in the family and for the family

This area explores the problem of spatial behavior of a person on the issues:

Allocation and restrictions of personal-family space0056
Determining and defending your rights to it
Opportunities for privacy in it and control over the admission of other individuals there

We know that in the animal kingdom, this is "regulated" by territory marking. A person also has his own "marks" - fences, barriers, and in the case of national territories - even flags and border posts. Even in my home there is a symbolic designation - my shelf (my cosmetics is standing), my wall (my posters are hanging), etc.

Geographically, such private space in the family is also divided into several types:

As a general - together with neighbors in the entrance, house
Group - as a joint with relatives
Personal - directly "mine"

Our presentation of the topic

Private space - from the history of the issue

Of course, the natural mechanisms that regulate a person's personal spatial behavior are not the only ones that determine the whole problem. Ideas of privacy, seclusion, boundaries and dimensions of personal space are also culturally determined and are products of it. The emergence of such ideas is attributed to the period of the New Age (17-18 centuries), and primarily in urban cultures.

In other words, they are determined by progress that has been able to provide the appropriate conditions for this. It is known, for example, that even in the castles of the Middle Ages, a person did not have privacy “stated to him”.

Learn more