Current Social Issues
Environmental Process – Human Spatial Behaviour
-by Smita Ramachandran-

Anthropologist Edward T. Hall (1966) argues that a "hidden dimension" shapes much of our behaviour. What is this hidden dimension? Space. How do people use the space around them to regulate their social interactions? This is one of the questions asked by environmental researchers, who use the term proxemics to refer to the study of human spatial behaviour (Hall, 1959). A key idea is that individuals try to achieve an optimal degree of involvement and physical closeness with other people, depending on the specific situation. In other words, people use space to influence their interaction with other people (Richmond, McCroskey & Payne, 1991). Two important aspects of spatial behaviour are personal space and territoriality.

Personal Space
Suppose you are standing by yourself in a physician's waiting room, and the nurse walks up to you. How close does the nurse actually come? Three......

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Title: Environmental Process Human Spatial Behaviour
Approximate Word Count: 5044
Approximate Pages: 21 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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