Effects of Procedural Variations in Measuring Interpersonal Distance by Means of Representational Space

Abstract

To determine whether two commonly employed variations in the administration of personal space measures would significantly influence performance, 40 male and 40 female college students were administered the task under two conditions: placing a number of self figures in relation to fixed social objects and placing the same social objects in relation to fixed self figures. There were no significant differences in separation distances or in vertical positioning under the two conditions. The study also investigated the degree to which the selected personality dimensions of extraversion, neuroticism, and internal versus external control related to schematic space.