Interpersonal Distance as a Function of Task Difficulty, Praise, Status Orientation, and Sex of Partner

Abstract

Interpersonal distance between Ss and confederates was measured in the laboratory. Ss placed themselves relatively far away from partners who flattered them and who were ascribed lower status. In turn, they sat farther from subordinates who praised them after performing a difficult in comparison with an easy task. Their spatial distance from partners of high status did not differ across conditions. These results were interpreted as evidence for the fact that social distance as experienced in status-oriented relationships is manifest in interpersonal physical distance. In further analyses, the differences in interpersonal distance were more reliable in same-sex than in male-female partners. Also, men tended to be more variable and on the average more distant than were women.