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Cultural Distance: English, German, French, Spanish

The anthropologist Edward Hall, in particular, has studied differences in proxemics in various cultures. In the United States, there is a commonly accepted invisible boundary around any two or three people in conversation that separates them from others. Distance alone serves to isolate, give privacy. Someone can be in a room with other people without disturbing their "privacy." When a person stands still or sits down even in a public place, a small sphere of privacy balloons around him or her, which is considered inviolate. Anyone who enters this zone and stays there is intruding. For the Germans, there is no such thing as being in the room without being inside the zone of intrusion of the other party present, no matter how far away. When an American wants to be alone, she or he goes into a room and shuts the door.

The English have internalized a set of barriers that they erect and that others are supposed to recognize. For the French or the Spanish, proxemics are very different. Mediterranean use of space can be seen in the crowded trains, buses, sidewalks, and cafes. These cultures are characterized by high sensory involvement, Culture expressed in the way they eat, entertain, and crowd together in cafes. Isolating oneself is seen as an insult to others. Anglo-Saxons tend to go into their room and shut the door when they want to be alone. The Spanish don't do this. American students studying Spanish in Spain and living with families tend to become confused when their families show concern every time they are alone in their rooms with the door shut. Another example is how professors and students relate. Spanish professors and students socialize outside class. They go to bars, dance, and touch. This is seen as inappropriate in the United States, where professors can even be accused of sexual harassment if the interaction is between people of different sexes.

Differences between Arabs and Americans or Europeans, like the Dutch, are even stronger. Arabs do not like enclosed space. Muslims have particularly strong rules for space between men and women. In advertisements, if showing men and women together is allowed at all, the distance must be carefully observed. The American home compartmentalizes the family, so children grow up leading separate lives. This has consequences for media behavior. Americans are not used to watching television in groups, as are the Spanish. When comparing cultures, it is important to learn which are the signs and symbols used by a culture and how they are recognized.

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