Personal Space in a Digital Age by Robert Sommer Essay -- gender, space

Robert Sommer, author of the text. Personal Space in a Digital Age suggests a relationship between age and gender in determining of personal space. He explains, â€Å"It has been interesting to observe personal space enter the popular culture. Airlines advertise more of it in their seating, homeless shelter residents complain that they have too little of it, and corporate training manuals warn employees to respect each other’s personal space. What is clear is that the concepts of personal space and interaction distance have lasted four decades and show no sign of disappearing even in a digital age when communication is increasingly aspatial.† Although most people feel bothered about questions of personal space, gender and age determines when a person begins to feel uncomfortable because psychology explains that people care who is in their space, because that researchers have proved that gender and age matters, because age research proves that when their personal space by both older or younger people they feel uncomfortable, and because the research on gender proves that when people are invaded by the opposite sex they also feel uncomfortable. Personal space has many factors that affect how different people react such as their culture, gender, race, age, etc. (The Development of Personal Space in Primary School Children - Springer 195). Personal space is when someone feels uncomfortable in his or her own space or bubble (Personal Space 1). People call their space a bubble so when someone gets to close it might pop (Wells 1). One-person controls how big or small the bubble is (Wells 1). There are four areas that break down space (Igarashi, Stade, and Vriens 4). Internal, mental, physical, and spiritual are the four boundaries that de... ...ells, Meredith M. "Measuring Personal Space." Psychology Teacher Network. N.p., 2002. Web. 15 Nov. 2013. 0CCkQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.apa.org%2Fed%2Fprecollege%2Fptn%2F20 02%2F01%2Fissue.pdf&ei=ClSGUvXYMJCqkAfolIBY&usg=AFQjCNHZbzD_daKQY iRO5yr6xflgycn6Qg&bvm=bv.56643336,d.eW0>. Widang, Ingrid. "Patients’ Conceptions of Integrity." N.p., 2007. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. =0CDQQFjACOAo&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.diva- portal.org%2Fsmash%2Fget%2Fdiva2%3A4541%2FFULLTEXT01.pdf&ei=00GAUu2t OaPsyQGGuoFY&usg=AFQjCNE1Ifvl9dYscCwBYtqrRNaLA4u12Q>. Wolchover, Natalie. "Why Do We Have Personal Space?" Web log post. Live Science. Natalie Wolchover, 6 June 2012. Web. 3 Nov. 2013. personal-space.html>.