Proxemic language: the use of distances to communicate

The proxemic language is, perhaps, one of the communication modalities that go unnoticed the most.

Speech and writing receive almost all of our attention, making us take for granted that most of the information that we must express and interpret is contained there; and non-verbal language is highly undervalued. However, within this last category we usually consider only gestural language and prosody. We do not realize that there is much world beyond these elements.

In this article we will see what proxemic language is and how it influences both our relationships and the meanings we express.

• Related article: "The 12 types of language (and their characteristics)"

Proxemic language: a definition

Let's start with the basics. We understand by proxemic language a type of non-verbal communication based on distances that are kept between two bodies, as well as with the location of people in certain spaces.

Although it is a way of conveying meanings implicitly and appealing to our most emotional side

This does not make proxemic language a very valuable tool when it comes to communicating. In fact, the meaning of an entire sentence, no matter how long, can be totally altered depending on how we use it.

In addition, proxemic language takes into account the movements that are made by translating the entire body when going from one point to another. In other words, he does not study distances as if they were a simple variable that we find in "frozen images", but rather looks at the before and after. It is not the same to approach a person walking 20 meters for it than to coincide in an elevator.

• Related article: "Emotional psychology: main theories of emotion"

The usefulness of this form of communication

Fundamentally, proxemic language serves to express ideas that belong to two different axes of meaning: the degree of intimacy and the degree of hostility.

Privacy

The intimacy is greater the smaller the distance between two people. In addition, hand in hand with intimacy goes the idea that you want to connect emotionally with the other, that you empathize. That is why some negotiation techniques use the resource to approach the other person little by little so that he accepts the idea that the other seeks the good of both through the deal that he proposes.

• You may be interested: "How to be a great negotiator, in 10 psychological keys"

Hostility

Unlike intimacy, there is no direct relationship between the distance between people and the degree to which this attitude is present. In fact, hostility is communicated through unusually small or unusually wide distances. In the first case, the intention is to express the will to dominate the other, while in the second, distrust and defensive attitude is shown.

Spaces and contexts in which it is applied

The functioning of proxemic language varies greatly depending on the type of space in which the person is. And it is that no relationship occurs simply in a vacuum, there is always a context that conditions us. Proxemics, after all, is something social: it works from what one knows that the other knows, and different environments generate expectations both at the sender and at the receiver.

Now, what are the different types of spaces that proxemic language depends on? The main ones are the following.

1. Public space

As its name suggests, this context is one in which anyone can participate in what happens. In proxemic language, it is a space in which there is a speaker and a multitude of people who listen to what he does or says.

The distance between the emitter and the receivers is usually large, several meters if possible, since there are many people participating in the exchange of information and it is necessary to make it clear that the message is addressed to everyone.

2. Social space

This type of context belongs to the professional sphere, the formal and the meetings with commercial purposes. The typical distance between the people involved is usually one to three meters.

3. Personal space

The personal space is defined by its informal nature, in which it becomes evident that there is at least one significant emotional or affective connection. It occurs between friends, family or co-workers who know each other well. The situations it fosters are characterized by the fact that the distance between people is less than one meter.

4. Intimate space

Those who use this type of space as a form of proxemic language (in addition to other utilities) are people whose relationship is intimate, such as partners, close relatives or friends always.

Here, the typical distance can range from a few tens inches to direct physical contact.

Cultural variations

The distances maintained between people according to the type of space in which they are can vary greatly depending on the type of culture to which they belong.

For example, Northern European countries and Southeast Asia are characterized by using proxemia biased towards relatively large interpersonal distances.

However, the countries that border the Mediterranean, those that belong to Ibero-America and many of those that belong to the Middle East and Africa, are characterized by normalizing much smaller interpersonal spaces, as well as by resorting a lot to physical contact even between relative unknown.