Griffin, Chp 6: "Expectancy Violations Theory."

Selection from Chris Barker, "Cultural Space and Urban Place."

Selection from Carol Brooks Gardner, "Contexts."

A. Proxemics: The study of how groups and people systematically use space.

B. Territoriality: The study of how people define and maintain their possession of objects or areas.

A. Edward T. Hall has identified four proxemic distances that people tend to use to define the space around themselves.

In the US, these zones approximate the following distances (Griffin, p. 84):

intimate distance	0 - 18 inches
personal distance	18 inches - 4 feet
social distance	4 - 10 feet
public distance	beyond 10 feet

B. These zones are closely connected with your personal identity, the nature of the relationship you have with persons you interact with, definitions of appropriateness, etc.

So they are shaped by factors such as

1. personality

2. culture

3. the social context

C. Theories about proxemic distances

1. Protection theory: pictures personal space as a protective bubble that acts as a buffer against unwanted touching or attack.

a. expands and contracts according to feeling of safety and familiarity.

2. Equilibrium theory: links space with level of emotional intimacy.

a. explores situations under which this relationship varies.

3. Expectancy Violations Theory: this theory attempts to explain what happens when distance and other forms of non-verbal behavior are varied during interpersonal interactions.

a. associated with Judee Burgoon

b. analyzes interpersonal encounters along three lines:

1) expectancy: the predicted or expected form of an non-verbal interaction.

a) taking into account factors such as age, relationships type, contexts and cultural norms.

2) violation valence: the positive of negative value we place on the unexpected behavior.

a) can vary from negative to ambiguous, to positive.

3) communicator reward valence: the sum of the positive and negative attributes that a communicator brings to an encounter.

c. the theory helps us understand the possibly strategic dimension of non-verbal interactions.

A. Researchers are drawing increasing attention to the topic of territoriality.

B. Part of the broader study of space as a "social construct."

C. Chris Barker (p. 291) summarizes the key tenets of this research:

1. space is a social construct.

2. the social is spatially constructed.

3. social space is not static but dynamic, constituted by changing social relations

4. space is implicated in questions of power and symbolism (power geometry of space)

5. there are a simultaneous multiplicity of spaces

D. Time-geographies: researchers in this area have drawn attention to the routinized paths individuals follow in the course of their everyday lives.

1. stress the physical, technological, economic and social constraints on these activities.

2. social space as a performance.

3. social space is constantly under contestation.

E. Researchers also distinguish "space" and "place"

1. places as sites of face-to-face interactions and social rituals.

2. spaces as more abstract frames of reference, for instance, a building.

3. Both can be considered "territories"

F. Some researcher classify types of territories:

1. primary territories: areas that are yours alone.

2. secondary territories: areas you are associated with, but not owned by you.

3. public territories: areas that are used by all people.

G. Markers: territories are often defined by physical markers.

1. In a way similar to animals, people mark territories

2. Central markers: items you place in a territory to reserve it for you.

3. Boundary markers: divide your territory from that of others.

4. Ear markers: marks that indicate your possession of a territory or object.

H. Social aspects of space

1. Status?

2. Ethnicity?

3. Gender?