Yu, Xiong and Lee evaluated the shapes of personal spaces among Chinese people. They report that, “Participants were required to determine their IPS [interpersonal space] in eight directions (0°, 45°, 90°, 135°, 180°, 225°, 270°, 315°) when approached by male or female confederates…IPS was significantly influenced by direction…with the largest distance in the front (0°) and the closest distance in the rear (135°, 180°, 225°)…Participants maintained a larger IPS…with a male confederate than a female confederate…IPS…boundaries could be applied in environmental design, space utilization.”
Xiaoqing Yu, Wei Xiong, and Yu-Chi Lee. 2020. “An Investigation Into Interpersonal and Peripersonal Spaces of Chinese People for Different Directions and Genders.” Frontiers in Psychology, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00981
Sally Augustin, PhD, a cognitive scientist, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesignconnections.com), a monthly subscription newsletter and free daily blog, where recent and classic research in the social, design, and physical sciences that can inform designers’ work are presented in straightforward language. Readers learn about the latest research findings immediately, before they’re available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is also the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design (Wiley, 2012). She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwithscience.com) and can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com.