Keeping your distance: attentional withdrawal in individuals who show physiological signs of social discomfort

Keeping you at arm’s length: modifying peripersonal space influences interpersonal distance

“…From a theoretical perspective, this shows that the motor nature of space perception plays a crucial role in complex social processing, as peripersonal space encoding represents a key element in the regulation of distances in social interaction situations. This is in agreement with the view that peripersonal space is not only a space for interacting with objects, but also a safety space (Coello, Bourgeois, & Iachini, 2012;Lockard et al, 1977;Szpak et al, 2015;Rossetti et al, 2015), linked with our private area in social contexts (Iachini et al, 2014). The findings are thus in agreement with the embodied approach to perception and cognition (Barsalou, 1999(Barsalou, , 2008, suggesting that bodily states and simulation of information in the brain's modality-specific systems for perception and action represent also the basis of social interactions.…”

“…5). This also confirms that the frontal space has a particular social meaning (Szpak et al, 2015) and that interpersonal space has both a motor and social component (Iachini, Pagliaro, & Ruggiero, 2015). However, another possible interpretation is that the use of the long tool was biased toward the central part of the peripersonal space (despite the instructions to use the entire workspace), with the consequence that the transfer effect concerns primarily this region.…”

“…Altogether, these data corroborated the view that perceiving reachable objects involves the motor system (Proverbio, 2012), but depending on their location in peripersonal space (Quinlan & Culham, 2007). Numerous studies have emphasized that peripersonal space is also a safety space (Coello, Bourgeois, & Iachini, 2012;Lockard et al, 1977;Szpak et al, 2015;Rossetti et al, 2015), linked with our private area in social contexts (Iachini, Coello, Frassinetti, & Ruggiero, 2014). In this regard, Hall (1966) and later Hayduk (1978) were the first to suggest that social interactions require accurate control of interpersonal distances.…”

“…Vertical bars indicate standard errors. Asterisk indicates significant difference Psychological Research in a social context, a safety space where intrusion by conspecifics is avoided Rossetti et al, 2015;Szpak et al, 2015). Indeed, the minimum interpersonal distance perceived as comfortable was broader when the PLW trajectory implied crossing than not crossing the mid-sagittal plane of the participants.…”

Social mindfulness in the real world: the physical presence of others induces other-regarding motivation

“…What is more, a marginally significant trend suggested that this could have negatively influenced the willingness to participate in our brief survey. It could feel somewhat intimidating or too invasive of one's personal space to be greeted by a complete stranger in an elevator, thus negatively impacting the influence of social context (Lockard, Mcvittie, & Isaac, 1977;Szpak et al, 2015).…”