Proxemic communication strategies

Proxemic communication deals with the ways that what is communicated in face-to-face conversations may go beyond the overt information being imparted. The communication may be influenced by degree of proximity and by non-verbal signals including touch, and varies between different cultures. Research in this field has been carried out on cross-cultural differences, and on interaction in counseling and clinical settings.

Proxemics is one of several subcategories of the study of nonverbal communication. Proxemics can be defined as "the interrelated observations and theories of man's use of space as a specialized elaboration of culture". The term was coined in 1963 by the cultural anthropologist Edward T. Hall.

In his work on proxemics, Hall separated his theory into two overarching categories: personal space and territory. Personal space describes the immediate space surrounding a person, while territory refers to the area which a person may "lay claim to" and defend against others.

According to Xu Lin’s article on Cultural Dimensions and Conversational Strategies, "Cultural factors have a great impact on conversational techniques", and there are two basic elements consisted in all conversations: informational and communicative. The informational function deals with passing information to another individual; this is known as the information focused element. Whereas, the communicative function deals with the social principle or aim in the conversation, also known as the element that deals with social relationships and drawing closer to people. Xu Lin studies the different classifications of nonverbal communication brought forth by Edward T. Hall (1959). The different dimensions brought forth by Xu Lin and Prabhu include: Intimate, Personal, Social and Public Distances.

One of the primary methods used among Kim, D., Pan, Y., & Park, H. (1998), Merkin, R. S. (2006), Albas, C. (1991) and Graves, J. R., & Robinson, J. D. included Likert-type measures of sampling. Participants would be given surveys, videotaped and observed while receiving responding to oral questions posed by formally dressed interviewers. Each study consisted of a controlled group and an experimental group and would measure each individual in a specific manner in order to bring forth accurate results. Each method included a sampling base of volunteers with cheap compensation such as a two dollar reward or extra credit in the class taking part in the experiment.

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