Observers at an airport coded the nonverbal behavior of 103 pairs composed of a traveler and someone who was greeting or saying goodbye to him or her. It was found: (1) The intimacy of the relationship between two people relates positively to both the likelihood they will be at the airport together (Rho = .74) and the non-verbal intimacy of their encounter (Rho = .54); (2) men tended to initiate touch with women more than vice versa; and (3) the general trend was for more intimate touching to be less frequent (Rho = -.42).
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
1. Kaplan, K. J.Structure and process in interpersonal "distancing." Paper presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Association, New Orleans, September 1974.
2.
2. Sundstrom, E., & Altman, I.Interpersonal factors and personal space: An extension of research findings. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Association, New Orleans, 1974.
3.
3. Arkkelin, D., & Russell, V.The effects of number, interpersonal distance, sex, and acquaintance level on affective responses of males and females. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, May 1978.
4.
4. Heslin, R., & Sung, Y.Bon appetit': Effect of relational congruence on arousal and food consumption. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society, St. Louis, November 1976.
5.
Argyle, M. , & Dean, J.Eye-contact, distance and affiliation. Sociometry, 1965, 28, 289-304.
6.
Coutts, L. M. , & Schneider, F. W.Affiliative conflict theory: An investigation of the intimacy equilibrium and compensation hypothesis. Journal of Personality' and Social Psychology, 1976, 34, 1135-1142.
7.
Goffman, E.Interaction Ritual. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1967.
8.
Henley, N. M.Status and sex: Some touching observations . Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 1973, 2, 91-93.
9.
Jourard, S. M.An exploratory study of body-accessibility . British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 1966, 5, 221-231.
10.
Little, K. B.Personal space . Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 1965, 1, 237-247.
11.
Little, K. B.Cultural variations on social schemata . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1968, 10, 1-7.
12.
Russo, N. F.Eye-contact, interpersonal distance, and the equilibrium theory . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1975, 3, 497-502.
