A Expectancy Violations Theory Discussion

Reasons for Defying Social Standards

One of the reasons why people defy social standards and still come out well is culture and individual familiarity with communication techniques. Normal communication norms, roles, and practices, as well as a person’s particular understanding of those standards, can open up spaces where personal space can be violated. While certain cultural standards forbid it, others permit people to invade one another’s personal space. For instance, the degree of personal space anticipated can depend on what the culture expects of a certain gender, age, or place of origin. In most situations, women are expected to stand closer to one another than men. According to Littlejohn & Foss (2009), relationships such as attraction, marital status and familial relationships can be significant determiners of personal space. Most people perceive that the distance that a person allows the other to keep from him or her is an indicator of their closeness. In most cases, people allow those that they are closely related to come closer to them than those that are unrelated. The case applies to scenarios where people are highly emotional. For example, it is a norm for lovers to press their torsos against each other as an indicator of their closeness. Such beliefs allow people to encroach into the intimate zones of one another. People are also expected to breach personal space under different context. People that are seated are expected to have different interactions from those that are standing.

Consequences of Invading Personal Space

In general, people that intrude into personal space are insensitive, and disrespectful. They can also be referred to as anti- proxemics because they fail to honour territoriality exhibited by their colleagues. They can also be referred to as anti-haptics because they violate limitations of nonverbal communication such as holding hands, backslapping, and kissing.

References

Littlejohn, S. W., & Foss, K. A(Eds), Burgon J. (2009). Encyclopedia of communication theory. Los Angeles, Calif: Sage.