I am gathering research to support a question that I have had: Is there a correlation between personal space (bubbles) and cultural lexicons? Because lately I've been thinking that the cultures with the largest collective vocabulary have also the highest requirements for personal space, and cultures with relatively small collective vocabulary have small or nonexistent personal bubbles and is one because of the other or is there another factor that affects both?
Theories:
1. Greater need for personal space causes greater need for expressive vocabulary due to diminished attention to physical language cues with diminished proximity.
2. More expressive vocabulary diminishes need for physical language cues, thus diminishing need for the closer proximity required to read said cues.
3. Cultural factors affect both.
As a disclaimer, I am aware of the fluidity of languages and by no means assume that languages have limitations based on culture, or vice versa. I just have to set some sort of parameter, here.
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4 comments:
As a Japanese student, I would say this is most pertinent in the correlation between Japan and America.
Where here (stateside) we value personal space a bit more, so we separate ourselves socially and have a number of physical cues when we speak; there are also a number of subject considered taboo, and other social norms we take for granted.
All exchange students and my sensei I have encountered that it is much the opposite in Japan, where personal space is limited. The whole is considered more productive than the individual, so they cram into smaller living quarters and are more direct with their speech (including topics Americans might normally find taboo). They also have few to no gestures beyond bowing and nodding to accompany their speech.
The space between people, I think, could indeed have a direct correlation to the physical expressions a culture has to accompany its dialogue. I like where your head's at with this one.
Are you in Raina Joines' T/Th 2:00 class? I saw that one of your posts mentioned her and was just wondering because I'm in that class! :)
Haha...yes! Your blog cracks me up. And, as a side-note, I will totally join you in stealing Mr. Crutch's milk money.
This is a really interesting topic. I think maybe the personal space norm is a water ripple from the big cultural difference between Americans and a lot of other countries: individuality.
Americans probably require the most personal space compared to other cultures because of the fact that Americans are generally more individualized, selfish, and materialistic--disconnected from each other quite a bit. The social norm is to be distanced, and I feel like that probably impacts other branched out norms, such as personal space. Being a society of individuals makes intelligence more valuable to display, and in America there still exists a sort of "social class" structure. I'm sure that those with lower vocabulary skills expect less social distance than those who are perceived to be intelligent.
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