Eye Contact, Facial Expression, Sex, and the Violation of Personal Space

Two experiments carried out in a public elevator examined how variations in eye contact, facial expression, sex of subject and of experimental confederate affected the violation of personal space. The first experiment “forced” subjects (79 females and 105 males) to violate the personal space of male of female confederates who were either directing their gazes at the subjects or were avoiding eye contact by having their backs to entering passengers. In the first condition the confederates were both male while in the second condition both confederates were female. For male subjects, as eye contact increased from male and female confederates, violations of personal space decreased. Male subjects preferred to violate the personal space of the confederates who had their backs to them, regardless of the sex of the confederates. Female and male subjects responded similarly when the confederates were males. However, when the confederates were females, female subjects preferred to violate the space of the female confederate who gazed at them rather than the female confederate who had her back to them. In the second experiment the subjects (86 females and 90 males) were again “forced” to violate the personal space of two confederates of the same sex. In each of two conditions one of the confederates avoided gazing at entering subjects but the second confederate smiled while gazing directly at the entering subjects. Male subjects again preferred to violate the personal space of the confederate whose back was to them, regardless of the confederate's sex. Female subjects, however, preferred to violate the personal space of confederates who smiled while gazing directly at the entering subjects. This occurred for both male and female confederates.