Abstract
Previous research has shown that people have a preferred distance during
their in-person interactions. However, it is less clear what the appropriate distance
is for online interactions. The present study aimed to extend previous research by
exploring whether comfort distance is different between dyadic interactions when
taking place in a virtual online context compared with a virtual in-person context. The
study involved 44 undergraduate students who participated in a virtual reality
(VR) experiment, consisting of two conditions (an online and an in-person dyadic interaction). The participants were asked to adjust the distance between themselves and a virtual confederate displayed on a television screen (virtual online condition) and a virtual confederate displayed in-person (virtual in-person condition). The results showed that individuals select a larger distance from avatars for online interactions than for inperson interactions, prefer more distance between themselves and the screen than the distance between avatars and the screen, and opt for greater distance from male than from female confederates. These findings provide a deeper understanding of the dynamics of online social interactions and highlight the importance of context and perspective when studying proxemics.
their in-person interactions. However, it is less clear what the appropriate distance
is for online interactions. The present study aimed to extend previous research by
exploring whether comfort distance is different between dyadic interactions when
taking place in a virtual online context compared with a virtual in-person context. The
study involved 44 undergraduate students who participated in a virtual reality
(VR) experiment, consisting of two conditions (an online and an in-person dyadic interaction). The participants were asked to adjust the distance between themselves and a virtual confederate displayed on a television screen (virtual online condition) and a virtual confederate displayed in-person (virtual in-person condition). The results showed that individuals select a larger distance from avatars for online interactions than for inperson interactions, prefer more distance between themselves and the screen than the distance between avatars and the screen, and opt for greater distance from male than from female confederates. These findings provide a deeper understanding of the dynamics of online social interactions and highlight the importance of context and perspective when studying proxemics.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Japanese Psychological Research |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 9 Sept 2025 |