Interpersonal distance during real-time social interaction: insights from subjective experience, behavior, and physiology
Open accessAbstract
Physical distance is a prominent feature in face-to-face social interactions and allows regulating social encounters. Close interpersonal distance (IPD) increases emotional responses during interaction and has been related to avoidance behavior in social anxiety. However, a systematic investigation of the effects of IPD on subjective experience combined with measures of physiological arousal and behavioral responses during real-time social interaction has been missing. Virtual Reality allows for a controlled manipulation of IPD while maintaining naturalistic social encounters. The present study investigates IPD in social interaction using a novel paradigm in Virtual Reality. Thirty-six participants approached virtual agents and engaged in short interactions. IPD was varied between 3.5 and 1 m by manipulating the distance at which agents reacted to the participant's approach. Closer distances were rated as more arousing, less pleasant, and less natural than longer distances and this effect was significantly modulated by social anxiety scores. Skin conductance responses were also increased at short distances compared to longer distances. Finally, an interaction of IPD and social anxiety was observed for avoidance behavior, measured as participants' backward motion during interaction, with stronger avoidance related to close distances and high values of social anxiety. These results highlight the influence of IPD on experience, physiological response, and behavior during social interaction. The interaction of social anxiety and IPD suggests including the manipulation of IPD in behavioral tests in Virtual Reality as a promising tool for the treatment of social anxiety disorder.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Strict standardization of exposures across patients allows closer examination of core mechanisms of therapeutic change, identification of key elements of the exposure experience, and correlation with behavioral or physiological data at high temporal resolution.
“This way, the strict standardization of exposures across patients allows to more closely examine the core mechanisms that drive therapeutic change in exposure therapy, to identify key elements of the exposure experience, and to correlate them with behavioral or physiological data at an immense temporal resolution that would be impossible in most in vivo settings (cf. Kroczek et al., 2020).”
From Virtual Reality exposure therapy in the treatment of public speaking anxiety and social anxiety disorder (2024) · cites this paper as Kroczek et al., 2020
Split into 2 atoms — 0 confirmed, 2 partially supported, 0 disputed, 0 misattributed, 0 unverifiable. Expand the claim to see per-atom verdicts.
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
A Simple Sequentially Rejective Multiple Test Procedure
(1979) · Scandinavian Journal of Statistics · doi:10.2307/4615733 · Cited by 21,526 · see citing works
A Real-Time QRS Detection Algorithm
Pan, J., & Tompkins, W. J. (1985) · IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering · doi:10.1109/tbme.1985.325532 · Cited by 7,855 · see citing works
On Methods in the Analysis of Profile Data
Greenhouse, S. W., & Geisser, S. (1959) · Psychometrika · doi:10.1007/bf02289823 · Cited by 4,946 · see citing works
Spielberger, C. D. (2010) · The Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology · doi:10.1002/9780470479216.corpsy0943 · Cited by 2,535 · see citing works
The Experience of Presence: Factor Analytic Insights
Schubert, T., Friedmann, F., & Regenbrecht, H. (2001) · Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments · doi:10.1162/105474601300343603 · Cited by 2,303 · see citing works
Psychometric properties of the Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN): New self-rating scale
Connor, K. M., Davidson, J. R. T., Churchill, L. E., Sherwood, A., Weisler, R. H., & Foa, E. (2000) · British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.176.4.379 · Cited by 1,624 · see citing works
Social anxiety and self-presentation: A conceptualization model.
Schlenker, B. R., & Leary, M. R. (1982) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.92.3.641 · Cited by 1,590 · see citing works
Mechanisms of Social Cognition
Frith, C. D., & Frith, U. (2012) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-120710-100449 · Cited by 973 · see citing works
Production of subject-verb agreement, tense, mood, and negation in Italian agrammatic aphasia.
Valantis, F., Semenza, C., Rita, C., Marialuisa, G., Serena, D. P., Giorgio, A., Francesca, B., Anna, M., Nicola, S., & Gabriele, M. (2015) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/conf.fpsyg.2015.65.00011 · Cited by 872 · see citing works
Social phobia: the role of in-situation safety behaviors in maintaining anxiety and negative beliefs
Wells, A., Clark, D. M., Salkovskis, P., Ludgate, J., Hackmann, A., & Gelder, M. (1995) · Behavior Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7894(05)80088-7 · Cited by 548 · cited 2× · see citing works
“One could speculate that this might be the case because HSA persons are more likely to evaluate social interactions on the basis of their own subjective experience and not on the basis of social cues provided by their interaction partners (13).”
BackgroundPreferred interpersonal distances: A global comparison
Sorokowska, A., Sorokowski, P., Hilpert, P., Cantarero, K., Frackowiak, T., Ahmadi, K., Alghraibeh, A. M., Aryeetey, R., Bertoni, A., Bettache, K., et al. (2017) · Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology · doi:10.1177/0022022117698039 · Cited by 468 · see citing works
Role of facial expressions in social interactions
Frith, C. (2009) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2009.0142 · Cited by 461 · see citing works
Personal space regulation by the human amygdala
Kennedy, D. P., Gläscher, J., Tyszka, J. M., & Adolphs, R. (2009) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nn.2381 · Cited by 450 · see citing works
Bouchard, S., Dumoulin, S., Robillard, G., Guitard, T., Klinger, É., Forget, H., Loranger, C., & Roucaut, F. X. (2017) · British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.116.184234 · Cited by 354 · see citing works
Personal space: An evaluative and orienting overview.
Hayduk, L. A. (1978) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.85.1.117 · Cited by 251 · see citing works
Mauss, I. B., Wilhelm, F. H., & Gross, J. J. (2004) · Cognition & Emotion · doi:10.1080/02699930341000112 · Cited by 240 · see citing works
Electromyographic responses to static and dynamic avatar emotional facial expressions
Weyers, P., Mühlberger, A., Hefele, C., & Pauli, P. (2006) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.2006.00451.x · Cited by 236 · see citing works
Self-citationPersonal space: An evaluative and orienting overview.
Hayduk, L. A. (1978) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037//0033-2909.85.1.117 · Cited by 182 · see citing works
Social Proximity Effects on Galvanic Skin Responses in Adult Humans
McBride, G., King, M. G., & James, J. W. (1965) · The Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1080/00223980.1965.10544805 · Cited by 179 · see citing works
Hecht, H., Welsch, R., Viehoff, J., & Longo, M. R. (2019) · Acta Psychologica · doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2018.12.009 · Cited by 144 · see citing works
Lloyd, D. M. (2009) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2008.09.007 · Cited by 128 · see citing works
Don’t stand so close to me: a behavioral and ERP study of preferred interpersonal distance
Perry, A., Rubinsten, O., Peled, L., & Shamay-Tsoory, S. G. (2013) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.07.042 · Cited by 118 · see citing works
Virtual Social Interactions in Social Anxiety—The Impact of Sex, Gaze, and Interpersonal Distance
Wieser, M. J., Pauli, P., Grosseibl, M., Molzow, I., & Mühlberger, A. (2010) · Cyberpsychology Behavior and Social Networking · doi:10.1089/cyber.2009.0432 · Cited by 115 · see citing works
Self-citationSosic-Vasic, Z., Gieler, U., & Stangier, U. (2007) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2007.08.011 · Cited by 115 · see citing works
Adrian Wells, A., Clark, D. M., Salkovskis, P. M., Ludgate, J. W., Hackmann, A., & Gelder, M. (2016) · Behavior Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.beth.2016.08.010 · Cited by 96 · see citing works
Trier Social Stress Test in vivo and in virtual reality: Dissociation of response domains.
Shiban, Y., Diemer, J., Brandl, S., Zack, R., Mühlberger, A., & Wüst, S. (2016) · International Journal of Psychophysiology · doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2016.10.008 · Cited by 95 · see citing works
Self-citationMcCall, C., Blascovich, J., Young, A. F., & Persky, S. (2009) · Social Influence · doi:10.1080/15534510802517418 · Cited by 93 · see citing works
McCall, C., & Singer, T. (2015) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0117532 · Cited by 84 · see citing works
Social anxiety predicts avoidance behaviour in virtual encounters
Rinck, M., Rörtgen, T., Lange, W., Dotsch, R., Wigboldus, D. H. J., & Becker, E. S. (2009) · Cognition & Emotion · doi:10.1080/02699930903309268 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
Lange, B., & Pauli, P. (2019) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0226805 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Self-citationArousal, valence, and the uncanny valley: psychophysiological and self-report findings
Cheetham, M., Wu, L.-D., Pauli, P., & Jäncke, L. (2015) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00981 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Aiello, J. R. (1972) · Psychonomic Science · doi:10.3758/bf03328982 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
The anisotropy of personal space
Welsch, R., von Castell, C., & Hecht, H. (2019) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0217587 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
Spatial proximity amplifies valence in emotional memory and defensive approach-avoidance
Åhs, F., Dunsmoor, J. E., Zielinski, D. J., & LaBar, K. S. (2014) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2014.12.018 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Mapping Social Interactions: The Science of Proxemics
McCall, C. (2015) · Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · doi:10.1007/7854_2015_431 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Perry, A., Lwi, S. J., Verstaen, A., Dewar, C. D., LEVENSON, R. W., & Knight, R. T. (2016) · Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience · doi:10.1093/scan/nsw109 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Silberman, J., Wang, C., Mason, S. T., Schwartz, S. M., Hall, M., Morrissette, J. L., Tu, X. M., & Greenhut, J. (2015) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0123910 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- [31]Mori M The Uncanny Valley: The Original Essay by Masahiro Mori - IEEE Spectrum. Energy (1970).
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Seuling, P. D., Czernin, N. S., & Schiele, M. A. (2024) · Neuroscience Applied · doi:10.1016/j.nsa.2024.104074 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
“…the core mechanisms that drive therapeutic change in exposure therapy, to identify key elements of the exposure experience, and to correlate them with behavioral or physiological data at an immense temporal resolution that would be impossible in most in vivo settings (cf. Kroczek et al., 2020).”
- Authors
- Kroczek, L. O. H., Pfaller, M., Lange, B., Müller, M., & Mühlberger, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Regensburg (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Kroczek, Leon O. H.
- Venue
- Frontiers in Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2020-06-12
- Volume
- 11
- Pages
- 561-561
- ISSN
- 1664-0640 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7304233
- OpenAlex
- W3034475656
- Cited by
- 67
- References
- 37
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 1 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 5.46
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Frontiers in Psychiatry (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- University of Regensburg Publication Server (University of Regensburg) (acceptedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
- University of Regensburg Publication Server (University of Regensburg)
- Funders
- Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (16SV7839K)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Social Robot Interaction and HRI
- Keywords
- interpersonal distance, social anxiety, social anxiety disorder, virtual reality, virtual agents, skin conductance, physiological arousal, avoidance behavior, subjective experience, face-to-face social interaction
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
