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Survey finds bizarre difference between Americans and Canadians when interacting with strangers
A recent study investigating the amount of preferred personal space people have around the world has found some notable differences between English-speaking countries.
There are countless stereotypes and beliefs about people from different countries and how comfortable they are around strangers. For example, if an American tried to talk to a British person in an elevator, it would likely leave the Brit with nightmares for the foreseeable future.
Study examines the amount of preferred personal space around the world
Conducted by the online language platform Preply, the study examined how close people from around the world stood apart from others, depending on whether they were strangers, acquaintances and close friends.
The study then ranked the countries based on their personal space preferences.
When meeting with strangers, Romanians came out with the largest gap between people at 139.6 cm (54.9 inches) while Austrians were much closer at just 71.6 cm (28.2 inches).
People from Hungary kept a respectful 108.9 cm (42.9 inches) apart from acquaintances while Swedish people stayed closer at a much cozier 51.3 cm.
And finally, for close friends, Saudi Arabia kept the largest distance at 97.5 cm while Austrians got much closer at just 30.3 cm (20.2 inches).
How the US compares to other English-speaking countries
One of the most fascinating aspects of the study into preferred personal space is the different habits of people from primarily English-speaking countries such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia.
Americans are stereotypically thought of as being outgoing to many around the world and the data in the study does back this up compared with people from Canada and the UK, but what is surprising is that Australians will typically stand even closer to people.
When standing next to a stranger, Canadians will keep the biggest distance at 103.2 cm (40.6 inches), Brits will stand a little closer at 99.4 cm (39.1 inches), Americans at 95.4 cm (37.6 inches) and Aussies will stand just 77.3 cm away (30.4 inches).
This trend continues through the various other groups too, with Canadians standing 85.5 cm (33.7 inches) away from acquaintances, people from the UK staying 80.8 cm (31.8 inches) apart, Americans will be closer at 68.7 cm (27 inches) but Australians will be nearer still at 62.1 cm (24.4 inches).
For close friends, Canadians will stand 74.5 cm (29.3 inches) apart (a similar figure to Australians standing next to a stranger) while Brits will be 56 cm (22 inches) apart, Americans at 47.7 cm (18.8 inches) and Australians will be right up in each others faces in comparison at just 42.4 cm (16.7 inches).
