Physical distancing and the perception of interpersonal distance in the COVID-19 crisis

Abstract

AbstractIn the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been mandated to keep enlarged distances from others. We interviewed 136 German subjects over five weeks from the end of March to the end of April 2020 during the first wave of infections about their preferred interpersonal distance (IPD) before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to the pandemic, subjects adapted to distance requirements and preferred a larger IPD. This enlarged IPD was judged to partially persist after the pandemic crisis. People anticipated keeping more IPD to others even if there was no longer any risk of a SARS-CoV-2 infection. We also sampled two follow-up measurements, one in August, after the first wave of infections had been flattened, and one in October 2020, at the beginning of the second wave. Here, we observed that IPD varied with the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 within Germany. Overall, our data indicated that adaptation to distance requirements might happen asymmetrically. Preferred IPD rapidly adapted in response to distance requirements, but an enlargement of IPD may partially linger after the COVID-19 pandemic-crisis. We discuss our findings in light of proxemic theory and as an indicator for socio-cultural adaptation beyond the course of the pandemic.

Autoren

Robin Welsch
Marlene Wessels
Christoph Bernhard
Sven Thönes
Christoph von Castell

DOI

10.1038/s41598-021-90714-5

eISSN

2045-2322

Ausgabe der Veröffentlichung

1

Zeitschrift

Scientific Reports

Sprache

en

Artikelnummer

11485

Online publication date

2021

Status

Published online

Herausgeber

Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Herausgeber URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-90714-5

Datum der Datenerfassung

2022

Titel

Physical distancing and the perception of interpersonal distance in the COVID-19 crisis

Ausgabe der Zeitschrift

11

Data source: Crossref

Abstract

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been mandated to keep enlarged distances from others. We interviewed 136 German subjects over five weeks from the end of March to the end of April 2020 during the first wave of infections about their preferred interpersonal distance (IPD) before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to the pandemic, subjects adapted to distance requirements and preferred a larger IPD. This enlarged IPD was judged to partially persist after the pandemic crisis. People anticipated keeping more IPD to others even if there was no longer any risk of a SARS-CoV-2 infection. We also sampled two follow-up measurements, one in August, after the first wave of infections had been flattened, and one in October 2020, at the beginning of the second wave. Here, we observed that IPD varied with the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 within Germany. Overall, our data indicated that adaptation to distance requirements might happen asymmetrically. Preferred IPD rapidly adapted in response to distance requirements, but an enlargement of IPD may partially linger after the COVID-19 pandemic-crisis. We discuss our findings in light of proxemic theory and as an indicator for socio-cultural adaptation beyond the course of the pandemic.

Addresses

Human-Centered Ubiquitous Computing, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany. robin.welsch@um.ifi.lmu.de.

Autoren

Robin Welsch
Marlene Wessels
Christoph Bernhard
Sven Thönes
Christoph von Castell

DOI

10.1038/s41598-021-90714-5

eISSN

2045-2322

Externe Identifier

PubMed Identifier: 34075094
PubMed Central ID: PMC8169674

Funding acknowledgements

Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz:

Open access

true

ISSN

2045-2322

Ausgabe der Veröffentlichung

1

Zeitschrift

Scientific reports

Schlüsselwörter

Humans
Incidence
Bayes Theorem
Follow-Up Studies
Adaptation, Psychological
Social Isolation
Fear
Models, Psychological
Time Factors
Adolescent
Adult
Germany
Female
Male
Young Adult
Social Stigma
Pandemics
Surveys and Questionnaires
COVID-19
Physical Distancing

Sprache

eng

Medium

Electronic

Online publication date

2021

Open access status

Open Access

Paginierung

11485

Datum der Veröffentlichung

2021

Status

Published

Publisher licence

CC BY

Datum der Datenerfassung

2021

Titel

Physical distancing and the perception of interpersonal distance in the COVID-19 crisis.

Sub types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
research-article
Journal Article
Observational Study

Ausgabe der Zeitschrift

11

Files

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-90714-5.pdf https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC8169674?pdf=render

Data source: Europe PubMed Central

Abstract

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been mandated to keep enlarged distances from others. We interviewed 136 German subjects over five weeks from the end of March to the end of April 2020 during the first wave of infections about their preferred interpersonal distance (IPD) before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to the pandemic, subjects adapted to distance requirements and preferred a larger IPD. This enlarged IPD was judged to partially persist after the pandemic crisis. People anticipated keeping more IPD to others even if there was no longer any risk of a SARS-CoV-2 infection. We also sampled two follow-up measurements, one in August, after the first wave of infections had been flattened, and one in October 2020, at the beginning of the second wave. Here, we observed that IPD varied with the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 within Germany. Overall, our data indicated that adaptation to distance requirements might happen asymmetrically. Preferred IPD rapidly adapted in response to distance requirements, but an enlargement of IPD may partially linger after the COVID-19 pandemic-crisis. We discuss our findings in light of proxemic theory and as an indicator for socio-cultural adaptation beyond the course of the pandemic.

Date of acceptance

2021

Autoren

Robin Welsch
Marlene Wessels
Christoph Bernhard
Sven Thönes
Christoph von Castell

Autoren-URL

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34075094

DOI

10.1038/s41598-021-90714-5

eISSN

2045-2322

Externe Identifier

PubMed Central ID: PMC8169674

Ausgabe der Veröffentlichung

1

Zeitschrift

Sci Rep

Schlüsselwörter

Adaptation, Psychological
Adolescent
Adult
Bayes Theorem
COVID-19
Fear
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Germany
Humans
Incidence
Male
Models, Psychological
Pandemics
Physical Distancing
Social Isolation
Social Stigma
Surveys and Questionnaires
Time Factors
Young Adult

Sprache

eng

Country

England

Paginierung

11485

PII

10.1038/s41598-021-90714-5

Datum der Veröffentlichung

2021

Status

Published online

Datum, an dem der Datensatz öffentlich gemacht wurde

2021

Titel

Physical distancing and the perception of interpersonal distance in the COVID-19 crisis.

Sub types

Journal Article
Observational Study
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Ausgabe der Zeitschrift

11

Data source: PubMed

Author's licence

CC-BY

Autoren

Robin Welsch
Marlene Wessels
Christoph Bernhard
Sven Thönes
Christoph von Castell

Hosting institution

Universitätsbibliothek Mainz

Sammlungen

JGU-Publikationen

Resource version

Published version

DOI

10.1038/s41598-021-90714-5

File(s) embargoed

false

Open access

true

ISSN

2045-2322

Zeitschrift

Scientific reports

Schlüsselwörter

150 Psychologie
150 Psychology

Sprache

eng

Open access status

Open Access

Paginierung

11485

Datum der Veröffentlichung

2021

Public URL

https://openscience.ub.uni-mainz.de/handle/20.500.12030/6890

Herausgeber

Nature Publishing Group

Datum der Datenerfassung

2022

Datum, an dem der Datensatz öffentlich gemacht wurde

2022

Zugang

Public

Titel

Physical distancing and the perception of interpersonal distance in the COVID-19 crisis

Ausgabe der Zeitschrift

11

Files

physical_distancing_and_the_p-20220411113808181.pdf

Data source: OPENSCIENCE.UB

Physical distancing and the perception of interpersonal distance in the COVID-19 crisis

Files

Files

Tools