Nonverbal Compensatory Reactions to Changes in Interpersonal Proximity

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Abstract
The present study investigated Argyle and Dean's hypothesis that for any pair of interactants, a change in one of the nonverbal components of intimacy on the part of one person elicits in the other a compensatory shift in one or more of the components. Following an initial interview session, 40 female Ss were confronted with a female interviewer (I) who either increased, decreased, or maintained the same face-to-face seating distance as she did in the first session. As predicted, when the I moved closer, Ss looked at her less and smiled less. Conversely, when the I moved farther away, Ss looked at her more, smiled more, leaned forward, and oriented themselves more directly. Such compensatory reactions may be interpreted as an attempt to re-establish the previous intimacy equilibrium.