Monday, November 14, 2011

NEED MORE PERSONAL SPACE?

Living in an iBubble
One more reason the MP3 player is an essential urban tool: Listening to pleasant music through headphones shrinks your "personal space," making you more tolerant of people standing close to you. (click below to read more)


Participants listened through headphones to instrumental music that inspired positive or negative emotions—or they wore headphones as no music played. A researcher slowly approached a participant, who signaled when he or she found the closeness uncomfortable. The experiment was repeated as music played through loudspeakers.
People listening to positive music through headphones tolerated people at a nearer distance (about 23.5 inches) than when there was no music (26 inches). The contrast with negative music played on a public speaker was even greater: People in that situation drew the line at about 30 inches.
Other studies have shown that the notion of personal space varies by culture; this one showed that it can be altered by personal technology.
"I-Space: The Effects of Emotional Valence and Source of Music on Interpersonal Distance," Ana Tajadura-Jiménez and four other authors, PLoS ONE (October)

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