Developmental Trends in Personal Space

Personal space scores were obtained for 11 males and females in each of six elementary school grades toward four stimulus persons: man, woman, boy, girl. An analysis of variance with sex, grade, and stimulus person as the main effects produced significant sex, grade, sex × grade, and sex × stimulus person effects. Males had a larger personal space than females at all grades and for all stimulus persons. The mean for male third graders was significantly different from all other means for males and females. A larger personal space for males than for females established by the third grade tended to remain until the sixth grade, although personal space tended to decline for both sexes. A consistent downward trend in personal space for females reversed itself in the sixth grade when the personal space for females increased to approximately the same distance as for male sixth graders. The personal space of males and females toward men, women, and same sexed children tended to be at about the same level. However, personal space toward opposite sexed children tended to be smaller.