[The changes of physiological and cognitive responses caused by approaching of other person (author's transl)]

The changes of physiological responses (heart rate, eye blink) and subjective feelings (anxiety, tension, apparent size of the model) caused by approaching of other person (a model) were examined using two groups of subjects (eye-contact group and non eye-contact one). The results were as follows. (a) Eye-contact subjects tended to keep longer personal distances than non eye-contact ones. (b) Anxiety, tension, and apparent size of the model increased gradually as the model approached. In contrast the physiological responses increased abruptly at Distance 5, while decreasing slightly from Distance 1 to 4. (c) INDSCAL analysis revealed that the subjective indices formed one cluster but the heart rate and eye blink were situated differently. (d) Those who obtained high neurotic scores attributed exaggerated anxiety or tension to the situation. (e) The relation between eye blinks and tension reduction was discussed.