Chapter 5: Proxemics: Engaging Personal Space and Interpersonal Distance

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. Proxemics is the nonverbal code that involves the use of personal space and interpersonal distance. Each person acquires a slightly different understanding of their own personal space based upon their ______.

A. comfort zone

B. own culture

C. conflict style

D. peripheral vision

Learning Objective: 5-1: Distinguish among the four zones of interpersonal distance.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Proxemics

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. The classification of the space ranging from 0–18 in. is known as the ______ zone.

A. intimate

B. personal/casual

C. social/consultative

D. public

Learning Objective: 5-1: Distinguish among the four zones of interpersonal distance.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Intimate Zone

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. Which of the following is an example of an intimate zone experience?

A. Harry enjoys playing a competitive game of chess with his dad.

B. Treyvon likes the privacy of his desk at work due to its location in a corner cubby behind partitions.

C. Constance attends a trade show at a large conference hotel in a nearby city. Her guestroom is on the 21st floor, so she experiences many interactions in crowded elevators.

D. On those rare occasions when Gwyneth finds the time to spend an entire day at the beach, she always looks for a space “two blankets” away from other beachgoers.

Learning Objective: 5-1: Distinguish among the four zones of interpersonal distance.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Intimate Zone

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. The difference between a comfortable interaction in your intimate zone and an uncomfortable interaction in your intimate zone depends on whether ______.

A. you know the other person’s name

B. the other person’s whole body or only a portion of their body is in the zone

C. you are well-rested and in a good state of mind

D. you have a close, trusting relationship with the other person

Learning Objective: 5-1: Distinguish among the four zones of interpersonal distance.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Intimate Zone

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. One of the distinguishing features of the intimate zone is that we have greater ______ each other.

A. interpersonal reaction towards

B. kinesthetic awareness of

C. individuation from

D. occasional contact with

Learning Objective: 5-1: Distinguish among the four zones of interpersonal distance.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Intimate Zone

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. The personal/casual zone ranges from ______.

A. 5–10 in.

B. 18 in. to about 4 ft.

C. 4–ft.

D. 26 in. to about 8 ft.

Learning Objective: 5-1: Distinguish among the four zones of interpersonal distance.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Personal/Casual Zone

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. Which of the following is an example of a personal/casual zone interaction?

A. Instead of sitting at the kitchen table, Jules prefers to sit on the couch beside her roommate Deb while they eat dinner and watch TV.

B. Lesley enjoys stopping by her neighborhood café every morning to pick up a latte and chat with the barista.

C. After his dad’s recent death, Charlie never missing the opportunity to give his mom a loving hug.

D. Daniel runs on the same bikeway everyday and never misses the chance to offer a quick wave “hello” to other runners.

Learning Objective: 5-1: Distinguish among the four zones of interpersonal distance.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Personal/Casual Zone

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. As compared to our intimate zone, our personal/casual zone ______.

A. is comprised of less available space

B. prohibits close interpersonal interactions

C. welcomes relatively many more individuals

D. is reserved for only our closest relationships

Learning Objective: 5-1: Distinguish among the four zones of interpersonal distance

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Personal/Casual Zone

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. The social/consultative zone distance of 4 feet is ______.

A. determined by the size of the average office desk

B. reflects the cultural concept of keeping someone “at arm’s length”

C. an arbitrary length determined by the theorist Edward T. Hall

D. only applicable in certain public settings

Learning Objective: 5-1: Distinguish among the four zones of interpersonal distance.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Social/Consultative Zone

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. Which of the following is an example of a social/consultative zone interaction?

A. Juanita and her boyfriend enjoy spending their Tuesday evenings at dance lessons learning how to Salsa.

B. Recently promoted to a management position, Martin visits an upscale men’s shop to have a tailor measure him for his first custom-made suit.

C. Angela works behind the front desk of her local library, where she enjoys greeting community members and checking out their choice of books.

D. At their favorite restaurant, Bobby and Joan always ask for a booth because they enjoy sitting together side-by-side.

Learning Objective: 5-1: Distinguish among the four zones of interpersonal distance.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Social/Consultative Zone

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. During social/consultative zone interactions we are generally comfortable keeping others “at arm’s length,” in contrast to public zone interactions where we are generally ______.

A. comfortable keeping others more than an arm’s length away, which is 4 feet.

B. comfortable maintaining a distance of 4 feet from uniformed public employees

C. uncomfortable with unknown others being closer than 8 feet

D. uncomfortable with uniformed public employees being closer than 6 feet

Learning Objective: 5-1: Distinguish among the four zones of interpersonal distance.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Public Zone

Difficulty Level: Medium

12. A proxemic violation can be defined as a/an ______.

A. situation that challenges our perception of what is acceptable interpersonal distance

B. situation that reinforces our perception of what is acceptable interpersonal distance

C. deliberate attempt by another to intimidate us through the use of coercive power

D. unintentional action by another that causes us to feel attacked and vulnerable

Learning Objective: 5-3: Describe the impact of expectancy violations on interpersonal attraction.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: PROXEMIC VIOLATIONS

Difficulty Level: Medium

13. To prepare for her biochemistry final, Cleo spends hours studying in a quiet corner of the library. When her friend Lawrence sees her sitting alone in deep concentration, he sneaks up behind her and places his hands on her shoulders. Cleo immediately jumps, her face flushes, and her heart starts racing because she is experiencing ______.

A. psychological attributes

B. psychological limitations

C. physiological proximity

D. physiological arousal

Learning Objective: 5-3: Describe the impact of expectancy violations on interpersonal attraction.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Physiological Arousal

Difficulty Level: Medium

14. The theory that suggests we form perceptions about people we interact with based on a combination of personal and situational characteristics that arise in each of our interactions with them is called ______ Theory.

A. expectation Volition

B. expectancy Violation

C. interactive Expectancy

D. interactive Violation

Learning Objective: 5-3: Describe the impact of expectancy violations on interpersonal attraction.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Perceptions and Expectancy Violations Theory

Difficulty Level: Medium

15. Jasmine enjoys touch and is comfortable keeping her good friends close. But when Stephan, who she only recently met, runs up to her at a party and throws his arms around her she feels extremely uncomfortable. Stephan has violated Jasmine’s sense of which of the following perceptual factors?

A. Deviation

B. Valence

C. Threat theory

D. Threat threshold

Learning Objective: 5-3: Describe the impact of expectancy violations on interpersonal attraction.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Deviation

Difficulty Level: Medium

16. According to Expectancy Violation Theory, we form perceptions about another person who has violated our expectations about interpersonal distance based on valence when we consider ______.

A. the intention of that violator and their ability to make amends

B. how often the other person commits the violation

C. the ability of that violator to offer us either rewards or punishment

D. the context within which the violations takes place

Learning Objective: 5-3: Describe the impact of expectancy violations on interpersonal attraction.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Valence

Difficulty Level: Medium

17. The third factor of Expectancy Violation Theory involves the “threat threshold” of ______.

A. the person being violated

B. the person committing the violation

C. highly sensitive people

D. socially responsible people

Learning Objective: 5-3: Describe the impact of expectancy violations on interpersonal attraction.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Threat threshold

Difficulty Level: Easy

18. The term for the motivation to interact with those people who have characteristics in common with ourselves is ______.

A. sincerity

B. agreeable

C. homoserine

D. homophily

Learning Objective: 5-2: Understand how proximity may lead to perceptions of similarity.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Similarity

Difficulty Level: Easy

19. One of the reasons that we select to have a relationship with another person because of perceptions of similarity is an attempt to ______.

A. reduce uncertainty

B. increase uncertainty

C. avoid certainty

D. expose certainty

Learning Objective: 5-2: Understand how proximity may lead to perceptions of similarity.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Similarity

Difficulty Level: Easy

20. Jenna decides to wear a tailored shirt and skirt the first day of class because she wants to feel like the business professional she is studying to become. When Jenna sees that her classmates are all dressed in jeans and t-shirts, she fears she has made a big mistake. However when Allison arrives in similar attire, scans the room, and makes meaningful eye contact with Jenna, her fear fades away. Jenna knows she has found a new friend in Allison due to their ______.

A. dress code

B. similarity

C. proximity

D. expectancy

Learning Objective: 5-2: Understand how proximity may lead to perceptions of similarity.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Similarity

Difficulty Level: Medium

21.We tend to develop relationships with individuals who we perceive to be unusual or unique ______.

A. when the situation requires that we interact with them

B. when the other person possesses higher status that offers us rewards

C. only after we determine that we have base level of similarity

D. only when we determine that they are equally attracted to us

Learning Objective: 5-2: Understand how proximity may lead to perceptions of similarity.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Difference

Difficulty Level: Medium

22. We perceive individuals to be similar to us if they share character traits with us. By way of contrast, we perceive individuals to be complementary to us if they appear to ______.

A. be different from us in every way

B. be similar to our closest family members

C. possess unusual or unique character traits

D. possess character traits we wish we had

Learning Objective: 5-2: Understand how proximity may lead to perceptions of similarity.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Difference

Difficulty Level: Medium

23. Which of the following is an example of a relationship that reflects complementarity?

A. Joan and Janet are identical twins who look so much alike that even their own parents often mistakenly refer to one of them with the other’s name.

B. Sunil joined a local environmental club and during his first hiking event he walked for miles alongside Jamie. They quickly became good friends.

C. Emily works full time to help pay for college, which leaves little time or money to pursue her passion for travel. When she meets Jacques, an international student who has traveled throughout Europe, she enjoys listening to his adventures.

D. Daphne grew up in an ideologically progressive home where both of her parents were active in local politics. When her history professor assigns her to complete a project with Larry, who grew up in an ideologically conservative home with a worldview diametrically opposed to her own, she finds every communication challenging.

Learning Objective: 5-2: Understand how proximity may lead to perceptions of similarity.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Difference

Difficulty Level: Medium

24. ______ is the term used to describe the situation that emerges when an individual is more likely to be attracted to things that they see frequently relative to those things that are rarely or never seen.

A. Mere exposure effect

B. More exposure effect

C. Mere exposure impact

D. More exposure impact

Learning Objective: 5-2: Understand how proximity may lead to perceptions of similarity.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Proximity

Difficulty Level: Easy

25. In an effort to seem more similar to a desirable person or to make it clear that we are indeed different from another person, we often make changes in our ______.

A. distance from that person

B. association habits

C. nonverbal behaviors

D. verbal behaviors

Learning Objective: 5-2: Understand how proximity may lead to perceptions of similarity.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Proximity

Difficulty Level: Medium

True/False

1. While the agreed to amount distance considered “good manners” varies by culture, there is a near-universal understanding that exhibiting “good manners” requires some amount of distance.

Learning Objective: 5-1: Distinguish among the four zones of interpersonal distance.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: PROXEMICS

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Communication theorist Edward T. Hall is best known for describing four different classifications of approximate interaction distances.

Learning Objective: 5-1: Distinguish among the four zones of interpersonal distance.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: PROXEMICS

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. Ranging from 0 inches to 18 inches, the personal/casual zone is the closest designation of interpersonal distances.

Learning Objective: 5-1: Distinguish among the four zones of interpersonal distance.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Intimate Zone

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. Rather than being a perfect sphere, the personal/casual zone is often described as an egg-shaped bubble surrounding each person.

Learning Objective: 5-1: Distinguish among the four zones of interpersonal distance.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Personal/casual Zone

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. Because its relatively close proximity requires a degree of trust, people in our social/consultative zone are typically people we feel comfortable with or even people that we know quite well.

Learning Objective: 5-1: Distinguish among the four zones of interpersonal distance.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Personal/casual Zone

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. The public zone ranges anywhere above 6 feet and is where we are most comfortable keeping unknown others with no professional obligations

Learning Objective: 5-1: Distinguish among the four zones of interpersonal distance.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Public Zone

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. A proxemic violation is most likely to occur when where we experience a challenge

to our notion of acceptable interpersonal distance.

Learning Objective: 5-3: Describe the impact of expectancy violations on interpersonal attraction.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: PROXEMIC VIOLATIONS

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. In Western cultures, such as Europe and North America, residents tend to prefer relatively larger proxemic distances than those observed in other cultures.

Learning Objective: 5-3: Describe the impact of expectancy violations on interpersonal attraction.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: PROXEMIC VIOLATIONS

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. At home Samantha has her own bedroom, but when she attends college she has to share a tiny dorm room with her new college roommate. Samantha’s subsequent difficulty sleeping and concentrating may be attributed to a fight or flight reaction due to her perception of a proxemic violation.

Learning Objective: 5-3: Describe the impact of expectancy violations on interpersonal attraction.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: PROXEMIC VIOLATIONS

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. The biological and emotional responses to proxemics violations that one person is experiencing are immediately observable to other people in his or her environment.

Learning Objective: 5-3: Describe the impact of expectancy violations on interpersonal attraction.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: PROXEMIC VIOLATIONS

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. When a proxemic violation occurs, we make judgments about the other person based on the perceived intensity of the threat, our attitude toward the violator, and our own individual and cultural experiences.

Learning Objective: 5-3: Describe the impact of expectancy violations on interpersonal attraction.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: PROXEMIC VIOLATIONS

Difficulty Level: Medium

12. Our initial perceptions of similarity with another person are almost always proven to be reliable over time.

Learning Objective: 5-2: Understand how proximity may lead to perceptions of similarity.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Similarity

Difficulty Level: Medium

13. Our motivation to be in a relationship with a person who is similar to ourselves is secondary to our motivation to be in relationship with a person who is unusual or unique.

Learning Objective: 5-2: Understand how proximity may lead to perceptions of similarity.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Difference

Difficulty Level: Medium

14. When we desire a relationship with a person who complements us, we are generally seeking traits or behaviors that we perceive they possess and we’re lacking in.

Learning Objective: 5-2: Understand how proximity may lead to perceptions of similarity.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Difference

Difficulty Level: Medium

15. When Jesse first met Hank, he “ticked off all of her boxes.” He was smart, fit, and ambitious - and also shared her sense of humor. She quickly moved him from the category of potential friend to potential partner demonstrating impact of matching schemata.

Learning Objective: 5-2: Understand how proximity may lead to perceptions of similarity

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Proximity

Difficulty Level: Medium

Essay

1. Identify and describe, using an example that includes nonverbal behaviors, the characteristics of each of Edward T. Hall’s four zones of interaction distance.

Learning Objective: 5-1: Distinguish among the four zones of interpersonal distance.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: PROXEMICS

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Compare differences in the perception of proxemic violation between Western and Asian cultures and explain how these differences may result in challenges to cross-cultural interpersonal communication.

Learning Objective: 5-3: Describe the impact of expectancy violations on interpersonal attraction.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: PROXEMIC VIOLATIONS

Difficulty Level: Hard

3. Drawing on the valence factor of Expectancy Violation Theory, compare the impact on an individual in an interaction with a proxemic violator who offers rewards in contrast to the impact on an individual in an interaction with a proxemic violator who offers punishment.

Learning Objective: 5-3: Describe the impact of expectancy violations on interpersonal attraction.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: PROXEMIC VIOLATIONS

Difficulty Level: Hard

4. What factors differentiate a relationship based on similarity from a relationship based on complementarity?

Learning Objective: 5-2: Understand how proximity may lead to perceptions of similarity.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: INTERACTIONAL MOTIVATIONS
Difficulty Level: Hard

5. Using an example from your personal experience, illustrate impact of the “mere exposure effect” on the development of interpersonal relationships.

Learning Objective: 5-2: Understand how proximity may lead to perceptions of similarity.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Proximity

Difficulty Level: Medium