Personal space and privacy

StephenB.2006

So I've been to quite a few Asian countries, to Canada, to Mexico, and I live in the United States.

I've found that Asians have very little concept of personal space, are quite private in discussions, and don't really seem to care for privacy in terms of bathrooms, living quarters, etc.

Contrast this to the United States where getting within 2 feet of someone is akward, people carry on private discussions openly in public, and expect complete privacy in bathrooms and living arrangements.

Mexico, in my experience, falls somewhere in between.

I think it's all about population density. The more people live somewhere, the less certain things matter and the more you have to be mindful of other things. I think individualism and collectivism may also play a part.

Drez

Asia sounds a lot like prison.

Sentry

StephenB.2006 wrote: »

So I've been to quite a few Asian countries, to Canada, to Mexico, and I live in the United States.

I've found that Asians have very little concept of personal space, are quite private in discussions, and don't really seem to care for privacy in terms of bathrooms, living quarters, etc.

Contrast this to the United States where getting within 2 feet of someone is akward, people carry on private discussions openly in public, and expect complete privacy in bathrooms and living arrangements.

Mexico, in my experience, falls somewhere in between.

I think it's all about population density. The more people live somewhere, the less certain things matter and the more you have to be mindful of other things. I think individualism and collectivism may also play a part.

I think population density is probably the biggest indicator. That, and family. I mean, when you live in a house with your entire extended family, I would imagine any concept of privacy would go out the window anyway. I mean, imagine how many kids grow up today without having to share their bedroom? I doubt that's a world standard.

StephenB.2006

Not having to share a bedroom is being deprived of valuable life lessons.

Yar

Family sizes in the U.S. are going down while house sizes are going up. Not sure how that factors in.

But yeah, I think population density is one part, but also culture in general. We're a lot more "Don't fence me in" than many cultures are.

ElJeffe

Yar wrote: »

But yeah, I think population density is one part, but also culture in general. We're a lot more "Don't fence me in" than many cultures are.

Well, I'd wager that the "don't fence me in" thing has a lot to do with population density. Our nation has a long history of people setting out to expand and explore wide, open areas. The first 150 years of this country's experience was people moving from populated areas to the wild frontier. And even the last 100 years has seen people in sparsely populated areas expanding the available living area rather than increasing density. Us 'Mericans, we like us some space.

GoodOmens

I suspect that social attitudes about personal space are largely shaped by cultural mores about the importance of the individual and the collective.

In Asia (to vastly and ridiculously overgeneralize) there is must more emphasis on the importance of the group; individual space is therefore less important, and conversations are kept quiet because it's regarded as a negative to be the noisy, disruptive one.

The US, with its focus on the power of the individual, and the governmental limitations to protect privacy...it makes sense that it would filter into how we view our space and our right to blab on our cell phones in the middle of church.

StephenB.2006

I once believed that saying in East Asia with regards to such things was an over-generalization. I have since learned that it is not.

Shmoepong

I believe personal space is a byproduct of how well a part of you are to the community. I think it has little to do with population and more to do with the regional lifestyle that gave birth to a culture.

I volunteered two years in Kyrgyzstan (Central Asia) through Peace Corps and found the Kyrgyz to be highly communal. Communism can be cited to be a factor, but I think it's largely part of their nomadic culture (same with the Kazahk and Mongol cultures). They share everything: the family eats from the same large dinner plate, there is a village trike (no pun intended), and hospitality to strangers is the crux of their culture.

I never had any personal privacy, until I moved out of my host family's house. And even then I was still living in a glass fishbowl. I lived in a city center of an oblast (region) of about 20k people. Property was expected to be communal (boo), there were higher expectations of tolerance (yay) and even my personal preferences were expected to be widely known (I hate goat meat, rather speak in Russian than Kyrgyz, yes I think Kyrgyz women are hot, etc...).

While visiting the city, the people there hold individualism to a higher degree, but I think that's a result of wanting to be "more western". So they emulate the ideals on TV and what they find out through the newspapers/internet. The Russians also imported a lot of this individualism.

Despite the million people in the capital of Bishkek, most people still tend to keep to their village communal ways. I think this communal nature is rooted deep into their culture. I believe the Krygyz (dunno about other communal cultures) will accept individualism more with a stronger middle class.

I can go into more detail if you want, but I figure this is what I've seen in a nutshell.

MVMosin

Schmoepong: It's the communist influence. The place was awful ten years ago.

Drez: The Orient is a lot like prison. But prison isn't all that bad. That is, when you compare it to the Orient, it's not.

As for the US... I can respect a need for privacy, but personal space? Give me a break. In a public area, when I see someone sitting on a bench, I go sit down next to him or her, just because I find the reaction (Which is almost always *twitch*, *shift*, *leave*) hilarious.

Maybe it's just because I'm not particularly nice looking, but somehow I doubt it.

Shmoepong

It's funny though, because when I compare the lifestyles of the Russians living alongside the Kyrgyz, they're drastically different. Russians focused on helping their immediate families, whereas the Kyrgyz took their extended family into consideration. And I say this is cultural because even the language reflects this communal lifestyle: the Kyrgyz have a single word for your brother-in-law's sister. The Russian language hasn't adopted much of the local culture and won't reflect this sense of community.

Shifiting from a nomadic culture, to a communist regime, then back to a nomadic culture with communist overtones - culture has shown to hold more sway over people than ideas of soveriegnty.

Edit: When I got back, I wrecked American social barriers by talking to perfect strangers. It took time assimilating back into American culture. =p Or by sitting next to the only other person on the bus and starting a conversation as soon as I got on. I had no idea of personal privacy.

MVMosin

Shmoepong wrote: »

It's funny though, because when I compare the lifestyles of the Russians living alongside the Kyrgyz, they're drastically different. Russians focused on helping their immediate families, whereas the Kyrgyz took their extended family into consideration. And I say this is cultural because even the language reflects this communal lifestyle: the Kyrgyz have a single word for your brother-in-law's sister. The Russian language hasn't adopted much of the local culture and won't reflect this sense of community.

Shifiting from a nomadic culture, to a communist regime, then back to a nomadic culture with communist overtones - culture has shown to hold more sway over people than ideas of soveriegnty.

Edit: When I got back, I wrecked American social barriers by talking to perfect strangers. It took time assimilating back into American culture. =p Or by sitting next to the only other person on the bus and starting a conversation as soon as I got on. I had no idea of personal privacy.

Well those are Russians. Who the fuck cares about them?

Shinto

I don't think it has a lot to do with political ideology. I live in an area where a lot of the old towns were built around the American Revolution. They loved freedom - but made small crowded streets.

Cantido

ololol Jehova's Witnesses!