EXPLORATION OF ATTITUDES VIA PHYSICAL INTERPERSONAL DISTANCE TOWARD T H E OBESE, DRUG USERS, HOMOSEXUALS,

POIJCE AND OTHER MARGINAL FIGURES* AARON WOLFGANG AND JOAN WOLFGANG

The Onlario Institute for Studies in Education and University of Toronto

American Institutes for Research, Center for Research in Social Systems

PROBLEM The overall aim of the present studies was to explore attitudes via social dis-

tance toward groups with varying degrees of acceptance. “The body is the message”, to paraphrase a McLuhanism. Nonverbal bodily cues, such as facial expression, orientation, posture, and distance, reflect attitudes as surely as verbal behavior, according to recent experimental evidence. The less the distance a man maintains from another person, the more positive is his attitude towards

Actual interpersonal spatial behavior has been mirrored in paper-and-pencil figure placement tasks@). On such tasks, interpersonal distances have been shown to vary as a function of age, sex, race, and physical handicap of the object figures(’. 8 ) . The apparent advantages of these tests over the traditional attitude measures are ease of administration and amenability to objective measurement. In some ways, they resemble a projective test in that they are unstructured but in a social way and Ss cannot be certain that their responses are socially acceptable when position- ing their figures.

METHOD The Ss were 30 male students in an introduction to psychology

class from Fort Meade, Maryland whose mean age was 29.9 years (range 20-38) and mean education level 13.52 years (range: 12-17). They participated in a counter- balanced 2 X 4 repeated measures design with 15 replications in each condition, which included figure objects of both sexes and four figures differing in identity (normal, drug addict, police and obese).

Forty military personnel assigned to Walter Reed Army Medi- cal Center whose mean age was 23.1 years (range 17-41) and mean education 13.8 yr. (range 12-19) served in a 2 X 4 counterbalanced repeated measures design with 20 replications for each condition, which included two figures whose identity was viewed as present and former as well as four figures differing in identity (normal, marijuana user, heart disease patient, and homosexual).

TASK AND PROCEDURE In the interpersonal distance test, Ss were instructed to assume that the four

figures with differing identities represented persons whose names they knew, but who were not their very close friends. Ss were asked to draw a simple stick figure, representing themselves, at a distance from the other person at which they would feel most comfortable. On the theory that the intimacy level of a relationship is a joint function of eye-contact as well as physical proximity @), measurements were taken of the distance (mm.) between the heads of the S figure and object figure for each of the S’s drawings. At the end of the test, Ss were asked to write down what kind of thoughts would go through their minds if they met the figures with different identities who were the same age as themselves.

5, 6 ) .

Experiment 1 .

Experiment 2.

*This research was partially supported by the Defense Atomic Support Agency, ItMD 1.153 and was done while the senior author was a t the Walter Reed General Hospital and Walter R& Institute of Research, Division of Neuropsychiatry. The authors are grateful for the assistance of Miss Juanita Weaver and Daniel Hoeschen. Requests for reprints should be sent to Aaron Wolfgang, Department of Applied Psychology, The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 252 Bloor Street West, Toronto 181, Ontario, Canada.

EXPLORATION OF ATTITUDES VIA PHYSICAL INTERPERSONAL DISTANCE 51 1

Each of the S’s phrases was classified by two judges into three categories- positive, negative or nonjudgmental. Each phrase within the S’s answer reflecting a different point of view was scored as one response. That is, “I feel sorry for him, but I certainly wouldn’t want a homosexual for a friend”, would be scored as two responses. The first phrase would be classified with statements of sympathy (posi- tive), the latter with those of rejection (negative). Expressions of tolerance or curiosity, e.g., why a person has become a homosexual or a drug addict, are instances of phrases classified as nonjudgmental. The judges were in 98% agreement in classifying these phrases.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION In Experiment 1, the sex main effect was significant ( F = 4.91, df = 1/28,

p < .05), indicating that Ss positioned themselves closer to female than male figures. These results were consistent with those of Addis ( I ) , Mehrabian(6), and Wolfgang and Wolfgang ) .

The significant type of identity main effect ( F = 14.17, df = 3/84, p < .001) showed that Ss positioned themselves further from the obese and drug addict figures than from the normal and police figures. That Ss placed themselves sig- nificantly further from obese figures than from normal peers was consistent with past findings”‘

Content analysis of 8s’ statements about obese persons reflected the distance findings; Ss made twice as many negative statements as positive. Lack of control was cited as cause of obesity with a few respondents querying the emotional or glandular contributions, e.g., “. . . gland trouble or just a slob?” Female obese re- ceived suggestions to diet for the sake of health and appearance, but the over- whelming response was one of disgust, repulsion and avoidance. statements about drug addicts were also consistent with interpersonal distance findings. Again, more than twice as many negative coniments as positive were made. Feelings of appre- hension on contact and avoidance were common, as well as intense and widespread curiosity about drugs and the personal life of the addict. Again, the male respond- ents expressed more concern and eagerness to help the female addict than the male.

Ss positioned themselves significantly further from policewomen than fiom normal females ( p < .05), although they did not differentiate between normal males and policemen ( p < .05) according to a Duncan’s test. I n contrast to the positive tone taken toward policemen on the content analysis, women were seen as in- congruous and inept in the police role.

In Experiment 2, only the main effect of identity was significant ( F = 31.87, df = 3/114, p < .001), indicating that Ss positioned themselves closer to normals and heart disease patients than to marijuana users and homosexuals. The latter, who were differentiated spatially even from the marijuana users ( p < .OOl), were copiously damned by the Ss who found them repulsive and disgusting. Although the marijuana user was rejected, a good deal of curiosity and some tolerance were expressed. “It may be fun for the moment, but it’ll lead to a ruined life.” About the heart disease patient, not one unkind or uncomfortable expression was written.

That Ss did not position themselves closer to former marijuana users or former homosexuals (Fig. 1) was an indication that the identity of the figures could not be easily modified. The former homosexual evoked even greater distance ( p < .lo) than the homosexual, showing even greater uncertainty and distrust in the relation- ship. There was little optimism verbalized about change being possible for this figure.

Little or no differentiation was shown in attitudes toward the drug addict and marijuana smoker through interpersonal distance or verbalized feelings, according to data from Experiments 1 and 2. In the analyses of S’s statements, there ap- peared as many nonjudpmental remarks as positive and negative combined, with the majority expressing curiosity about the drugs and their effects on the persons.

5 12 AARON WOLFGANG AND JOAN WOLFGANG

FIG. 1. MEAN SOCIAL DISTANCE AS A FUNCTION O F FORMER AND P R E S E N T I D E N T l T Y O F F r G U n E . THE TIP OF THE NOSE IS THE SCALE INDICATOR OF MEAN SOCIAL DISTANCE. (EXPERIMENT 2)

MEAN SOCIAL DISTANCE (mm)

0 33 38 43 48 53 58 63 68 73 78 I I 1 I I I I I

SUBJECT HEART NORMAL MARIJUANA HOMOSEXUAL DISEASE USER

0 PATIENT 38 43 48 53 58 63 68 73 78 C X X X I 1 I I I I I I i

SUBJECT NORMAL FORMER FORMER HEART MARIJUANA

DISEASE USER PAT I ENT

FORMER HOMOSEXUAL

SUMMARY

In an exploration of attitudes through the use of interpersonal space, the major findings were (a) male Ss position themselves closer to female than to male figures, (b) Ss position themselves significantly further from marijuana users, drug addicts, obese persons, and homosexuals (present or former) than from normal peers, (c) there were no differences in interpersonal distance between normal peers, male police and heart disease patients, (d) Ss stood further from female police than female normals, (e) content analyses of positive and negative statements were in general agreement with interpersonal distance measures.

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