{"id":20054,"date":"2022-12-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-04T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=20054"},"modified":"2022-12-09T11:29:19","modified_gmt":"2022-12-09T10:29:19","slug":"why-do-lift-rides-with-strangers-feel-so-awkward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/2022\/12\/05\/why-do-lift-rides-with-strangers-feel-so-awkward\/","title":{"rendered":"Why do lift rides with strangers feel so awkward?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Why do lift rides with strangers feel so awkward?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

HANNAH WADE, BIRMINGHAM<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

Much of it has to do with personal space. A study by the University of Wroclaw in Poland asked people around the world at what distance they found the physical presence of a stranger to be uncomfortable. People in England were in the middle in terms of the spread of preferences and, for them, discomfort kicked in at anything closer than a metre \u2013 barely avoidable in many elevators. Another factor is the lack of a social script. From business interviews to doctor\u2019s appointments, we navigate many situations in life by playing a role and following expected norms. But just what is the appropriate conduct when you\u2019re nose-to-nose with a stranger in a lift \u2013 stare at the ground and pretend they\u2019re not there, or strike up small talk? The good news is research shows that a brief chat might not be as awkward as you expect. CJ<\/strong> <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n

<\/div>
\n

Email your questions to<\/span>
questions@sciencefocus.com<\/a>
or submit on Twitter<\/span>
@sciencefocus<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n

ILLUSTRATION: DANIEL BRIGHT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why do lift rides with strangers feel so awkward? HANNAH WADE, BIRMINGHAM Much of it has to do with personal space. A study by the University of Wroclaw in Poland asked people around the world at what distance they found the physical presence of a stranger to be uncomfortable. People in England were in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":20053,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"69","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"69","purple_seq_number":"2","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"2","purple_source_article":"article_69-2.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_69-2.xml","purple_source_issue":"December-2022","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"December-2022","purple_external_id":"December-2022-69-2","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"December-2022-69-2","purple_issue_code":"|0000089661||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000089661||","purple_android_product":"com.focus.magazine.issue385","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.focus.magazine.issue385","purple_ios_product":"com.focus.magazine.issue385","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.focus.magazine.issue385","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"0f422ad1-c939-476d-9f82-a410052ad4c3","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2022-12-05T12:12:23Z","apple_news_article-theme":"","apple_news_api_id":"373f0ee5-2be0-4322-a6f5-ec919bbc01ca","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2022-12-09T10:29:25Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAw==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/ANz8O5SvgQyKm9eyRm7wByg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":true,"apple_news_is_preview":true,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_article_theme":"","apple_news_sections":"[]"},"categories":[30],"tags":[15],"apple_news_notices":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/11\/9e2a0da5-8a56-40e7-8473-1c5373a35539.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"< 1","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/11\/9e2a0da5-8a56-40e7-8473-1c5373a35539.jpg",1445,2048,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/11\/9e2a0da5-8a56-40e7-8473-1c5373a35539-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/11\/9e2a0da5-8a56-40e7-8473-1c5373a35539-212x300.jpg",212,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/11\/9e2a0da5-8a56-40e7-8473-1c5373a35539-768x1088.jpg",768,1088,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/11\/9e2a0da5-8a56-40e7-8473-1c5373a35539-723x1024.jpg",723,1024,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/11\/9e2a0da5-8a56-40e7-8473-1c5373a35539-1084x1536.jpg",1084,1536,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/11\/9e2a0da5-8a56-40e7-8473-1c5373a35539.jpg",1445,2048,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Why do lift rides with strangers feel so awkward? HANNAH WADE, BIRMINGHAM Much of it has to do with personal space. A study by the University of Wroclaw in Poland asked people around the world at what distance they found the physical presence of a stranger to be uncomfortable. People in England were in the…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20054"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20054"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20054\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21092,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20054\/revisions\/21092"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}