Lesson 3.2.2.4.3

3.2.2.4.3 Personal space: cultural, status and gender differences Quiz: AQA Psychology, Unit 6

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 3.2.2.4.3, Personal space: cultural, status and gender differences: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA GCSE Psychology (8182), Unit 6: Language, thought and communication, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. What is personal space?

    • The amount of time a person spends alone each day, measured in hours of quiet activity
    • The room in a house set aside for one person to sleep in and store belongings in daily life
    • The distance between two cities that a person travels regularly for work or study
    • The area around a person that they feel comfortable keeping between themselves and others

  2. Which of these is an example of cultural difference in personal space?

    • People from all cultures avoid touching each other, so personal space is always the same
    • People from all cultures stand exactly the same distance apart, since it is fixed by biology
    • People from some cultures never stand in the same room together at all
    • People from some cultures stand closer together during conversation than people from others

  3. How might status affect personal space?

    • Higher-status people are sometimes allowed to invade the personal space of lower-status people more than the reverse
    • Lower-status people are always allowed to stand closer to higher-status people than the reverse
    • Status has no effect, since only physical size determines how close people stand together
    • People of equal status always stand a fixed distance apart, set at exactly one metre

  4. How might gender differences in personal space be described in the specification's terms?

    • Research shows only men have personal space, while women are happy to be touched by strangers
    • Research shows gender has no effect on personal space, which is controlled entirely by age
    • Research shows men and women always keep exactly the same distance in every social context
    • Research suggests differences exist, such as women and men keeping different distances in some situations

  5. A person backs away when someone stands very close during a conversation. What does this most likely show?

    • That they are asleep and reacting automatically to the touch of a nearby object
    • That they want to be closer and begin a physical embrace during the talk
    • That their personal space has been crossed, causing discomfort and a move to restore distance
    • That they have been asked to leave the room by the other person's posture and tone

  6. What does 'proxemics' describe?

    • The study of how people use and perceive the space around them in social interaction
    • The study of how words are formed from sounds and combined into meaningful speech in daily life
    • The study of how the brain processes visual information to produce a sense of depth
    • The study of how the body responds to stress by increasing heart and breathing rate

  7. Hall described four zones: intimate, personal, social and public. Which zone is most likely used for a conversation with a stranger at a bus stop?

    • The personal zone, typically used for conversations with close friends and family members in daily life
    • The social zone, typically used for impersonal interactions with people one does not know well
    • The public zone, typically used for speeches to large audiences at a distance
    • The intimate zone, typically used for close physical contact with family or romantic partners

  8. Which factor is NOT listed in the specification as affecting personal space?

    • Cultural background, which affects how close people usually stand when talking
    • The weather at the time of the interaction, which has no documented link to positioning
    • Gender, which affects the distance people tend to keep in some social settings
    • Status, which affects whether a person is able to come closer to another in conversation

  9. Why might researchers find it difficult to measure personal space in a laboratory?

    • Personal space cannot be measured at all, since it exists only in the observer's mind
    • Labs are always too large for people to stand close together, so no closeness can be recorded
    • Behaviour in a lab may differ from real life, and people may not act naturally when observed
    • People always stand at exactly the same distance in labs, so there is no variation to measure

  10. A student from a culture where people stand far apart feels uneasy when a teacher from a culture where people stand close approaches. Which explanation fits?

    • A cultural difference in expected distance, so the teacher's closeness is unfamiliar to the student
    • A genetic difference in how far each person can see, so close distances look threatening
    • A difference in shoe size, which changes how much room each person needs to stand comfortably
    • A difference in age, since older people always invade the space of younger people at school

  11. Which observation best supports the claim that personal space varies by culture?

    • Conversational distances are the same in all cultures, showing personal space is set by biology alone
    • Conversational distances vary randomly from person to person, so no pattern exists across cultures in daily life
    • Conversational distances are consistently closer in some cultures than in others, in line with their norms
    • Conversational distances are equal only for people who speak the same language, not across cultures

  12. In a crowded lift, people stand closer than they normally would. Which idea best explains why they tolerate this?

    • Norms around personal space can relax when the situation makes close proximity unavoidable
    • Norms around personal space are set by the lift company's rules for everyone in the building
    • Norms around personal space are controlled by the lift's speed, which pushes people together
    • Norms around personal space disappear when people share a room, so no discomfort is felt

  13. Which of these shows status influencing personal space?

    • Two people of different ages stand at opposite ends of a room and avoid speaking to each other
    • A student stands close to a friend at the school gate and both laugh at a shared joke
    • Two people of equal status sit at the same table at a restaurant and speak at normal volume
    • A manager stands closer to an employee during a talk than the employee does to the manager

  14. A researcher measures how close two people stand in different countries. Which factor should be controlled so that results reflect culture rather than chance?

    • The colour of the room walls, so every test takes place in the same shade of colour
    • The time of year, so all tests are carried out in the same month regardless of holidays
    • The relationship between the two people, so friends are not compared with strangers across countries
    • The number of words spoken, so all participants say exactly the same number of words

  15. Which of these describes gender differences in personal space?

    • All research agrees women never stand close to men in any social situation at all
    • Some research suggests people of different genders may keep different distances in certain social situations
    • All research agrees gender has no effect of any kind on how close people stand in conversation
    • All research agrees men always stand closer to women than to men in every social setting

  16. Why might a person from a high-contact culture feel awkward in a low-contact culture?

    • Their culture bans talking, so they prefer to stand as far away as possible from everyone
    • Their vision is better, so they can see far more clearly from a distance than local people do
    • Their hearing is worse, so they cannot hear quiet conversation at the same level as local people
    • Their normal expectation of closeness and touch is not met, so they may feel distant or uneasy

  17. Explain how status, culture and gender might interact in personal space.

    • Culture alone decides personal space, so status and gender can never change the distance people keep
    • Several factors combine, so a high-status person from one culture may keep a different distance
    • Only one factor can apply at a time, so status and culture never influence distance together
    • Each factor always cancels the others out, so personal space is identical for everyone

  18. What is the public zone in Hall's model of personal space?

    • Distances used for close physical contact with family members and romantic partners
    • Distances used for shared work at a desk with colleagues in the same office
    • Distances used for speeches and talks to larger audiences, often several metres away
    • Distances used for conversations with close friends in everyday life at home in daily life

  19. Why might two people from different cultures misjudge each other's distance?

    • Each applies their own cultural norm, so one may feel crowded while the other feels ignored
    • Each has the same norm, so they always agree on the right distance to stand apart
    • Each judges distance by the colour of the other person's clothing in the room
    • Each has no norm at all, so distance is always random and can never be judged

  20. Which example is a non-verbal cue linked to personal space?

    • Stepping back or turning away when another person stands too close, signalling discomfort
    • Naming the distance between two cities in kilometres, which is a verbal fact
    • Saying 'please' when asking for a seat, which is a verbal courtesy used at the table
    • Writing a note to a neighbour about a broken fence, which is a written message in daily life

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