Electrocardiographic activity depends on the relative position between intimate persons

Abstract

Interpersonal space (IPS) refers to the area surrounding the body in which we engage in social interactions while maintaining our comfort. Numerous previous studies have reported the psychological and physiological changes associated with the proximity of two people engaged in face-to-face interaction. Currently, there is limited knowledge about how the relative position between two socially intimate individuals affects their psychological and physiological states. This research measured the subjective discomfort and electrocardiographic responses of participants when standing static at various relative positions. The highest discomfort, lowest heart rate, and highest heart rate variability (HRV; parasympathetic activity index) were observed when the friend stood in the face-to-face position. Interestingly, heart rate also decreased when the friend stood on the right side, although HRV did not change. We interpreted the results as suggesting that the presence of a familiar person elicits the electrocardiographic responses associated with an increase in parasympathetic activity.

Figure 1

Plots of discomfort, RRI, and RMSSD ratio to the baseline condition. Error bars indicate the standard errors.

Figure 2

Experimental conditions for the Person task. Paired participants maintained a static standing posture with their hands crossed behind their backs for 60 s. Eight conditions were set regarding the positional relationship between the two paired participants.