New research
suggests that road-rage and other seemingly irrational outbursts
of anger could be extreme reactions to the violation of a set of
rules that defines our every waking moment: the unwritten rules of
personal space. Researchers claim we walk around in a sort of invisible bubble
which is egg-shaped and we express a lot of things by the amount of distance we
choose to keep between each other. In Northern Europe, for example, the average
distance between people is 1 metre (except for close friends, lovers or
family). When someone violates this rule and comes closer, reactions range
from mild annoyance to a pounding heart, raised blood
pressure and anxiety. When we feel our personal space is invaded,
responses fall into two categories. The first are blocking techniques
(e.g. putting a hand up, or move away from the person), in the second category
there are the tension-reduction responses, such as hair-pulling, foot-tapping
or getting red in the face.
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