Proxemics

Proxemics is a type of non-verbal communication. It can be described as "the interrelated observations and theories of man’s use of space as a specialized elaboration of culture".
Communicating by gesture, touch, body languge, eye contact and facial expressions- they are used to send and recieve messages between people.
Proxemics is also about the space between the sender, and how the receiver of a message influences the way the message is interpreted. There are said to be four types of 'torritory' assosiated with proxemics:

1. Primary territory: This refers to an area that is associated with someone who has exclusive use of it. An example is a house that others cannot enter without the owner’s permission.
2. Secondary territory: Unlike primary territory, there is no “right” to occupancy of secondary territory, but people may still feel some degree of ownership of such space as they develop the custom of occupying it. For example, someone may sit in the same seat in church every week and feel irritated if someone else sits there.
3. Public territory: this refers to an area that is available to all, but only for a set period, such as a parking space or a seat in a library. Although people have only a limited claim over that space, they often extend that claim. For example, it was found that people take longer to leave a parking space when someone is waiting to take that space.
4. Interaction territory: this is space held by others when they are interacting. For example, when a group is talking to each other on a footpath, others will walk around the group rather than disturb their interaction territory.