Close encounters: Interpersonal proximity amplifies social appraisals

Social appraisals reflect the rapid integration of available perceptual information with broader contextual factors (e.g., intentions). While interpersonal distance affects both information availability and social context, how it changes trait impressions remains unknown. Over four experiments we used a novel paradigm to address this question. In Experiment 1 we assessed participants’ attributions of attractiveness, competence, dominance, and trustworthiness of life size full body images of people when they appeared at near (1m) and far (4m) distances. Proximity amplified the relative magnitude of both positive and negative socio-evaluative impressions. However, this effect of proximity leading to more extreme positive or negative ratings was selectively weaker for aesthetic (attractiveness) judgements. In Experiment 2 (size) and Experiment 3 (spatial frequency), we held distance constant while manipulating visual cues relating to implied distance, revealing broadly similar results to Experiment 1. In Experiment 4, we used the interpersonal comfort distance paradigm to confirm that our life-sized projected images elicited similar comfort distance to interacting with a real person, helping to validate our general approach. These findings demonstrate the crucial role of interpersonal distance in impression judgements.