The Effects of Personal Space Variables Upon Approach and Attitudes Toward the Other in a Prisoner's Dilemma Game
use of space have been found cross culturally, developmentally, and between the sexes. Most of this research has treated personal space as a dependent variable (for example, how close will subjects stand after some treatment). However, of major interest in understanding and being able to apply the results generated from this area of study is the effect of personal space as an independent variable (how people behave and feel when they are placed in a particular spatial situation). Sommer (1969) has employed questionnaire and anecdotal data to suggest that seating position compels people to display a given level of cooperation (e.g., people prefer sideby-side seating for cooperative tasks, and across the table seating arrangement for competitive tasks). Also, Gardin, et al. (1973), using the prisoner’s dilemma game, provided limited support of the Sommer finding. However, Sommer did not deal with sex differences nor attempt to gain a behavioral measure of the expressed attitudes. Gardin, who used only male subjects, found significant differences in the level of cooperation in a gaming situation only when barriers were used to prevent eye contact (as well as other forms of non-verbal communication). Furthermore, Gardin did not attempt to control the actual distance between the subjects (in addition to one’s seating position). The present study was designed to test the effects of body orientation and distance between the participants in a prisoner’s dilemma game. Body orientation (side-by-side vs. face-to-face) was chosen so as to manipulate non-verbal communication such as eye-contact without introducing physical barriers, while distance allows comparisons with existing personal space literature. Further, since research in mixed-motive games (Rapoport, 1965) has shown that subjects in a prisoner’s dilemma game who anticipate further contact with the other are more exploitative, this variable was included. Finally, as the personal space literature indicates the existence of sex differences (Evans and Howard, 1973), this variable was also considered.