The findings of the research suggest that it is possible to make accurate judgments of individuals from an assessment of their personal space.
An impediment in the research is that the authors fail to provide an adequate assessment of stereotypes that influence the meaning of cues. The authors establish that stereotypes can be problematic. They however only look at gender-based stereotypes. It is apparent that ethnic, sexual orientation and religious stereotypes were ignored. Stereotypes are an intervening variable that can potentially pollute the process of inferring personality from the environment by the observer.
I find the article to be highly informative and very interesting. It addresses a concern that is often considered general information, in a scientific manner. It therefore takes phenomenon that is in the public domain and applies academic rigor to its explication. This act is insightful and consistent...
I also wondered if the studies should have employed a dependent data set instead of an independent. Thus assessing how the same group would relate to a change of environment. Alternately, the personal space of the office worker could have been analyzed for congruence with the workspace.
The link between the observer's judgment of an individual and the cues that are present in the personal space is important. This process occurs on a daily basis and many individuals have great confidence in their ability to make accurate judgments successfully. More importantly however, may be the explication of the underlying mechanism that allows some persons to achieve greater accuracy than others. It is entirely possible that some individuals are more adept at selecting and parsing cues than others are. If this is a necessary skill for the future, these persons will have an immediate advantage.
