Research indicates that proximity has a significant impact on who people interact and build connections with most, even though it often works in an unconscious way. It also means that you are more likely to build ties with people who work and live in the same city.
For example, relationships are more likely to develop between people who physically sit closer to each other in an office or classroom than between people who sit farther apart. Because of this, people are probably more likely to become friends with their coworker in the next cubicle or their lab partner at school than they are with random strangers (Finkel & Baumeister, 2010).
Even though relationships are more likely to be formed between people who are physically closer to them, some studies indicate that those relationships aren’t necessarily positive ones. One study, for instance, discovered that people are more prone to despise those who live nearby ( Ebbesen, Kjos, Konecni, 1976). Although it has also been demonstrated that physical closeness affects friendships, frequent in-person interactions were necessary for friendships to thrive. On the other hand, hostility persisted despite the fact that people who lived near to one another did not often interact in person.
Therefore, unwanted conduct exhibited by those nearby can result in negative interpersonal connections, just as positive interactions with those in close proximity to one another can lead to positive interpersonal relationships, either way demonstrating the proximity principle .
Ebbesen E, Kjos G, Konečni V. Spatial ecology: Its effects on the choice of friends and enemies. J Exp Soc Psychol. 1976;12(6):505-518. doi:10.1016/0022-1031(76)90030-5
Finkel EJ, Baumeister RF. Attraction and Rejection. In: Baumeister RF, Finkel EJ, ed. Advanced Social Psychology: The State Of The Science. 1st ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 2010:419-459.
Tags: #AppliedSocialPsychology, psych424
Hello! I think this is an interesting post, and I agree with much of it. There is research indicating that physical proximity encourages relationship building. For example, one study showed that spatial proximity encouraged communication and cooperation in the context of work places (Salazar Miranda, A., & Claudel, M., 2021). However, I’m not so sure that relationships are inherently any more negative if one is close spatially. I personally had plenty of online relationships with people in high school, and some of them weren’t positive either. I do agree that emotions, both positive and negative, are amplified when there is spatial proximity, though.
Salazar Miranda, A., & Claudel, M. (2021). Spatial proximity matters: A study on collaboration. PloS one, 16(12), e0259965.