title: Reduced Personal Space in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
abstract: Maintaining an appropriate distance from others is important for establishing effective communication and good interpersonal relations. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder associated with social difficulties, and it is thus worth examining whether individuals with ASD maintain typical or atypical degrees of social distance. Any atypicality of social distancing may impact daily social interactions. We measured the preferred distances when individuals with ASD and typically developing (TD) individuals approached other people (a male experimenter) and objects (a coat rack with clothes) or when other people approached them. Individuals with ASD showed reduced interpersonal distances compared to TD individuals. The same tendency was found when participants judged their preferred distance from objects. In addition, when being approached by other people, both individuals with ASD and TD individuals maintained larger interpersonal distances when there was eye contact, compared to no eye contact. These results suggest that individuals with ASD have a relatively small personal space, and that this atypicality exists not only for persons but also for objects.
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Kosuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Asada
authors.affiliation: College of Education, Ibaraki University, Ibaraki, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshikuni
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tojo
authors.affiliation: Musashino Higashi Center for Education and Research, Musashino Higashi Gakuen, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Osanai
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive and Behavioral Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Atsuko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive and Behavioral Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshikazu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Shinichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumagaya
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D010550:Personal Space; D055815:Young Adult
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