COVID-19 and Social Distancing: A Cross-Cultural Study of Interpersonal Distance Preferences and Touch Behaviors Before and During the Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the introduction of unprecedented safety measures one of them being physical distancing recommendations. Here we assessed whether the pandemic has led to long-term effects on two important physical distancing aspects namely interpersonal distance preferences and interpersonal touch behaviors. We analyzed nearly 14000 individual cases from two large cross-cultural surveys - the first conducted 2 years prior to the pandemic and the second during a relatively stable period of a decreased infection rate in May-June 2021. Preferred interpersonal distances increased by 54% globally during the COVID-19 pandemic. This increase was observable across all types of relationships all countries and was more pronounced in individuals with higher self-reported vulnerability to diseases. Unexpectedly participants reported a higher incidence of interpersonal touch behaviors during than before the pandemic. We discuss our results in the context of prosocial and self-protection motivations that potentially promote different social behaviors.