Ilona CroyCarina HellerGrace A. AkelloAfifa AnjumChiemezie Scholastica AtamaAndreja AvsecBoris BizumicRicardo Borges RodriguesMahmoud BoussenaMarina L. ButovskayaAtama, ChiemezieHeller, CarinaAvsec, AndrejaSorokowska, AgnieszkaAnjum, AfifaAkello, GraceCroy, Ilona2025-10-0620249780199777419, 978019538250110693971, 155235781069-39711552-357810.1177/106939712311749352-s2.0-85177553286https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85177553286&doi=10.1177%2F10693971231174935&partnerID=40&md5=92f1fd57b0e6f462bdcef9bcba91e115https://gcris.yasar.edu.tr/handle/123456789/8244https://doi.org/10.1177/10693971231174935The 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. © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Englishinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessCovid-19 Pandemic, Cross-cultural Psychology, Interpersonal Distance Preferences, Interpersonal Touch Behaviors, Nonverbal CommunicationInterpersonal Touch BehaviorsNonverbal CommunicationCOVID-19 PandemicInterpersonal Distance PreferencesCross-Cultural PsychologyArticle