Personal space is a very ‘touchy' area for most people and Christians are all the more affected by its presence because God first stated it. In the book of Genesis, God says clearly, “‘you must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die'" (Genesis, New International Version). Touch is regarded very highly with God and with persons.
There is a very dynamic interaction between personal space and expectancy, as explained by Judee Burgoon in the text.
[...] Violation Valence Violation valence is basically the “positive or negative value we place on a specific unexpected behavior, regardless of who does (Griffin, 89). To put it a little more personal, we will allow those who we feel comfortable around near us more willingly. If a brother or sister comes to us for comfort we will let them in our proximity more so then if a complete stranger approaches us. Violations can be subtle or they can be easily spotted. [...]
[...] Should a Christian ever lie? Burgoon moves from the theory of personal space, touch and expectancy to the topic of Interpersonal Deception. David Buller teamed up with Burgoon to come up with the theory of Interpersonal Deception. There are three criteria that they state may explain human responses when confronted with the opportunity to lie. The three are: can lie, you can tell part of the truth while leaving out the factual details or you could be intentionally vague or evasive” (Griffin, 97). [...]
APA Style reference
For your bibliographyOnline reading
with our online readerContent validated
by our reading committee
