Sorry to burst your bubble but Canadians might not be as friendly as people think.
A new study observing how people value personal space in different countries found that Canadians prefer to keep their distance.
Online language platform Preply studied multiple research papers and surveys on personal space and proxemics to determine the preferred distance people like to maintain in different places.
Overall, Canada ranked 21st on a list of 56 countries that feel ill at ease around strangers.
The findings reveal that Canadians show surprising behaviour regarding personal space, reporting a preference for a radius of about 3.5 feet from strangers, according to Preply.
The study also found that personal space preferences for Canadians varied depending on their relationship to the person in their proximity.
Preferred personal space to a stranger for Canadians is 103.24 cm, personal space to an acquaintance is 85.47 cm, and personal space in close relationships is 74.54 cm, research suggests.
Meanwhile, the study concluded that people who live in warmer countries are more likely to stand closer to strangers, while older generations and women prefer to stand further apart from people they do not know.
Austrians, Colombians and Argentines love to cozy up with strangers, while Romanians prefer the most significant distance, the study also said.
Research suggests that Austrians are the most relaxed with strangers, with only a limit of 71.59 cm before they feel uneasy. On the other hand, Romanians prefer the most significant gap, at 4.5 feet.
Overall, the countries that needed the most space were: Romania, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Uganda, Estonia, Hong Kong, China, Pakistan, South Korea and Iran.
Conversely, the countries which needed the least personal space were: Austria, Colombia, Argentina, Australia, Peru, Greece, Russia, Bulgaria, Brazil, Croatia and Turkey.
To establish personal space rankings for specific countries, Preply used research papers and surveys on personal space to gather data on the preferred distance people like to keep in different places, measured in centimetres. It then ranked these locations based on the preferred distance, from the largest to smallest, and in different social situations, such as with strangers, acquaintances, and close relationships.
