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Croy, I., Heller, C., Akello, G., Anjum, A. , Atama, C., Avsec, A....Frackowiak, Tomasz (2023). COVID-19 and social distancing: A cross-cultural study of interpersonal distance preferences and touch behaviors before and during the pandemic. Cross-Cultural Research. 58 (1), 41-69

I. Croy et al.,  "COVID-19 and social distancing: A cross-cultural study of interpersonal distance preferences and touch behaviors before and during the pandemic", in Cross-Cultural Research, vol. 58, no. 1, pp. 41-69, 2023

@article{croy2023_1716196289934,
	author = "Croy, I. and Heller, C. and Akello, G. and Anjum, A.  and Atama, C. and Avsec, A. and Bizumic, B. and Rodrigues, R. B. and Boussena, M. and Butovskaya, M. and Can, S. and Cetinkaya, H. and Contreras-Garduño, J. and Costa-Lopes, R. and Czub, M. and Demuthova, S. and Dronova, D. and Dural, S. and Eya, O. I. and Fatma, M. and Frackowiak, Tomasz",
	title = "COVID-19 and social distancing: A cross-cultural study of interpersonal distance preferences and touch behaviors before and during the pandemic",
	journal = "Cross-Cultural Research",
	year = "2023",
	volume = "58",
	number = "1",
	doi = "10.1177/10693971231174935",
	pages = "41-69",
	url = "https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10693971231174935"
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - COVID-19 and social distancing: A cross-cultural study of interpersonal distance preferences and touch behaviors before and during the pandemic
T2  - Cross-Cultural Research
VL  - 58
IS  - 1
AU  - Croy, I.
AU  - Heller, C.
AU  - Akello, G.
AU  - Anjum, A. 
AU  - Atama, C.
AU  - Avsec, A.
AU  - Bizumic, B.
AU  - Rodrigues, R. B.
AU  - Boussena, M.
AU  - Butovskaya, M.
AU  - Can, S.
AU  - Cetinkaya, H.
AU  - Contreras-Garduño, J.
AU  - Costa-Lopes, R.
AU  - Czub, M.
AU  - Demuthova, S.
AU  - Dronova, D.
AU  - Dural, S.
AU  - Eya, O. I.
AU  - Fatma, M.
AU  - Frackowiak, Tomasz
PY  - 2023
SP  - 41-69
SN  - 1069-3971
DO  - 10.1177/10693971231174935
UR  - https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10693971231174935
AB  - 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 14,000 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. 
ER  -