In 1924, Robert E. Park defined social distance as an attempt to reduce to something like measurable terms the degree and level of understanding and closeness that characterize personal and social relations in general. This is a measure of closeness or remoteness that a person or group feels in relation to another person or group in society, or the level of trust that one group renders to another, as well as the degree of perceived similarity of beliefs.
The concept of social distance is often applied to the study of racial attitudes and racial relationships. In sociological literature, it is conceptualized in several different ways.
Affective distance
One widespread concept of social distance focuses on affectiveness. According to this approach, it is associated with affective distance, that is, with the idea of what kind of sympathy the members of one group have for another group. Emory Bogardus, the creator of the method of the scale of social distance, as a rule, based his scale on this subjective-affective concept of distance. In his studies, he focused on the sensory reactions of people to other people and to human groups in general.
Normative distance
The second approach considers social distance as a normative category. The normative distance refers to generally accepted and often deliberately expressed norms about who should be considered an insider and who should be considered an outsider. In other words, such norms define the differences between "us" and "them." Consequently, the normative form of this phenomenon differs from the affective one, since it assumes that social distance is considered not as a subjective, but as an objective structural aspect of relations. Examples of this concept can be found in some works of sociologists such as Georg Simmel, Emil Durkheim and, to some extent, Robert Park.
Interactive distance
The third conceptualization of social distance focuses on the frequency and intensity of interaction between the two groups, arguing that the more members of the two groups interact with each other, the closer they get from a social point of view. This concept is similar to approaches in the theory of sociological networks, where the frequency of interaction between the two sides is used as a measure of “strength” and the quality of the connections that arise between them.
Cultural and familiar distance
The fourth conceptualization of social distance focuses on the cultural and familiar orientation proposed by Bourdieu (1990). You can consider these concepts as "measurements" of distance, which do not necessarily intersect. Members of two groups can interact with each other quite often, but this does not always mean that they will feel “close” to each other or that they will normatively consider each other as members of the same group. In other words, interactive, normative, and affective dimensions of social distance may not be linearly related.
Other studies
Social distance is the basis of many modern psychological research. It was also used, in a different sense, by anthropologist and intercultural researcher Edward T. Hall, to describe the psychological distance at which an animal can hold itself in relation to its group before starting to experience anxiety. This phenomenon can be observed in children and infants, who can leave or crawl only as far away from their parents or guardians as possible from the point of view of psychological comfort. The socio-psychological distance of children is quite small.
Hall also notes that the concept has been expanded with technological advances such as telephone, walkie-talkie and television. Hall's analysis of this concept preceded the development of the Internet, which significantly increased social distance. The distance between people is expanding even beyond the borders of our planet, as we begin to actively explore space.
Cultural aspect
Some sociologists say that each person believes that his culture is superior to all others, while other cultures are "lower" because of their differences from his own. The distance between two cultures can ultimately manifest in the form of hatred. The consequence of this social and national distance and hatred is prejudice, which different cultural groups consider true for their various social groups. For example, Indian Brahmins (Brahmins) believe that they have the highest and Sudras have the lowest status in Hindu society, and that this is quite fair and natural. If a brahmana child touches a sudra child, he is forced to take a bath to get rid of the alleged pollution caused by contact with the untouchable.
Measurement methods
Some methods of measuring social distance of communication include such methods as direct observation of interacting people, questionnaires, accelerated decision-making tasks, route planning exercises, or other methods of social design.
In questionnaires, respondents are usually asked which groups they will take in certain respects. For example, to check whether they will accept a member of each group as a neighbor, as a work colleague, or as a marriage partner. Social distance questionnaires can theoretically measure what people would actually do if a member of another group sought to become a friend or neighbor. However, the scale of social distance is just an attempt to measure the degree of unwillingness to be equally associated with a group. What a person will actually do in a given situation also depends on the circumstances.
In the tasks of accelerated decision-making, the researchers proposed a systematic relationship between social and physical distance. When people are asked to indicate the spatial location of a represented word or to check its presence, people respond more quickly when the word “we” was displayed in a spatially closer place, and when the word “others”, in turn, was displayed in a place more distant. This suggests that social and physical distances are conceptually related.
Peripheral theory
Social periphery is a term often used in combination with social distance. It refers to people who are "distant" from social relations. It is believed that representatives of the social periphery are mostly found in capitals, especially in their centers.
The term "local periphery", in contrast, is used to describe places physically remote from the city center. Often these are suburbs that are socially close to the heart of the city. In some cases, the local periphery intersects with the social periphery, as, for example, in the Paris suburbs.
In 1991, Mulgan stated that the centers of two cities are often for practical purposes closer to each other than to their own periphery. This link to social distance in large organizations is especially relevant for megacities.
Source concept - essay "The Stranger"
“The Stranger” is an essay on the sociology of Georg Simmel, originally written as an excursion to a chapter on the sociology of space. In the essay, Simmel introduced the concept of “stranger” as a unique sociological category. He distinguishes a stranger from both an “outsider” who does not have a specific relationship with the group or a “wanderer” who comes today and leaves tomorrow. The stranger, he said, comes today and stays tomorrow.
The stranger is a member of the group in which he lives and participates, and yet remains far from other, "native" members of the group. Compared to other forms of social distance, differences (for example, class, gender, and even ethnicity) and the distance of a stranger are related to his “origin”. The stranger is perceived as an outsider for the group, although he is in constant relations with other members of the group, his “distance” is more emphasized than his “closeness”. As one of the following interpreters of the concept put it, a stranger is perceived as being in a group.
Essence of the concept
In the essay, Simmel briefly addresses the consequences of such a unique position for a stranger, as well as the potential consequences of a stranger being present for other members of the group. In particular, Simmel suggests that because of their special position in the group, strangers often perform specific tasks that other members of the group are either unable or unwilling to perform. For example, in advanced societies, most strangers were involved in trading activities. In addition, due to their remoteness and distance from local groups, they may be independent arbitrators or judges.
The concept of a stranger has found relatively wide application in subsequent sociological literature. It is actively used by many sociologists, ranging from Robert Park and ending with Sigmund Bauman. However, as with most widely used sociological concepts, some debate arose regarding their application and interpretation.
Georg Simmel - co-creator of the concepts of a stranger and social distance
Simmel was one of the first German sociologists: his neo-Kantian approach laid the foundations of sociological antipositivism. By asking the question: "What is society?" in a direct reference to Kant’s question “What is nature?”, he created an innovative approach to the analysis of social personality and fragmentation. For Simmel, culture was called the cultivation of individuals through external forms that were objectified in the course of history. Simmel discussed social and cultural phenomena in terms of “forms” and “content” with temporary relationships. Form becomes content and depends on context. In this sense, he was the forerunner of the structural style of thinking in the social sciences. Working in a metropolis, Simmel became the founder of urban sociology, symbolic interactionism and analysis of social connections.
As a friend of Max Weber, Simmel wrote on a personal theme in a manner reminiscent of the sociological “ideal type”. However, he rejected academic standards, philosophically covering topics such as emotions and romantic love.