The amount of interpersonal space (space between people while interacting) that is acceptable varies by culture. This activity is important because interpersonal space is one of the key cultural areas to understand in business if you want to bridge cross-cultural gaps.

The goal of this activity is to test your knowledge of the cultural area of interpersonal space.

Place each country in order according to the amount of social distance (interpersonal space in a professional interaction) that would likely be expected during a business transaction in that particular country. The country that would require the least amount of social distance between individuals would be listed as number 1 and the country that would require the largest amount of social distance between individuals would be listed as number 5.

Rank the options below.

United States

United Kingdom

Saudi Arabia

India

China