Women's Strategic Studies

Women's Strategic Studies

Identifying the requirements for designing hospital spaces based on personal space and psychological bubble of pregnant women

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Ebrahim Bagheri Taleghani 1
Maryam Hooshmand 2
1 Assistant Professor, Industrial Design Department, Industrial Design Department, Faculty of Applied Arts, Iran University of Art, Tehran, Iran.
2 Master of Industrial Design, Department of Industrial Design, Faculty of Applied Arts, Iran University of Art, Tehran, Iran
10.22095/jwss.2026.553831.3788
Abstract
Personal space and psychological bubble are key concepts in the field of environmental psychology that affect people's perception of security and comfort. During pregnancy, the size of the personal space of pregnant women is different from normal conditions, and especially in non-personal spaces, the entry of people and objects into this area can lead to undesirable physical and psychological effects. This area of knowledge has received less attention in the design of obstetrics and gynecology hospital spaces. Therefore, the aim of this study is to identify the requirements for designing hospital spaces based on the personal space of pregnant women. This study is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-survey in terms of method. Data collection was carried out in two ways: documentary and field study based on semi-structured interview. After collection and classification, the research data were analyzed qualitatively and compared with theoretical findings, and finally a set of design guidelines were extracted and compiled. The results showed that pregnant women's perception of personal space is influenced by several factors; however, pregnant women consider the possibility of controlling privacy, lighting, sound, and temperature, the presence of a familiar companion, and respecting gender privacy as the most important design requirements.
Keywords
personal space
psychological bubble
hospital design
pregnant women
environmental psychology
×     آلتمن، آیروین (1382). محیط و رفتار اجتماعی (خلوت، فضای شخصی، قلمرو و ازدحام)، (علی نمازیان، مترجم). تهران: انتشارات دانشگاه شهید بهشتی (نشر اصلی 1975).
×     اوحد‌ی، ‌لادن، حجت،‌ عیسی، و قرائتی،‌ مهران (1395). اهمیت خلوت بیمار در طراحی معماری محیط‌های درمانی به منظور ارتقاء کیفیت درمان و بهبودی آنها، نامه معماری و شهرسازی، 16(8)، 147-162.‎
×     شاهچراغی، آزاده، و بندرآباد، علیرضا (1402). محاط در محیط: کاربرد روان‌شناسی محیطی در معماری و شهرسازی (چاپ پنجم). تهران: انتشارات سازمان جهاد دانشگاهی تهران.
×     عینی‌فر، علیرضا، و آقا لطیفی، آزاده (1390). مفهوم قلمرو در مجموعه‌های مسکونی، مطالعه مقایسه‌ای دو مجموعۀ مسکونی در سطح و در ارتفاع در تهران. نشریه هنرهای زیبا: معماری و شهرسازی، 3(47)، 28-17.
×     فرنام، ‌فرناز، زارعی،‌ رضوان، و خیر، ‌الناز (1402). مروری بر ابعاد کرامت زنان در دوران بارداری و زایمان. فصلنامه اخلاق پزشکی، 48(17)، 251-268.‎
×     فیزنت، استفن (1400). انسان، آنتروپومتری، ارگونومی و طراحی، (علیرضا چوبینه و محمدامین موعودی، مترجمان؛ چاپ یازدهم). تهران: نشر مرکز.
×     مرتضوی، شهرناز (1380). روانشناسی محیط و کاربرد آن. تهران: انتشارات دانشگاه شهید بهشتی.
×     تی هال، ادوارد (1385). بعد پنهان، (منوچهر طبیبیان، مترجم؛ چاپ سوم). انتشارات دانشگاه تهران (نشر اصلی 1990).
Ø Altman, I. (1975). The environmental and social behavior: Privacy, personal space, territory, crowding. Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Ø Candini, M., Battaglia, S., Benassi, M., di Pellegrino, G., & Frassinetti, F. (2021). The physiological correlates of interpersonal space. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 2611.
Ø Candini, M., di Pellegrino, G., & Frassinetti, F. (2021). Action and social spaces in typical development and in autism spectrum disorder. The world at our fingertips: A multidisciplinary exploration of peripersonal space, 285-300.
Ø Candini, M., Giuberti, V., Manattini, A., Grittani, S., di Pellegrino, G., & Frassinetti, F. (2017). Personal space regulation in childhood autism: Effects of social interaction and person's perspective. Autism Research, 10(1), 144–154. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.1637.
Ø Candini, M., Giuberti, V., Santelli, E., di Pellegrino, G., & Frassinetti, F. (2019). When social and action spaces diverge: A study in children with typical development and autism. Autism, 23(7), 1687–1698. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361318822504.
Ø Candini, M., di Pellegrino, G., & Frassinetti, F. (2020). The plasticity of the interpersonal space in autism spectrum disorder. Neuropsychologia, 147, 107589.
Ø Cardini, F., Fatemi-Ghomi, N., Gajewska-Knapik, K., Gooch, V., & Aspell, J. E. (2018). Maternal brain gain: enlarged representation of the peripersonal space in pregnancy. bioRxiv, 492017.
Ø Dean, L. M., Willis, F. N., & La Rocco, J. M. (1976). Invasion of personal space as a function of age, sex, and race. Psychological Reports, 38(3), 959-965.
Ø De Lillo, M., & Ferguson, H. J. (2023). Perspective-taking and social inferences in adolescents, young adults, and older adults. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 152(5), 1420.
Ø Fahy, K. M., Foureur, M., & Hastie, C. (2010). Birth territory and midwifery guardianship: Theory for practice, education and research. Women and Birth, 23(2), 45–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wombi.2009.03.002.
Ø Fusaro, M., Fanti, V., & Chakrabarti, B. (2023). Greater interpersonal distance in adults with autism. Autism Research, 16(10), 2002-2007.
Ø Gessaroli, E., Santelli, E., di Pellegrino, G., & Frassinetti, F. (2013). Personal space regulation in childhood autism spectrum disorders. PloS one, 8(9), e74959.
Ø Hall, E. T. (1966). The hidden dimension. Double Day & Co. Garden City, NY.
Ø Harris, R. (2022). The Cultural Perception of Space: Expanding the Legacy of Edward T. Hall. Journal of Intercultural Communication & Interactions Research, 2(1), 135-150.
Ø Hayduk, L. A. (1983). Personal space: where we now stand. Psychological bulletin, 94(2),293-320.
Ø Hayduk, L. A. (1978). Personal space: An evaluative and orienting overview. Psychological Bulletin, 85(1), 117–134. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.85.1.117.
Ø Holt, D. J., Zapetis, S. L., Babadi, B., Zimmerman, J., & Tootell, R. B. (2022). Personal space increases during the COVID-19 pandemic in response to real and virtual humans. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 952998.
Ø Hussein, S. A. A. A., Dahlen, H. G., Ogunsiji, O., & Schmied, V. (2020). Uncovered and disrespected. A qualitative study of Jordanian women’s experience of privacy in birth. Women and Birth, 33(5), 496-504.
Ø Kennedy, D. P., & Adolphs, R. (2014). Violations of personal space by individuals with autism spectrum disorder. PloS one, 9(8), e103369.
Ø Kroczek, L. O., Pfaller, M., Lange, B., Müller, M., & Mühlberger, A. (2020). Interpersonal distance during real-time social interaction: Insights from subjective experience, behavior, and physiology. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11, 561.
Ø Lachini, T., Coello, Y., Frassinetti, F., & Ruggiero, G. (2014). Body space in social interactions: a comparison of reaching and comfort distance in immersive virtual reality. PloS one, 9(11), e111511.
Ø Massaccesi, C., Groessing, A., Rosenberger, L. A., Hartmann, H., Candini, M., di Pellegrino, G., Frassinetti, F., & Silani, G. (2021). Neural correlates of interpersonal space permeability and flexibility in autism spectrum disorder. Cerebral Cortex, 31(6), 2968–2979. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhaa404.
Ø Mirlisenna, I., Bonino, G., Mazza, A., Capiotto, F., Cappi, G. R., Cariola, M., ... & Dal Monte, O. (2024). How interpersonal distance varies throughout the lifespan. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 25439.
Ø Mohsin, S. S. (2024). Proxemics-interaction of personal space and workplace; influence of personal space on womens' choice of workplace.
Ø Nilsson, C., Begley, C., Jangsten, E., Mollberg, M., & Wigert, H. (2013). Women’s experiences of birth environment. Midwifery, 29(10), 122–129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2012.09.005.
Ø Parsons, S., Mitchell, P., & Leonard, A. (2004). The use and understanding of virtual environments by adolescents with autistic spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental disorders, 34, 449-466.
Ø Patterson, M. L. (1975). Personal space: Time to burst the bubble. Man-Environment Systems, 5(2), 67.
Ø Perry, A., Rubinsten, O., Peled, L., & Shamay-Tsoory, S. G. (2013). Don't stand so close to me: A behavioral and ERP study of preferred interpersonal distance. Neuroimage, 83, 761-769.
Ø Sicorello, M., Stevanov, J., Ashida, H., & Hecht, H. (2019). Effect of gaze on personal space: A Japanese–German cross-cultural study. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 50(1), 8–21. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022118806586.
Ø Sommer, R. (1959). Studies in personal space. Sociometry, 22(3), 247-260.
Ø Sorokowska, A., Sorokowski, P., Hilpert, P., Cantarero, K., Frackowiak, T., Ahmadi, K., & Pierce Jr, J. D. (2017). Preferred interpersonal distances: A global comparison. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 48(4), 577–592. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022117698039.
Ø Sundstrom, E., & Altman, I. (1976). Interpersonal relationships and personal space: Research review and theoretical model. Human Ecology, 4, 47–67.
Ø Ulrich, R. S. (2001, January). Effects of healthcare environmental design on medical outcomes. In Design and Health: Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Health and Design. Stockholm, Sweden: Svensk Byggtjanst, 49, 59.
Ø Ulrich, R. S., Zimring, C., Zhu, X., DuBose, J., Seo, H.-B., Choi, Y.-S., Quan, X., & Joseph, A. (2008). A review of the research literature on evidence-based healthcare design. HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal, 1(3), 61–125.
Ø World Health Organization. (2018). WHO recommendations: Intrapartum care for a positive childbirth experience. Geneva: WHO.