The social psychology of privacy

Abstract

Patterns of interaction in any social system are accompanied by counter-patterns of withdrawal, one highly institutionalized (but unexplored) mode of which is privacy. There exists a threshold beyond which social contact becomes irritating for all parties; therefore, some provision for removing oneself from interaction and observation must be built into every establishment. Such provisions subserve the action patterns for which they provide intermission. Privacy, which is bought and sold in social establishments, reflects and affirms status divisions, and permits "localized" deviation which is invisible to the group as a whole. Privacy thereby insulates against dysfunctional knowledge. Rules governing entrance into and exit from privacy are most clearly articulated on the level of the establishment and are reflected in its physical structure and in proprieties concerning the uses of space, doors, windows, drawers, etc. The report ends with a discussion of identity and its relation to the freedoms of engagement and disengagement.