Individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder show larger preferred social distance in live dyadic interactions

Personal space regulation is a key component of effective social engagement. Personal space varies among individuals and with some mental health conditions. Simulated personal space intrusions in Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) reveal larger preferred interpersonal distance in that setting. These findings led us to conduct the first test of live interpersonal distance preferences in symptoms in BPD. With direct observation of subjects’ personal space behavior in the stop-distance paradigm, we found a 2-fold larger preferred interpersonal distance in BPD than control (n = 30, n = 23). We discuss this result in context of known biology and etiology of BPD. Future work is needed to identify neural circuits underlying personal space regulation in BPD, individual differences in preferred interpersonal distance in relation to specific symptoms and relationship to recovery status. •Effective personal space (PS) regulation is important to social functioning.•Personal space preferences vary with psychological state and environmental factors.•Borderline Personality Disorder is a mental illness that arises from and propogates disturbances in interpersonal relationships.•Early life interpersonal experience is encoded in attachment constructs.•People with BPD preferred a 2-fold larger interpersonal distance –a possible quantitative marker of interpersonal function.