Subsequent to the arrival of SARS-CoV-2 and emergence of COVID-19, policy to limit the further spread has focused on increasing distance between individuals when interacting, often termed social distancing although physical distancing is more accurate (Das Gupta and Wong in Canadian J Public Health 111:488–489, 2020; Gale in Is ‘social distancing’ the wrong term? Expert prefers ‘physical distancing,’ and the WHO agrees. The Washington Post, 2020; Sørensen et al. in Glob Health Promot, 28:5–14, 2021), and limiting the frequency of interaction by limiting/prohibiting non-essential and large-scale social gatherings. This research note focuses on social spacing, defined by distance and interaction, to offer a cross-cultural insight into social distancing and social interactions in the pre-pandemic period. Combining unique data on frequency of contact, religious service attendance and preferred interpersonal spacing in 20 countries, this research note considers variation in the extent to which physical distance was already practiced without official recommendations and underscores notable cross-cultural variation in the extent to which social interaction occurred. Results suggest that policy intervention should emphasize certain behavioral changes based on pre-existing context-specific patterns of interaction and interpersonal spacing rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. This research note is a descriptive first step that allows unique insight into social spacing and contact prior to the spread of SARS-CoV-2. It provides a baseline typology and a reference for future work on the cross-cultural implications of COVID-19 for pre-pandemic socio-cultural practice and vice versa.

在 SARS-CoV-2 到来和 COVID-19 出现之后，限制进一步传播的政策重点是在互动时增加人与人之间的距离，通常称为社交距离，尽管物理距离更为准确（加拿大的 Das Gupta 和 Wong） J Public Health 111:488–489，2020；Gale，《专家更喜欢“身体距离”》，《华盛顿邮报》，2020 年； ：5-14，2021），并通过限制/禁止非必要的大规模社交聚会来限制互动频率。本研究报告重点关注由距离和互动定义的社交间距，以提供对大流行前时期的社交距离和社交互动的跨文化见解。这份研究报告结合了 20 个国家关于接触频率、宗教仪式出席率和首选人际间距的独特数据，考虑了在没有官方建议的情况下已经实行身体距离的程度的差异，并强调了社交距离程度的显着跨文化差异。发生了交互作用。结果表明，政策干预应强调基于预先存在的特定情境互动模式和人际空间的某些行为改变，而不是一刀切的方法。本研究报告是描述性的第一步，可以对 SARS-CoV-2 传播之前的社交间距和接触提供独特的见解。它为未来关于 COVID-19 对大流行前社会文化实践的跨文化影响的工作提供了基线类型学和参考，反之亦然。