Croy, IlonaHeller, CarinaAkello, GraceAnjum, AfifaAtama, ChiemezieAvsec, AndrejaBizumic, BorisDural, SedaSorokowska, Agnieszka2023-12-262023-12-2620231069-39711552-3578https://doi.org/10.1177/10693971231174935https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14365/5000The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the introduction of unprecedented safety measures, one of them being physical distancing recommendations. Here, we assessed whether the pandemic has led to long-term effects on two important physical distancing aspects, namely interpersonal distance preferences and interpersonal touch behaviors. We analyzed nearly 14,000 individual cases from two large, cross-cultural surveys - the first conducted 2 years prior to the pandemic and the second during a relatively stable period of a decreased infection rate in May-June 2021. Preferred interpersonal distances increased by 54% globally during the COVID-19 pandemic. This increase was observable across all types of relationships, all countries, and was more pronounced in individuals with higher self-reported vulnerability to diseases. Unexpectedly, participants reported a higher incidence of interpersonal touch behaviors during than before the pandemic. We discuss our results in the context of prosocial and self-protection motivations that potentially promote different social behaviors.eninfo:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccessnonverbal communicationinterpersonal distance preferencesinterpersonal touch behaviorsCOVID-19 pandemiccross-cultural psychologyPerceived VulnerabilityImmune-SystemArticle10.1177/106939712311749352-s2.0-85177553286