Phenomenological Distance in Interpersonal Relationships

Phenomenological distance serves as a guiding metaphor for relational development in public and private settings that permits recognition of the contribution of distance to the flourishing of relationships, permitting them to grow at a healthy pace without the pressure of immediate closeness. A stabile and balanced relationship that emerges at its own pace because of commonalities (common ground, joint task) is preferred to one that operates under a pretense of caring (forced intimacy). Phenomenological distance refers to one\u27s experience of relation with others in the world that can be rhetorically constructed through the form of language employed in the content of messages in interpersonal exchanges (e.g., self-disclosure) since language not only represents phenomena in the world but defines the nature of relationships within which discourse takes place