A Multimechanism Process
As a self-other boundary control process, privacy is viewed as involving a network of behavioral mechanisms that people use to achieve desired levels of social interaction. These mechanisms include verbal and paraverbal behaviors such as personal space and territoriality, and culturally defined styles of responding. Thus privacy regulation includes much more than just the physical environment in the management of social interaction. Furthermore, these behavioral mechanisms operate as a system. As such, they include properties of interdependence and of compensatory and substitutable action. That is, a person may use different mixes of behaviors to achieve a desired level of privacy, depending upon circumstances. Or different people and cultures may have unique blends of mechanisms to regulate privacy.