Privacy—A Useful Concept?

Psychologically, privacy is a self-related subjective experience wlhich may include one or mainy persons. It is also recognized and defined, forimally and informally, in the cultu1re. Both individually and collectively, privacy is structured in relationl to variations in the things which acquire privacy meanings, the persons who arouse privacy responises and the situational contexts within which belhavior has privacy connlotationls. Eimpirical exploration of public and personlal definitions of privacy is needed. Such research wouild help clarify the potential value of this conlcept for analysis of maany probleimis in social psychology and sociology, a few of themll being Dresented here. W e are in a period of reenewed interest in phenomenological constructs.1 Social scientists of several persuasions are once again subscribing, however cautiously, to the proposition that if we waant to uniderstanlcl the behavior of a person it is helpful to inquire into the manner in which he structures the world andc his place in it. This paper raises the question of whether the notion of privacy can profitably be added to such concepts as role, self and empatlhy. Provisionally, the term may be defined as a person's feeling that others slhould be excluded from something wliclh is of concern to him, and also a recognition that otlhers have a right to do this. It is assumlled that this recognition of anotlher's riglht to privacy is widely slhared in a population andl given ratlher specific form in the culture. A number of ternms and usages in social science lhave related or partially overlapping meanlinigs to those embodied in privacy, anld brief references may be maiade to a few of these. For instance, Goffimian's termii "back region" or "backstage," use(l with referenlce to the overt behavior of a group of personls interactinig away fr olmi their customary "au(lielce" comes close at several poillts to the i(lea of privacy.2 The principal distilnction appears to b)e the greater emiiplhasis in the lnotioli of privacy upoll restriction of access to somethinigconcerning a partictilar self. Privacy ordinalrily connotes miieanilngs that are miiore psyclhological tlhan sociological. It is less likely to be define(d by overt, interpersonal behavior, miore by attitu(dinial and( affective responlses of