RESEARCH ARTICLE Social distancing between personal belongings during the COVID-19 pandemic [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review] Wen Guo 1 , Ayumi Ikeda 1,2 , Kaito Takashima 1 , Yoshitaka Masuda 1 , Kohei Ueda 1 , Atunori Ariga 3 , Kyoshiro Sasaki 4 , Yuki Yamada 5 1 Graduate School of Human-Environment Studies, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan 2 Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan 3 Faculty of letters, Chuo University, Hachioji, Japan 4 Faculty of Informatics, Kansai University, Takatsuki, Japan 5 Faculty of Arts and Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan First published: 20 Feb 2023, 12:199 https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.130662.1 Latest published: 20 Feb 2023, 12:199 https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.130662.1 v1 Abstract Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to instructions and suggestions from governments and experts to maintain social (physical) distance between people to prevent aerosol transmission of the virus, which is now becoming the norm. Thus, we examined whether the pandemic extended the distance between personal belongings. Methods: We recruited 68 university students and instructed them to place their belongings on a long table following another participant (i.e., confederate). We measured the physical distance between the two belongings (i.e., the participant’s and the confederate’s). We collected data between June 10, 2022 and January 23, 2023. Pre- pandemic data was from Ariga (2016). Analysis was completed with one-tailed t-tests. Results: Compared with the pre-pandemic results, via one-tailed t- test, the distance between the two belongings during the pandemic was significantly longer. Our results supported the hypothesis that the psychological framework for processing people’s belongings has dramatically changed during this pandemic. Conclusion: This change may have been driven by social distancing practices or an increase in perceived vulnerability to disease. Our results provide new implications for future public spatial design, in other words, not only the distance between people, but also the distance between their belongings. Open Peer Review Approval Status AWAITING PEER REVIEW Any reports and responses or comments on the article can be found at the end of the article. Page 1 of 11 F1000Research 2023, 12:199 Last updated: 20 FEB 2023