This study aims to identify how we can prevent the spread of infectious diseases and examines the social distancing required for participants in leisure sports activities to safely enjoy these activities. Based on crowdedness and risk perception in spaces perceived by people today, the above is investigated in terms of distance in Edward T. Hall’s concept of proxemics. The study subjects are people aged 20–65 who used spaces for leisure sports during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea. An online survey was conducted from September 20 to October 20, 2021, and data from a total of 391 participants were used for the final analysis. Measures of perceived crowding, risk perception, and Edward T. Hall’s proxemics were used as the tools after modifying and validating them. The results showed that perceived crowding according to space for leisure sports activities during the COVID-19 pandemic affected individual risk perception in indoor leisure sports and social risk perception in outdoor leisure activities. Perceived crowding according to proxemics influenced personal, social, and public distance in individual risk perception and public and social distance in social risk perception. Therefore, it is necessary to re-examine the scope of social distance in perceiving risk perception and reducing the crowdedness of participants in leisure sports activities to prevent the spread of infectious diseases like COVID-19. Moreover, individuals must make efforts to maintain a minimum distance from others. Further, media education and warning messages must be disseminated to prevent infection and reduce crowding.

The participants in this study were males aged 20–65 who used a space for leisure sports during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea. According to Scully et al. (1977), biological sex impacts immune responses and COVID-19 outcomes. Men are more vulnerable to COVID-19 than women due to the difference in immunity between the two. Therefore, we focused on men. Using the convenience sampling method, a sample of 400 participants that used a space for leisure sports were contacted through an online survey. A questionnaire was distributed to the participants of leisure sports for them to fill out in a self-reported method and the analysis was conducted on 391 participants (9 participants who provided unreliable data due to redundant or non-responses were excluded out of the 400 participants).

The collected data was analyzed through coding and data cleaning followed by statistical analysis using SPSS (Ver 26.0). The specific data analysis method is as follows. First, descriptive analysis and frequency analysis was conducted to identify participants’ individual characteristics. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to validate the items of perceived crowding in the space for space activities as well as risk perception. Cronbach's α coefficients were calculated to verify the internal consistency among items and test the reliability. Moreover, correlation analysis and multiple-regression analysis were conducted to analyze the impact of perceived crowding on risk perception. All items were tested at the statistical significance level of α=.05.