Ch 6: Nonverbal Communication Flashcards
Creating and Responding to Messages
nonverbal communication (177)
messages expressed by other than linguistic means
“These nonlinguistic messages are important because what we do often conveys more meaning than what we say. Psychologist Albert Mehrabian (1972) claimed that 93 percent of the emotional impact of a messages comes from a nonverbal source, whereas only a paltry 7 percent is verbal”. / “Although social scientists have disputed these figures and the relative importance of verbal versus nonverbal cues (e.g., Gore, 2009; Lapakko, 1997), the point remains: Nonverbal communication contributes a great deal to shaping perceptions” (177).
Characteristics of Nonverbal Communication (177-182)
all behavior has communicative value; nonverbal communication is primarily relational; nonverbal communication is ambiguous; nonverbal communication is influenced by culture and gender
All behavior has communicative value. (178-179)
“When communicators were told not to express nonverbal cues, others viewed them as dull, withdrawn, uneasy, aloof, and deceptive”.
“The impossibility of not communicating is significant because it means that each of us is a kind of transmitter that cannot be shut off”.
“Although nonverbal behavior reveals information, reviews of research show we aren’t always conscious of what we and others are communicating nonverbally (Byron, 2008; Choi et al., 2005; Lakin, 2006). / Furthermore, just because communicators are nonverbally expressive doesn’t mean that others will tune in to the abundance of unspoken messages that are available” (179).
Nonverbal communication is primarily relational. (179-180)
“…they convey emotions that we may be unwilling or unable to express, or ones we may not even be aware of”.
“…nonverbal communication is much better suited to expressing attitudes than feelings than it is ideas”.
“This explains why it’s possible to understand the attitudes or feelings of others, even if you aren’t able to understand the subject of their communication” (180).
ie, emoticons via text messaging
“Just like facial expressions, emoticons can clarify the meaning that isn’t evient from words alone (Derks et al., 2007)” (180).
Nonverbal communication is ambiguous. (180-181)
ie. supermarket chain encourages employees to serve-with-a-smile. “Several clerks filed grievances when some customers mistook the service-with-a-smile approach as sexual come-ons” (181).
- use perception-checking and cognitive complexity to not jump to conclusions and instead use communication competence
- still not possible to “read a person like a book” (181)
Nonverbal communication is influenced by culture and gender. (181-182)
re: Fiorello LaGuardia (NY mayor 1933-1945) “Researchers who watched films of his campaign speeches with the sound turned off found that they could tell which language he was speaking by the changes in his nonverbal behavior (Birdwhistell, 1970)” (181).
“Charles Darwin believed that expressions like these are the result of evolution, functioning as survival mechanisms that allowed early humans to convey emotional states before the development of language” (181).
“In some cultures, display rules discourage the overt demonstration of feelings like happiness or anger. / Thus, a Japanese person might appear much more controlled and placid than an Arab, when in fact their feelings might be identical”. (182)
“It’s important to note that the culture in which people live is far more important than their nationality or ethnicity” (182).
emblems (181)
deliberate nonverbal behaviors with precise meanings, known to virtually all members of a cultural group
or
“culturally understood substitutes for verbal expressions” (181)
ie. nodding the head for “yes”
- some symbols such as thumbs up means different things culturally
sex & nonverbal communication (182)
According to Judith Hall (2006b), women: smile more, use more facial expressions, use more head, hand, and arm gestures (but less expansive gestures), touch others more, stand closer to others, are more vocally expressive, make more eye contact.
Functions of Nonverbal Communication (182-189)
creating and maintaining relationships; regulating interaction; influencing others; concealing/deceiving; managing identity
Creating and maintaining relationships (183)
“When we first meet another person, our initial goal is to reduce our uncertainty about her or him (Berger, 1987, 2011)” (183).
-in a matter of seconds we observe a multitude of nonverbal cues; “sizing them up”
“Nonverbal cues are just as important in established, ongoing relationships, where they both create and signal the emotional climate” (183).
By observing nonverbal cues, “changes are good that you could make educated guesses about whether the people you’re watching are satisfied with each other–and whether their relationship is beginning, maintaining, or ending” (183).
Regulating interaction (183-185)
GAZE WINDOW
- eye contact (“gaze window”)
- children typically haven’t learned these signals (185)
regulators (183)
nonverbal cues that help control verbal interaction
-“turn-taking signals”: changes in vocal intonation, a drawl on the last syllable or the stressed syllable in a clause, a drop in vocal pitch or loudness when speaking a common expression such as “you know” (184)
Influencing others (186)
“…people are more willing to do our bidding when we look them directly in the eye (Segrin, 1993), wear high-status clothing (Bushman, 1988), use open body postures (Burgoon et al. 1990), touch them (Gueguen et al., 2010), and behave in a friendly, upbeat way (Kleman, 2008)” (186).
concealing/deceiving (186-188)
“The bottom line is that nonverbal cues offer important information for detecting deception, but most lies aren’t detected through snap judgments of a facial expression or a shift in posture” (188).
“Deception Detection 101” by communication scholars Judee Burgoon and Tim Levine (2010) (186-187)
- “We are accurate in detecting deception only slightly more than half the time–in other words, only a shade better than what we could achieve with a coin flip.
- We overestimate our abilities to detect others’ lies–in other words, we’re not as good at catching deception as we think we are.
- We have a strong tendency to judge others’ messages as truthful–in other words, we want to believe people wouldn’t lie to us (which biases our ability to detect deceit)” (187).
