Topic 5 Flashcards
Define ‘tell’
A non-verbal behaviour that reveals a person’s true state of mind
Define ‘cluster’
In relation to nonverbal communication, a group of different types of nonverbal behaviours or tells.
Explain ‘congruence’
The extent to which verbal and nonverbal messages reinforce or contradict each other
- When they are not congruent with each other, you need to work out what is really true
- If there is incongruence, believe the nonverbal communication
Define ‘back channeling’
In conversation, responding to a speaker with nonverbal and preverbal feedback, such as nodding, smiling and ‘friendly grunts’
Discuss the different meanings/uses of ‘head movements’
- The ‘yes’ gesture and the ‘no’ gesture are not universal
- NVC can vary considerably from culture to culture
- Interpret nodding in conversation
- Use of backchanneling (Feedback) to indicate support
Discuss the different meanings/uses of ‘facial expressions’
- Reveals much of your emotional disposition
- Strong cultural and social messages involved in suppressing or expressing those emotions
- High-status people’s expressions
- Smiling - a positive and spontaneous response (but may be pressure on staff to smile on cue)
Discuss the different meanings/uses of ‘eye contact’
Eye contact, or direct gaze, means different things to different people
- Euro-American, Saudi Arabian, Korean and Thai people tend to regard a direct gaze as a desirable characteristic indicating openness and honesty
In other cultures, an averted gaze indicates respect
- Such as in Japanese, Mexican, West African and Puerto Rican cultures
There is potential for misunderstanding here
Discuss the different meanings/uses of ‘voice’
Paralinguistic changes
- The properties of voices, separate from the words being spoken, that can convey meanings
Pitch
- Tend to pitch voice higher with those you know
- Deception may be suggested in raised pitch/use of non-word interjections and partial words
- Males lower pitch than females
Inflection
- For questions you use a high-rising tone to cue a response
- When you are ready to stop talking, you upwardly inflect or downwardly inflect
- Continual high-rising tone – indicates immaturity or lack of confidence
Discuss the different meanings/uses of ‘smell’
- Major mode of communication in animal world
- Human pheromones (chemicals) - key signals in sexual behaviour – not yet well understood
- In Western societies, a taboo topic
- Hard to get feedback on your body smells, may be a distracter to effective communications
Discuss the different meanings/uses of ‘gesture’
- Body movements that express an idea or emotion
- Take care with cultural differences
- An innocent gesture in one culture might be seen as insulting in another
Discuss the different meanings/uses of ‘posture’
Relates to body movements and disposition
- Bowing: Universal sign of respect, and sometimes even defeat
- Rigid body: Aggression, shoulders raised, both signals of readiness for physical combat
- Slumped posture: Defeat or depression
- Mirroring/postural echo: copy an admired person’s posture
Discuss the different meanings/uses of ‘body movement’
How humans move their bodies in relation to communications.
- Orientation
- Orientation/attitude, inclination/body angle adopted in relation to others
- Synchronisation
- Interactive process that helps define relationships between individuals
Define ‘mirroring’
Consciously or unconsciously copying the nonverbal behaviour of someone admired
Define ‘kinesics’
The study of non-linguistic body movement in relation to communication
Discuss the different meanings/uses of ‘touching’
- Basic human need
- Varies between cultures and within cultures
- High-contact cultures
- Arab peoples, Latin Americans, Russians, most South East Asians and southern Europeans
- Low-contact cultures
- People of Anglo-Saxon origin, Scandinavians, Japanese, Koreans and Chinese
Five types:
1. Functional / professional 2. Social / polite 3. Friendship / warmth 4. Love / intimacy 5. Sexual / arousal
