Week 2 Flashcards
Communication
Transfer of one meaningful information to another
Communication is social because:
Involves interrelationships among people
Requires that people Aquire a shared understanding of words, signs and gestures
Means of influencing and being influenced by others
Why do we smile?
Because we are happy, but also to communicate happiness rather than feeling it
What are the 6 reasons of smiling?
- To communicate happiness
- To mask anger
- To smooth over a negative situation
- To soften a criticism
- To express reluctant compliance
- To make yourself happier(?)
Gaze and eye contact
How much eye contact is made on average when two people are talking?
An average 61% and typically lasts about 3 secs
Gaze and eye contact
What is the average time do people’s eyes meet?
31% of the time and for about 1 sec
What are the 6 functions served by a gaze?
- Communicate liking
- Can communicate whether somebody is listening
- Can regulate turn taking in conversation
- Can be used to secretly communicate information (nudge nudge; wink wink)
- Can be used to indicate aggression or disapproval
- Can signal power or status
Communicate liking
People look at who they like more and people are attracted to people who look at them
Communicate whether somebody’s listening
Adults spend 75% of the time gazing when listening and 41% of the time when speaking
Regulate turn-taking in conversation
Mutual gaze for initiating conversation
Listeners gaze when they want to talk
Speakers gaze when they’re about to finish speaking
Gazing signalling power/status
Visual dominance- gazing more at lower status speaker
6 broad functions of touch
- Communicate positive effect (appreciation, affection)
- Communicate playfulness and humour
- Draw attention to yourself or to induce compliance- touch as a control
- To accomplish tasks (nurse taking pulse)
- Communicate negative affect (pushing away, slap)
- Satisfy ritual requirements (hello, goodbye)
Sex differences and touch
Men touch women more than women touch men
Women derive more please when being touched, but circumstances are very important
Men are more likely to read sexual connotations into a touch than are women
Interpersonal distance
Intimate- up to 0.5m
Friends and acquaintances- 0.5-1.25m
Social- 1.25-4m
Public- 4-8m
Liking
Sitting or standing close to somebody indicates liking
Status
Interpersonal distance is greater the higher the status
Culture for interpersonal distance
Working class, Southern Europeans and children stand closer than non-working class, Northern Europeans and adults
Turn-taking and conversation - ending a conversation
Coming to the end of a sentence Raising or lowering intonation of the last word Drawing out the last syllable Leaving sentence unfinished Body language
Turn-taking and conversation - resisting butting
Maintain same pitch Keep head straight Keep eyes unchanged Same gestures Speak pilfer and faster
Turn-taking and conversation - allowing for someone to continue
Nodding Minimal encouragers (mm-hmm, ok, right)
Types of social skills
Emotional expressivity Emotional sensitivity Emotional control Social expressivity Social sensitivity Social control Social manipulation
Emotional expressivity
Letting others know your emotional state
Emotional sensitivity
Being sensitive to other’s emotional states
Emotional control
Ability to control emotional expression
Social expressivity
Comfortable in social situations
Social sensitivity
Influenced by the moods of those around you
Social control
Being the leader
Social manipulation
Manipulating others to get what you want
PONS
Profile of non-verbal sensitivity
Trends of PONS
Get better as we get older
Sensitivity predicts success
Sensitivity is compromised among people with psychopathology
Women are more sensitive but worse at detecting deception
Can help with marital satisfaction
Mimicry
Copying nonverbals
Chameleon effect
Mimicry can be unconscious such as rubbing face, shaking foot, yawning and laughing
Communication accomodation theory (CAT)
Converging speech style so that it is more like others
Divergence can be a sign of dislike but too much can be creepy or patronising
Self disclosure
Deciding how much personal information is shared with others
Under-disclosure and over-disclosure can be seen as defensive and as a barrier to intimacy
Typical self-disclosure
Strong reciprocity effects
Men and women disclose more to women than men
Disclose not to attractive people
What is assertion?
Presenting own perspective
Taking responsibility for own attitudes and feelings
Stating opinions as opinions
Leaving choice of response to others
Aggression
Dominating others
Forcing others to do what you want
Assuming your feelings/needs are more important
Attacking others
Having others take responsibility for your problems
Throwing tantrums
Being argumentative and uncooperative
Function of assertiveness
Overcome barriers, avoid cycles of frustration and anger, share of control of situations and make things better, to share feelings, opinions and experiences
