Nonverbal Communication

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Nonverbal Communication

• The World Beyond Words

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What is Nonverbal Communication?

• Messages expressed by nonlinguistic means.
• Includes silent behaviors, environment,
  artifacts, and vocal intonation
• Is a powerful mode of communication

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Characteristics/Principles of Nonverbal
Communication
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All Behavior hasCommunicative Value

• Because we cannot not communicate
• May be intentional, but is often unconscious
• Although were always sending messages through
  our nonverbals, these messages arent always
  received.
• We especially pay attention to nonverbals when
  they contradict verbal communication.

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Nonverbal Communication is Primarily Relational

• Responsiveness
• Communicates our interest in others
  communication
• Women are generally more responsive than men
• People in lower-power positions tend to be better
  at reading nonverbals
• Liking Positive or negative feelings about
  others
• Power
• Touch
• Violence and Abuse
• Space
• Silence

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(A little more about the relational nature of
nonverbals)

• Nonverbals are especially important
• For identity management
• In defining our relationships (e.g., level of
  intimacy)
• For expressing emotions we dont want to express,
  cant express, or dont know were feeling

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NonverbalCommunicationis Ambiguous

• The same nonverbal can have multiple meanings
• For example
• Im feeling content smiles
• Im feeling a little stressed smiles
• Im a bit sad smiles
• I cant believe you just did that smiles
• How do I get out of this conversation? smiles

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Nonverbal Communication Reflects Cultural Values

• Some Examples
• Space
• Americans tend to value more personal space than
  many other cultures
• Men tend to value more personal space than women
• Touch (Knapp, 1972)
• Americans 2 touches per hour
• British 0 touches per hour
• Parisians 110 touches per hour
• Puerto Ricans 180 touches per hour
• Eye-Contact
• In North-America frankness, assertiveness,
  honesty
• In many Asian and northern-European countries
  abrasive disrespectful
• In Brazil more intense eye-contact is the norm

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Nonverbal Communication (Continued)
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The Interplay Between Verbal and Nonverbal
Communication

• Repeating
• Your nonverbals simply repeat what youve said
• Substituting
• Your nonverbals replace language
• Emblems (e.g., nodding)
• Complementing Accenting
• Your nonverbals add depth and meaning to your
  language
• Illustrators/Affect displays
• Regulating
• Your nonverbals help regulate the conversation
• Contradicting
• You say one thing, but your nonverbals say another

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Different Types of Nonverbal Communication
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Face and Eyes

• Over 1000 distinct facial expressions
• Eyes can be especially expressive
• Windows to the soul
• Men and women have been found to be equally
  expressive
• Men show the most emotion in the lower left
  quadrant of their face
• Women show emotion over their whole face

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Body Movement/Kinesics

• Body posture
• Gestures
• Manipulators/Fidgeting
• An aside

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Touch

• Touching is considered essential and therapeutic
• Touching can influence liking and compliance
• Is used to show intimacy or power/control
• People with high status touch others/invade
  others spaces more than people with lower status

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Voice/Paralanguage

• Consists of vocal tone, speed, pitch, volume,
  number and length of pauses, and disfluencies
  (ums, ahs), etc.
• Paralanguage tends to be more powerful than
  language
• Affects how others perceive us
• Stereotyping (e.g., accents, vocabulary, grammar
• Influenced by culture, gender, class
  (intentionally or unintentionally)
• An illustration

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• Try saying You love me to convey the following
  meanings
• You really do? I hadnt realized that.
• That ploy wont work. I told you were through.
• You couldnt possibly love me after what you did!
• Me? Im the one you love?
• You? I didnt think you loved anyone.

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Silence

• Can communicate contentment, awkwardness, anger,
  respect, thoughtfulness, empathy
• Can also be disconfirming

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Space/Proxemics

• Personal Space
• Intimate distance
• Personal distance
• Social distance
• Public distance
• Barrier behaviors and territory

You are here
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Time/Chronemics

• Our use of time reflects
• Power/status
• Cultural norms
• Expectations
• Interpersonal priorities

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Physical Appearance

• Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
• We tend to notice obvious things first (gender,
  race), then note attractiveness
• Physically attractive people generally are
  perceived better
• Importance placed on physical appearance can be
  very damaging
• Its what we do with it thats most important

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Artifacts

• Include clothing, jewelry, personal belongings,
  accessories, etc.
• Communicate economic level, educational level,
  trustworthiness, social position, level of
  sophistication, economic background, social
  background, educational background, level of
  success, moral character, masculinity/femininity,
  cultural background
• Important part of first impressions

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Environment

• Communicates something about you
• We surround ourselves with things that are
  important/meaningful to us
• Use artifacts to define our territory
• Can influence interactions
• How people use an environment communicates
  something about them

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Some Guidelines for Improving Nonverbal
Communication
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• Monitor Your Nonverbal Communication
• Be Tentative When Interpreting Others Nonverbal
  Communication
• Nonverbals are personal and ambiguous
• Personal Qualifications
• Take responsibility for your interpretations
• Use I language to check your perceptions of
  nonverbals
• Contextual Qualifications
• Be aware of how the context might be influencing
  others nonverbals
• Be aware of how different cultural norms might
  influence others nonverbals
• Be careful not to jump to conclusions based on
  your own cultural norms