NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION:
MESSAGES BEYOND WORDS
6
CHAPTER TOPICS
• Characteristics of Nonverbal Communication
• Influences on Nonverbal Communication
• Types of Nonverbal Communication
Looking Out/Looking In
Thirteenth Edition
Characteristics of Nonverbal
Communication
• Nonverbal Communication
• Messages expressed by nonlinguistic terms
• This rules out the written word and sign
language
• Includes all vocal means that do not involve
language
• Sighs, laughs, etc.
• Nonlinguistic dimensions
• Volume, rate, pitch
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION: MESSAGES BEYOND WORDS
2
Characteristics of Nonverbal
Communication
• Nonverbal Skills are Vital
• Nonverbal encoding and decoding skills are
strong predictor of
• Popularity
• Attractiveness
• Socioeconomic status
• Nonverbal skills are vital to emotional
intelligence
• All behavior has communicative value
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION: MESSAGES BEYOND WORDS
3
Characteristics of Nonverbal
Communication
• Nonverbal Communication is Relational
• Identity Management
• Defines the kinds of relationships we want to
have with others
• When you’re at a party how do you act?
• Which emotions are you displaying?
• Friendly, attractive, easygoing
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION: MESSAGES BEYOND WORDS
4
Characteristics of Nonverbal
Communication
• Nonverbal Communication is Relational
• Nonverbal communication is better suited
towards conveying emotion
• How do you express the following nonverbally
•
•
•
•
•
You’re tired
You’re in favor of capital punishment
You’re attracted to another person in the group
You think prayer in schools should be allowed
You’re angry at someone in the room
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION: MESSAGES BEYOND WORDS
5
Characteristics of Nonverbal
Communication
• Nonverbal Communication Serves Many
Functions
• Repeating
• When someone asks for directions, you often
repeat your answer with a gesture
• Complementing
• Expressions that match thoughts and emotions
• Substituting
• When someone asks, “What’s up?” You may just
shrug your shoulders
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION: MESSAGES BEYOND WORDS
6
Characteristics of Nonverbal
Communication
• Nonverbal Communication Serves Many
Functions
• Accenting
• Nonverbal devices in oral messages
• “It was your idea!”
• Regulating
• Influencing the flow of verbal communication
• Contradicting
• Sending mixed messages
• “Angry? I’m not angry!”
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION: MESSAGES BEYOND WORDS
7
Characteristics of Nonverbal
Communication
• Nonverbal Communicators Offer
Deception Clues
• Leakage
• Nonverbal cues that send signals a person is
deceiving you
• When someone is bluffing a hand of poker, a
player may nervously tap their finger or fidget in
their chair
• The voice also offers leakage clues
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION: MESSAGES BEYOND WORDS
8
Characteristics of Nonverbal
Communication
• Nonverbal Communicators Offer
Deceptions Clues
• Three findings:
• We are accurate in detecting deception only
slightly more than half the time
• We overestimate our ability to detect others’ lies
• We have a strong tendency to judge others’
messages as truthful
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION: MESSAGES BEYOND WORDS
9
Characteristics of Nonverbal
Communication
• Nonverbal Communication is Ambiguous
• What does a kiss mean?
• In some situations it can be a way of saying hello
• In another situation is could be the first step to a
more romantic relationship
• When your significant other pulls away
• Is this a sign of trouble
• Or a suggestion to pursue
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION: MESSAGES BEYOND WORDS
10
Characteristic of Nonverbal
Communication
• Nonverbal Communication is Ambiguous
• Service with a Smile
• Twelve Safeway Employees filed grievances over
the smile-and-make-eye-contact policy
• The clerks claimed shoppers thought their smiles
and eye-contact was flirting
• Nonverbal Leaning Disorder (NVLD)
• Reading facial expressions, tone of voice and
other cues is dramatically more difficult
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION: MESSAGES BEYOND WORDS
11
Influences on Nonverbal
Communication
• Gender
• Research shows that, compared to men,
women:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Smile more
Use more facial expression
Use more head, hand and arm gestures
Touch others more
Stand closer to others
Make more eye contact
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION: MESSAGES BEYOND WORDS
12
Influences on Nonverbal
Communication
• Culture
• Nonverbal behaviors can have different
meanings depending on the culture
• The “OK” gesture:
• A cheery affirmation in American culture
• Means you’re worth zero in France and Belgium
• Is a vulgar sexual invitation in Greece and Turkey
• Americans are comfortable conducting business at
a distance of four feet
• Middle Easterner’s stand much closer
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION: MESSAGES BEYOND WORDS
13
Influences on Nonverbal
Communication
• Culture
• The use of time depends greatly on culture
• Monochronic
• Emphasizing punctuality, schedules and
completing one task at a time
• Polychronic
• Flexible schedule in which multiple tasks are
pursued at the same time
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION: MESSAGES BEYOND WORDS
14
Types of Nonverbal
Communication
• Body Movement
• Body Orientation
• The degree to which we face toward or away from
someone with our body, feet and head
• Posture
• By paying attention to the postures around your
own, you’ll find another channel of communication
• Gestures
• Movements of the hands and arms
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION: MESSAGES BEYOND WORDS
15
Types of Nonverbal
Communication
• Body Movement
• Gestures
• Illustrators
• Movements that accompany speech but do not stand on
their own
• Emblems
• Deliberate nonverbal communication that has precise
meaning
• Adaptors
• Unconscious body movements in response to the
environment
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION: MESSAGES BEYOND WORDS
16
Types of Nonverbal
Communication
• Body Movement
• Face and Eyes
• At least eight distinguishable positions of the
eyebrows and forehead
• Eight of the eyes and lids
• Ten for the lower face
• Multiplied together you can understand why it
is nearly impossible to compile a dictionary of
facial expressions
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION: MESSAGES BEYOND WORDS
17
Types of Nonverbal
Communication
• Body Movement
• Face and Eyes
• Microexpressions
• Expressions that happen quickly and are difficult to
detect
• Can be very effective in identifying emotion
• Eyes
• Communicate positive or negative attitude
• Pupils grow larger based on the interest in the object
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION: MESSAGES BEYOND WORDS
18
Types of Nonverbal
Communication
• Voice
• Paralanguage
• Describes nonverbal, vocal messages
• Note how many meanings come from a single
sentence, just by shifting the emphasis
• “This is a fantastic communication book.”
• “This is a fantastic communication book.”
• “This is a fantastic communication book.”
• Unintentional Pause
• Vocalized Pause
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION: MESSAGES BEYOND WORDS
19
Types of Nonverbal
Communication
• Touch
• Haptics
• Touch can communicate many messages
• What makes a given touch more or less intense?
• Several Factors:
•
•
•
•
•
Which part of the body does the touching
Which part of the body is touched
How long does the touch last
How much pressure is used
The situation in which the touch occurred
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION: MESSAGES BEYOND WORDS
20
Types of Nonverbal
Communication
• Appearance
• Physical Attractiveness
• Men and women whom others perceive as
attractive are rated as:
•
•
•
•
•
Being more sensitive
Kind
Strong
Sociable
Interesting
• Physically attractive professors receive higher
evaluations from their students
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION: MESSAGES BEYOND WORDS
21
Types of Nonverbal
Communication
• Appearance
• Clothing
• One writer suggests that clothing can covey at
least ten types of messages to others:
Economic background
Economic level
Educational level
Educational background
Level of sophistication
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION: MESSAGES BEYOND WORDS
Level of success
Moral character
Social background
Social position
Trustworthiness
22
Types of Nonverbal
Communication
• Physical Space
• Proxemics
• The study of the way people and animals use
space.
• We each carry an invisible bubble of personal
space wherever we go
• We feel uncomfortable with this bubble is violated
• Different cultures develop different bubbles
• It is important to choose distances based on the
receiver of your message
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION: MESSAGES BEYOND WORDS
23
Types of Nonverbal
Communication
• Proxemics
• Hall’s Four Spatial Zones
• Intimate distance
• Ranges out about eighteen inches
• Personal distance
• Ranges from eighteen inches to four feet
• Social distance
• Four feet to twelve feet
• Public distance
• Distances beyond twelve feet
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION: MESSAGES BEYOND WORDS
24
Types of Nonverbal
Communication
• Time
• Chronemics
• The study of how humans structure time
• In a culture that values time highly, waiting can be
an indicator of status
• Time can be a marker of relationships
• The amount of time spent with a relational partner
sends important messages about value
• Time is also valued in mediated communication
• Email
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION: MESSAGES BEYOND WORDS
25
Chapter Review
• Characteristics of Nonverbal
Communication
• Influences on Nonverbal Communication
• Types of Nonverbal Communication
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION: MESSAGES BEYOND WORDS
26