CONFLUENCE
26 February 2011
Decoding Nonverbal Communication
Malathi.P. (Asst. Professor, Dept. of English)
J.J. College of Engineering and Technology, Thiruchirappalli,Tamil Nadu
Abstract:
Nonverbal communication is naturally in everybody and everywhere. The first mode of communication of
human being is only through nonverbal communication. By growing he/she starts to learn sounds and
language. Hence he/she is habituated from birth to use nonverbal communication to complements and
amplifies the messages of oral communication. Hence decoding of nonverbal is not highly complicated to
him to understand the real meaning of the message. But he must be familiar with the complex meaning of
the nonverbal in the verbal communication. To perform and decode these kinds of nonverbal
communication, one should have the knowledge of features of nonverbal communication based on the
classification of nonverbal behavior of Ekman and Freisen. They bring out nonverbal communication and
its interpretation under nine categories of two divisions as nonverbal vocal message and a nonverbal
nonvocal message. The nonverbal vocal message contains vocalics and the nonverbal nonvocal message
contains kinesics, proxemics, chronemics, haptics, Oculesics, adornment, and facial expression. Vocalics
is commonly known as paralanguage. The set of nonphonemic properties of speech, such as speaking
tempo, vocal pitch, and intonational contour, that can be used to communicate attitudes or other shades of
meaning. Paralanguage may be expressed consciously or unconsciously, and it includes the pitch, volume,
and, in some cases, intonation of speech. There are no utterances or speech signals that lack paralinguistic
properties, since speech requires the presence of a voice that can be modulated. The interpretation of
paralanguage is discussed in detailed. The decoding of nonvocal nonverbal is also given. In the
application side, Rober Norton (1996) identifies nine main communicative styles as dominant, dramatic,
contentious, animated, impression leaving, relaxed, attentive, open, and friendly. These dimensions
measure how nonverbal communication helps the person to interact in various situations. This paper
concludes the discussion with the main reasons for decoding nonverbal communication.
Introduction
Nonverbal communication is naturally in everybody and everywhere. The first mode of communication
of human being is only through nonverbal communication. By growing he/she starts to learn sounds and
language. Hence he/she is habituated from birth to use nonverbal communication to complements and
amplifies the messages of oral communication. Hence decoding of nonverbal is not highly complicated to
him to understand the real meaning of the message. But he must be familiar with the complex meaning of
the
nonverbal
in
the
verbal
communication.
To decode correctly, one should know the characteristic of nonverbal communication. This paper
classifies the features of nonverbal communication based on the classification of nonverbal behaviour of
Ekman and Freisen. They bring out nonverbal communication and its interpretation under nine categories
of two divisions as nonverbal vocal message and a nonverbal nonvocal message. The nonverbal vocal
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message contains vocalics and the nonverbal nonvocal message contains kinesics, proxemics,
chronemics, haptics, Oculesics, adornment, and facial expression.
Characteristics of Nonverbal Communication
Vocalics
or
Paralanguage.
Definition: The set of nonphonemic properties of speech, such as speaking tempo, vocal pitch, and
intonational contour, that can be used to communicate attitudes or other shades of meaning. Paralanguage
may
be
expressed
consciously or unconsciously, and it includes the pitch, volume, and, in some cases, intonation of speech.
There
are no utterances or speech signals that lack paralinguistic properties, since speech requires the presence
of
a
voice
that
can
be
modulated.
Interpreting
Paralanguage:
1. Emphasizing syllables. The way people say something can completely change the meaning of a
sentence
depending
on
what
word
they
are
emphasizing.
2. Deepening voice. A deep sounding voice is psychologically more believable than a higher frequency
voice. Someone who lowers the frequency of their voice is expressing anger, defensiveness, or
dominance because a deeper voice sounds bigger.
3. Raised pitch. People raise the pitch of their voice to express harmlessness, submissiveness, and
openness. In courtship, both men and women will increase the pitch of their voice above their normal
frequency to make themselves appear less intimidating or hostile.
4. Decrease in volume. A decrease in volume of the voice indicates submissiveness or doubtfulness of
the
information
that
has
to
bring
out.
5. Increase in volume. An increase in the volume of the voice indicates anger, frustration, or a show of
dominance or authority. Often when two people are arguing, each person will increase the volume of
their voice to be louder than the other person; thereby, achieving a form of verbal dominance over them.
6. Speech errors. An increase in speech errors is an indication that the person is lying or not telling the
complete truth. Some time if a person is called surprisingly or when he is in high emotion the speech
error
is
common.
7.Filler sounds. Filler sounds are the aaahh, uuuumm, eeerrrr, sounds that people use to fill in periods of
silence during the conversation. Generally people use them when they are contemplating an answer.
People have been conditioned to know that a filler sound means that they are searching for an answer, so
they
automatically
take
a
mental
intermission
from
the
conversation.
Kinesics
or
Body
language
Kinesics is the interpretation of body language such as facial expressions, posture and gestures — or,
more formally, nonverbal bahaviour related to movement. The term was first used (in 1952) by Ray
Birdwhistell, an anthropologist who argued that all movements of the body have meaning (ie. are not
accidental), and that these nonverbal forms of language (or paralanguage) have a grammar that can be
analyzed in similar terms to spoken language. Birdwhistell estimated that "no more than 30 to 35 percent
of
the
social
meaning
of
a
conversation
or
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an interaction is carried by the words." He also concluded that there were no universals in these kinesic
displays. Facial expression results from one or more motions or positions of the muscles of the face.
These movements convey the emotional state of the individual to observers. The human face is
expressive, and able to express countless emotions without expressing a single word. According to
Birdwhistell ‘face has 2, 50,000 different expressions. Humans can adopt a facial expression as a
voluntary action. However, because expressions are closely tied to emotion, they are more often
involuntary. It can be nearly impossible to avoid expressions for certain emotions, even when it would be
strongly desirable to do so. Gestures MCNEILL (1992) makes argument that gestures and speech are a
single
system
because
they
occur
and
develop
together;
they
are
co-expressive and develop together in children.Emblems: those gestures which have a verbal equivalent
known by the community which is using the gesture (culture, professionals etc.) Most of them are used to
express commands ("be silent", "go this way", "I can’t hear you" etc) Adaptors : the behavioural
adaptation gestures which we make in response to certain learning situations. Generally, this is
unconscious behaviours, but we become more sensitive to them due to the others’ feedback ("Stop
fiddling with your hair!") Conflict, frustration or hostility seems to generate an increased self-touching.
There are several classes of gestures: Illustrators: - close formal relationship to the semantic content of
the speech – the gesture exhibits the same act referred to in the speech (co-expressiveness); e.g. "and he
hit
it"
–
gesture
with
the
fist,
showing
the
action
Posture: There are 3 main human postures: -standing; sitting, squatting and kneeling; -lying. The analysis
of a certain posture requires attention paid to: a) leaning – backwards, forwards, sideways; b) arms:
open
,closed, on hips; c) head: lowered, raised, tilted sideways; d) legs: stretched, open, crossed (ARGYLE,
1996)
Proxemics
Proxemics was introduced by anthropologist Edward T. Hall in 1966.Proxemics is the study of set
measurable distances between people as they interact. It isunintentional reactions to sensory fluctuations
or
shifts,
such
as
subtle changes in the sound and pitch of a person's voice. Social distance between people is reliably
correlated with physical distance, as are intimate and personal distance, according to the following
delineations:
Close phase – 1.5 to 2.5 feet (46 to 76 cm) Far phase – 2.5 to 4 feet (76 to 120 cm) Social distance for
interactions among acquaintances: Close phase – 4 to 7 feet (1.2 to 2.1 m) Far phase – 7 to 12 feet (2.1 to
3.7 m) Public distance used for public speaking Close phase – 12 to 25 feet (3.7 to 7.6 m) , Far phase – 25
feet (7.6 m) or more. Hall notes that different cultures maintain different standards of personal space. In
Latin cultures, for instance, those relative distances are smaller, and people tend to be more comfortable
standing close to each other; in Nordic cultures the opposite is true. Realizing and recognizing these
cultural
differences
improves
cross-cultural understanding.
Haptic
Haptic communication is the means by which people and other animals communicate via touching.
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Touch is an extremely important sense for humans; as well as providing information about surfaces and
textures
it is a component of nonverbal communication in interpersonal relationships, and vital in conveying
physical intimacy. Touching is treated differently from one country to another. Socially acceptable levels
of touching vary from one culture to another. In the Thai culture, touching someone's head may be
thought
rude.
Meanings of touch: Touch research conducted by Jones and Yarbrough (1985) revealed 18 different
meanings of touch, grouped in seven types: Positive effect (emotion), playfulness, control, ritual, hybrid
(mixed), task-related, and accidental touch. Recently, researchers have shown that touch communicates
distinct emotions such as anger,fear, happiness, sympathy, love, and gratitude
Oculesics:
A person's face, especially his/her eyes, creates the most obvious and immediate cues that lead to the
formation of impressions. A person's eyes reveal much about how they are feeling, or what they are
thinking. Blink rate can reveal how nervous or at ease a person may be. Research by Boston College
professor Joe Tecce suggests that stress levels are revealed by blink rates. Lack of eye contact is usually
perceived
to
be
rude
or
inattentive.
But different cultures have different rules for eye contact. Eye gazing: During conversation, people look
at each other, but not all the time. ARGYLE (1994) quotes the following figures as an average: individual gaze 60% , -while listening 75% , -while talking 40% , -length of glance 3 seconds , -eyecontact
(mutual
glance)
30%
The length of eye-contact is 11/2 seconds. Individual variations depend on the individuals’ status,
distance (increased distance generates increased gaze), attitudes towards each other, type of personality,
topic of conversation, culture etc. Gaze levels are in generally higher in those who are extroverted,
dominant or assertive, socially skilled. Gaze seems to be less in anxiety, submissive attitude towards the
interlocutor, in groups, when discussing a difficult topic, or when the subjects have a visual support for
their
conversation.
Adornment:
Communications are also affected by a variety of other variables, such as clothes, makeup, and
accessories. These offer signals relating to context (e.g. formal vs. informal), status, and individuality. It
is about the personality of a person, which means the way of dressing, grooming, walking style, and way
of
presenting
to
the society. Elements such as physique, height, weight, hair, skin color, gender, odors, and clothing send
nonverbal messages during interaction.
Communication Styles
Rober Norton defined communication style as "the way one verbally, nonverbally, and Para verbally
interacts to signal how literal meaning should be taken, interpreted, filtered, or understood" (1996.p.229).
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Norton has identified nine communicator styles. A person’s style may be dominant, dramatic,
contentious, animated, impression leaving, relaxed, attentive, open, and friendly.
Dominant: Dominant, as a style variable, pervades the communication literature and encompasses a wide
range of semantic and operational meaning. A person with a low dominant style score tends to
misperceive
the communication styles of others. A study conducted by Bowles, Pausenberger and Massie (2003)
showed the emergence of two groups: a group with a predominantly dominating style, and a group with
an
avoiding style. The dominating communicators had higher self-esteem and the avoiding communicators
had
lower
self-esteem.
Dramatic: The dramatic communicator manipulates exaggerations, fantasies, stories, metaphors, rhythm,
voice, and other stylistic devices to highlight or understate content. Dramatizing, which is probably the
most visible style component, serves a profound, complex, often unconscious, often intentional,
interactional
communicative
function. When a person communicates in a dramatic way, the simple literal meaning of the message is
transformed. (Norton, 1983: 65). The dramatic style often gives away true feelings. Sometimes the person
deliberately dramatizes to satirize, devalue, disown, deflate, or ruin the literal meaning. In most instances,
dramatic communication works because the receiver knows how to process the underlying or double
meaning suggested by the sender. Both people interactively share premises that give form to the message
(Norton,
1983:
66).
Contentious: The contentious communicator is argumentative. No psychological literature specifically
addresses itself to the domain encompassed by this variable. The variable emerges as one closely
associated with the dominant style, but potentially entailing negative components (Norton 1983: 67). This
style involves being argumentative, often over trivial issues, along with being overly precise to the extent
that the conversation hangs up on small, unimportant points while the important issues are missed. These
bahaviours both inhibit further communication and prevent dialogue. It would be useful for a person to
develop judgment in recognizing when it is necessary to stop a conversation and insist on clarification
Animated: According to Norton (1983), physical, nonverbal cues define the domain of the animated subconstruct. By definition, an animated communicator provides frequent and sustained eye contact, uses
many
facial expressions, and gestures often.
Impression Leaving: Impression leaving, as a style variable, is relatively not researched extensively. The
concept centers around whether a person is remembered because of the communicative stimuli he
or she projects. Impression leaving has been regarded as important to the communication process. Gibson
(1985) stated that the speaker must appear to be convincing or the impression with the receiver would be
one
of
distrust.
Relaxed: The relaxed style can signal multiple messages. On one hand it suggests calmness, peace, and
serenity and on the other, it suggests confidence and comfortableness. The lack of tension in each signal
may give form to the message in markedly different ways.
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Attentive: Attentive style is manifested essentially as feedback showing responsiveness. Most often, the
attentive style is associated with the auditor role. Attentiveness was defined as a function of posture,
verbal bahaviour and eye contact. The attentive style signals the willingness to provide feedback, the
willingness to be responsive. The willingness itself is a form of feedback. However, the specific
information embedded in the feedback can carry complex and dense message, including instructions,
commands,
or
directives.
Because
of
these reactive possibilities inherent in attentive style, it has the capacity to draw distinction.
Open: Bahaviour associated with the open sub-construct probably includes communicative activity that is
characterized by styles that are conversational, expansive, affable, convivial, gregarious, unreserved,
somewhat frank, possibly outspoken, definitely extroverted, and obviously approachable. Stylistically,
the open communicator readily reveals personal information about the self in communicative interactions.
The counterpart of this notion is manifested in the poker-faced individual who is hard to read.
Friendly: The friendly communicator confirms, strokes, and positively recognizes others. In a study
conducted by Garko (1993), managers were found to be friendlier when persuading subordinates who
were perceived to be attractive in terms of communication styles rather than those with unattractive
styles. They also employ friendliness when gaining compliance from subordinates.
The
main
reasons
for
decoding
nonverbal
communication
is
summarized
as
follows:
(1) intentionally or unintentionally, consciously or unconsciously, people send and receive nonverbal
messages.
(2)
Make
based
important
(3)
emotional
People’s
decisions
on
state
is
and
best
judgments
about
these
communicated
through
people
their
and
nonverbal
situations
messages.
messages.
(4) People make judgments about the verbal messages in the light of accompanying nonverbal cues.
(5) People use the nonverbal elements to present themselves to people and to alter their thinking and
behaviour.
(6) It has a major role in facilitating cross-cultural interaction. To access people’s minds and to identify
the steps of the learning process in acquiring the norms are the main challenges for the research in the
field
of
nonverbal.
One’s own body language signals can also influence what other people may think or feel about him. If he
does it right, he will be liked and trusted. But if he sends the wrong signals (even if he is unaware of it) –
his business, career, relationships, and even self-esteem may suffer.For example, if a person has a habit of
touching his nose, people could perceive that as a sign of deception. He might simply have that habit
even if he is telling the truth, but people can't tell the difference. They are unconsciously interpreting his
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gesture as untrustworthy and judging him based on his actions. Understanding the meaning and uses of
specific body gestures will allow a person to change his approach and act only in ways that will result in
maximum
compliance.
Conclusion
When a person recognizes the true meaning of people's nonverbal communication (which could often be
very different from what they say), his life changes in a lot of positive ways. From Albert Mehrabian,
Burgoon, Buller, and Woodall (1989), who suggest that communication is a “dynamic and ongoing
process whereby people create shared meaning through the sending and receiving of messages via
commonly understood codes”. Apart from verbal meaning the messages are interpreted through
commonly understood codes, and that codes are purly about the nonverbal communication. Hence ‘Be a
good decoder of nonverbal communication’ to reach the Himalayan achievement in all direction of the
life.
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