Nonverbal
Communication
COM 372
Theory and Research in
Intercultural Communication
Defining Nonverbal
Communication
• “Messages people send to others that do
not contain words, such as messages
tsent through body motions; vocal
qualities; and the use of time, space,
artifacdts, dress, and even smell”
(Neuliep, 2006, p. 286)
• When senders OR receivers give
meaning? (That is, when behavior has
“meaning potential”)
• NOTE: Not “sign language” (which is
verbal)
Relation to Verbal Comm
• The role of “emblems”
• “Signs” and “symbols”
– Indexical
– Iconic
– Symbolic
• Attribution
• Paralanguage (neither V nor NV!)
Relation to Verbal Comm
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Repetition
Substitution
Accentuation
Compliment
Contradict
Regulate
Functions of NVC
• Replacing/Amplifying verbal
messages
• Sending uncomfortable
messages
• Impression management
• Identity management
• Goals: persuasion, comfort,
etc.
• Clarifying relationships
Channels & Issues of NVC
Issue #1: Emotion
• Channels involved
– Kinesics
• Posture
• Gesture
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Emblems
Illustrators
Adaptors
Regulators
Affect Display
Channels & Issues of NVC
Issue #1: The Question
• Is facial display of
emotion universal?
• The evidence
• “Display rules”
Issue #2: Contact
Cultures: Is it
useful to think of,
group cultures in
terms of “contact”
behaviors?
Channels & Issues of NVC
Issue #2: Contact Cultures
• Definition:
• Channels involved
– Proxemics
• Levels of space (Table 1)
• Territory (primary, secondary,
tertiary, national)
• “Queuing rules”
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Oculesics
Haptics
Olfactics
Body angle
Space…the final frontier
• Territory
– Primary, secondary, tertiary
– Marking your territory
– Examples
• Personal space
– ET Hall’s in the zone…
Space violations: EVT
• Background
– Arousal Theory: Arousal  Negative Evaluation
– Equilibrium Theory: Disequilibrium 
Compensation
– Both assume violations of expecations will be bad!
• Main Point
– We as individuals, have expectations about
interaction with others. These expectations include
many things such as physical proximity, speech
rate, volume, eye contact and touching. Normally,
we are not aware of these expectations until they
are violated. These expectations form the focus of
the theory. These violations are interpreted on a
continuum of valences from bad to good.
Main Concepts
• Expectancies (Expectations
– Enduring patterns of anticipated verbal and
nonverbal behaviors
– Two kinds: predictive & prescriptive
• Predictive- the degree to which a behavior is
regarded as appropriate, desired, or preferred
• Prescriptive- idealized standards of conduct
rather than actual communicative practice
– Three sources (Interaction Adaptation Theory):
• Characteristic behavior of the person (“modal”)
• Social expectations for the situation
• Receiver’s desired behavior in the situation
Channels & Issues of NVC
Issue #3: Time
• Linear/Cyclical
• Polychronic/Monochronic
• Past/Present/Future
• Formal/Informal
• “On-time” v. “In time”
Channels & Issues of NVC
Issue #4: Silence & Sound
• Paralinguistics & the
problem of “volume”
• The use & meaning of
silence(s)
– Basso’s hypothesis
– Braithwaite’s extension
– Other “silences”
On misunderstanding silence
& sound
Beginning to theorize
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fda
G7ULqAo&feature=related
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbd1tr
Nz9bY
Semiotics
– Many views/aspects!
– Roland Barthes (Mythologies)
1. Sign = signifier + signified
2. Sign systems (codes)
3. Ideology (sign/semiotic shift, myth)