Running head: SUPERIOR-SUBORDINATE RELATIONSHIPS
Emotions and Nonverbals in Superior-Subordinate Relationships
Jared A. Grimsley
Missouri State University
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Abstract
Students from an undergraduate communication methods course at a mid-sized
Midwestern university were recruited for the original study on communication and leadership.
This particular study focused on the effect of nonverbals and emotions on relationships between
subordinates and superiors. A total of 50 students participated in the study. The participants were
asked questions concerning communication in regards to leadership, experiences with good and
bad leaders, and skills they think they have that make themselves leaders. Specifically,
participants were asked about qualities that they think make an effective leader. Three major
themes emerged from this research. Most people, whether playing the role of superior or
subordinate, consider the rewards and consequences of their emotional and nonverbal actions
before employing them. Negative emotions and expressions of historically negative nonverbals
result in an overall negative perception from the person on the receiving end. People often
immediately behave different upon receiving a title that promotes a much higher or much lower
status.
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Emotions and Nonverbals in Superior-Subordinate Relationships
A lack of efficiency, productivity, and motivation in the workplace can be a serious
problem. This can be attributed to prior relationships between superiors and subordinates, the
physical environment, leadership styles, verbal messages, or anything communicated
nonverbally. It is important to develop leadership skills in the workplace, specifically “the
encoding and decoding of nonverbal messages” (Remland, 1981, p. 17), to be able to understand
and combat this problem.
On the contrary, this same workplace could prosper in all three aforementioned areas. If it
is to be kept this way, you need to recognize the type of leadership involved, as well as the cause
of the success and how to maintain it. In both cases, acquiring the ability to eavesdrop on the
feelings of superiors and subordinates can be either rewarding or punishing in your attempt to
predict workplace outcomes (Elfenbein & Ambady, 2002).
Society has guidelines on how we nonverbally communicate our emotions in the
workplace (Rafaeli & Sutton, 1987). Research looks at when it is acceptable to employ both
positive and negative emotions, and lays out expectations for how superiors, subordinates, and
clients are treated. The sex of the person communicating is also taken into consideration, in
terms of how others perceive their warmth, strength, competence, dominance, confidence, and
hostility (Steckler & Rosenthal, 1985, p. 159).
The concept of status differentials is another area of research that is of great importance
when understanding relationships between superiors and subordinates (Remland, 1984).
Bridging the gap between the high status of a superior and the inherent lower status of a
subordinate can give the impression that the superior is being more considerate.
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This paper will explore the use of nonverbal communication, with emphasis on emotions,
between superiors and subordinates, and how they are perceived from both ends. Furthermore, it
will look at the importance of various types of nonverbals, the notion of status differentials, the
expectations that society places on expression of emotion, our ability to predict workplace
outcomes, and simply, how emotions expressed between superiors and subordinates—and men
and women—play a role in the workplace.
Superiors refer not only to employers and administration in the workplace, but include
any persons who have some sort of influence over another of lower status. Subordinates include,
but are not limited to, employees, customers, or organizational members. Individuals can play
the role of both superior and subordinate, given the situation and environment. The following
literature begins to delve into the topics of emotions and nonverbals, mentioned previously, and
the role they play in these relationships between superiors and subordinates.
Literature Review
Whether a person plays the role of superior or subordinate, they influence the outcome of
social situations and relationships in different ways. Discovering why emotions and nonverbals
influence perceptions in superior-subordinate relationships is more difficult, but learning what
happens and how it affects the relationship is abundant throughout past and current research.
Societal Expectations
History sets precedents and expectations about how people perform, yet these
expectations are often violated. Rafaeli and Sutton (1987) observe “work settings in which
employees display emotions in order to fulfill role expectations” (p. 24). “There are some
occupations in which employees who express negative emotions garner social and financial
rewards from the organization” (Staw, Sutton, & Pelled, 1994, p. 65).
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“Actions become both predictable and understandable when they are guided by the norms
or rules of a social group” (Remland, 1981, p. 21). As a generalization, most occupations require
the expression of positive emotions, and people expect it. Subordinates expect superiors to treat
them with dignity, respect, and in a positive manner, but everybody knows this is not always the
case. “Such rules define the way an individual is obliged to act in the presence of others and the
way others can be expected to act in return” (p. 21).
Nonverbals in service encounters. Upon entering a service-oriented encounter, there is
much that is expected from the customer (i.e. subordinate) in terms of nonverbals of the service
employee (i.e. superior). “In particular, body orientation (e.g. relaxed, open posture), eye contact,
nodding, hand shaking, and smiling are all powerful nonverbal signals” (Sundaram & Webster,
2000, p. 381), that build satisfying relationships, trust, courtesy, while kinesics such as staring, a
lack of eye contact, leaning backwards, and a cocooned body posture convey negative feelings.
Service providers' usage of a slower speech rate, lower pitch, moderate pauses,
and less inflection will enhance customers' perceptions of friendliness and
credibility… Service providers' usage of a faster speech rate, higher pitch, high
vocal intensity, and higher inflection will enhance customers' perceptions of
competence, but will reduce their perceptions of friendliness. (p. 384)
The use of touch on behalf of the service provider “will enhance customers’ perceptions
of friendliness and empathy” (Sundaram & Webster, 2000, p. 384). In addition to the notions that
kinesics, paralanguage, and proxemics influence perceptions of service providers, physical
appearance may be the most influential. Being physically attractive (and wearing colors of light
to moderate intensity) increases your persuasive abilities, your ability to change attitudes, and
results in more positive evaluations. You are perceived as more poised, more socially skilled,
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and it makes you seem more friendly, likeable, sociable, credible, competent, empathetic, and
courteous.
Organizational context. Within the context and culture of any organization, there exists
a variety of role expectations. These expectations are kept in mind when people search for others
who can convey the appropriate emotions for the role in question. Aside from the initial
expectations, employees are taught how to control their emotions, which ones to display in the
workplace, and which ones to hide. Rafaeli and Sutton (1987) looked at dimensions of
organizational context and how they create and maintain emotional expression expectations.
These three dimensions are “recruitment and selection, socialization, and rewards and
punishments” (p. 26). It is how subordinates adapt to the expectations that is often most
important, and the incentives used to solidify these emotions is, in sum, the concept of rewards
and punishments.
“An organization may use selection, socialization, and rewards to encourage the display
of certain emotions. But the verbal and nonverbal cues sent by target persons also may influence
the feelings conveyed by an employee” (Rafaeli & Sutton, 1987, p. 28). When thinking about
societal expectations of nonverbals and the expression of emotions, the next thing to stop and
consider is the thought of being able to recognize these emotions displayed between superiors
and subordinates.
Emotion Recognition: The Ability to Eavesdrop
“Emotion recognition, the most reliably validated component within the construct of
emotional intelligence, is a complicated skill” (Elfenbein & Ambady, 2002, p. 963). The ability
to recognize emotions in others, in essence, is the ability to eavesdrop. Past research has shown
that possessing this ability to eavesdrop resulted in positive outcomes for people in a variety of
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contexts, but may produce negative outcomes if done incorrectly. The goal of a study conducted
by Elfenbein and Ambady (2002) looks at nonverbal eavesdropping, workplace outcomes, and
how their relationships differ for both positive and negative emotions.
They found that “emotions can be expressed through a number of different channels of
the body, via facial expressions, vocal tones, body movements, and combinations of these”, and
can be both positive and negative (Elfenbein & Ambady, 2002, p. 964). The skill a person has at
emotion recognition is dependent on both the channel and the emotions conveyed. “Ironically,
people may have problems not only when they are unable to read the social cues around them,
but also when they have the potential to “read too much” in a particular situation” (p. 964).
Predicting workplace outcomes. The majority of people who try to nonverbally
eavesdrop do it with the intent of predicting workplace outcomes to favor them positively.
“Anticipation of success and thoughts that one can bring it about are likely to facilitate task
activity and persistence. When people believe that their actions will lead to positive results, they
are more likely to initiate difficult and uncertain tasks” (Staw, Sutton, & Pelled, 1994, p. 53).
“Reading negative expressions that were unintended or uncontrollable can be unproductive for
individuals because it can provide harmful information easily blown out of proportion”
(Elfenbein & Ambady, 2002, p. 969).
Sometimes nonverbal eavesdropping can be impolite and disruptive if it provides
negative information to employees or subordinates (Elfenbein & Ambady, 2002). When a person
is in a negative mood, they are more easily persuaded (Staw, Sutton, & Pelled, 1994). On the
other hand, it can be rewarding if it provides a person with a pleasant message (Elfenbein &
Ambady, 2002). Staw, Sutton, and Pelled (1994) propose “that employees who feel and display
positive emotion on the job will experience positive outcomes in their work roles” (p. 51).
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All other factors being equal, employees who feel and express positive emotion
on the job may receive more frequent and more substantial promotions, may
generate more favorable impressions among clients, may receive more outside
offers for employment, and may be trusted more by peers and supervisors. (p. 64)
Sex and Gender Differences
Something often overlooked is the degree to which sex and gender influence perceptions.
It is ignorant to remotely consider that men and women are treated the same, that men and
women are perceived the same, and it is even more ignorant to make general assumptions before
thinking. Society may tell us that men are always leaders, but that is not necessarily the truth.
Although there is an underrepresentation of women in leadership positions (Koch, 2005), women
do not always play the role of subordinate.
One recent study investigates “gendered reactions toward male and female leaders in
task-oriented, face-to-face groups with a focus on nonverbal responses” (Koch, 2005, p. 679),
while another examines how men and women are rated on scales of warmth, strength,
competence, dominance, confidence, and hostility when talking on the phone to bosses, peers,
and subordinates (Steckler & Rosenthal, 1985). The studies bring out evidence of sex role
stereotypes and the benefits and consequences of affect displays, comparing men as superiors in
contrast to women as superiors. The most important finding “is that men and women differed
differentially in the degree of competence they communicated as they talked to their bosses,
peers, and subordinates” (Steckler & Rosenthal, 1985, p. 162).
Women as superiors. Women make efforts to sound more competent if they fear people
might doubt their competence (Steckler & Rosenthal, 1985). They are perceived as more
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competent when talking to subordinates, in relation to talking with their peers. When playing the
role of subordinate, women are viewed as less competent.
Historically, females “frequently evoke much more dislike” (Koch, 2005, p. 680).
Women are more negative toward other women, rather than toward men, yet are also more
positive toward women as well. These many findings suggest that evaluative affect displays are
sometimes non-deliberate and unconscious, which is often the cause for many components of
nonverbal communication.
Importance of Nonverbals
“Nonverbal communication in particular has been found to play an important role in the
forming of impressions about traits and attributes of others and in influencing the behavior of
those who read the nonverbal cues” (Steckler and Rosenthal, p. 157). He concludes that there are
three major types of nonverbals employed in superior-subordinate relationships: kinesic norms
(the way the interactants use their bodies), proxemic norms (the way the interactants use the
space around them), and temporal norms (the way the interactants use the time available).
Simply put, nonverbals are extremely important because they modify and reinforce what
is communicated verbally (Sundaram & Webster, 2000), but these nonverbals cannot be
developed if you do not consider the context of the superior-subordinate interaction (Remland,
1981).
Status differentials. Remland’s research supports the idea that when superiors and
subordinates communicate, especially face-to-face, the nonverbals acted out spotlight the
relationship and status differential between them. Reducing or increasing the status differential
between superior and subordinate can make either party seem more or less considerate.
Remland’s (1984) study showed that status “allows individuals to assume more relaxed postures
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and positions in terms of crossed limbs, asymmetrical positioning of limbs, hand relaxation and
trunk lean” (p. 42).
“The differential in status-oriented behavior between the superior and the subordinate is a
measure of how costly the interaction is to the subordinate (esteem lost) and consequently how
rewarding it is to the superior (esteem gained)” (Remland, 1981, p. 20). When comparing higher
status persons to those of lower status, those of higher status are less attentive, which is reflected
in “less orientation toward another and less forward lean, less head tilt, and less eye contact” (p.
42).
Other summaries were drawn from research on status differentials. Those of higher status
frequently use more space than others (Remland, 1981). In a roundabout way, superiors
communicate the message that their body, space, and time are more important. “By adapting
nonverbally to a given subordinate in face-to-face interactions it becomes possible for a manager
to communicate respect for the time, territory, and presence of that subordinate” (p. 26).
Role of Emotions and Nonverbals in the Workplace
“Research in organizational behavior focuses on expressed and felt emotions as
indicators of employee health and satisfaction” (Rafaeli & Sutton, 1987, p. 23). Expressed
feelings and demands on expression can lead to emotional harmony, emotional dissonance, and
emotional deviance, whose meanings can be inferred through context. Remland (1984) looks at
nonverbal communication in superior-subordinate relationships and considers that “behaviors
that help get the job done … and behaviors that show concern for subordinates as people … tend
to be associated with effective leadership in an organization” (p. 41).
Emotions and elements of nonverbal communication are employed daily, but come to
play a more important role when analyzing relationships between superiors and subordinates.
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From this review, the following has been discovered. Society has expectations for how we
perform in both superior and subordinate roles. The ability to recognize emotions allows you to
predict workplace outcomes. The emotions and nonverbals displayed by both men and women
are perceived differently, often more negatively for females as superiors. Status differentials give
the impression that superiors believe they are vastly more important than their respective
subordinates. In general, possessing emotional abilities and emotional skills will result in
positive perceptions from everybody you interact with.
The literature closely examines what happens in the workplace, who is responsible, and
how varying perceptions of expectations can alter communication in superior-subordinate
relationships. The exploration of the literature yields one guiding research question: how do
subordinates truly make sense of the nonverbals and emotions employed by their superiors?
Method
My research involves a qualitative study of how emotions and nonverbals play a role in
superior-subordinate relationships. Relying on qualitative methodologies helps to explore “the
meaning events have for the individuals who experience them, and the interpretations of those
meanings” (Hoepfl, 1997, p. 1). Qualitative research is "any kind of research that produces
findings not arrived at by means of statistical procedures or other means of quantification"
(Strauss & Corbin, 1990, p. 17). Studying superior-subordinate relationships using qualitative
research methodology is appropriate for understanding the employment of emotions and
nonverbals within these relationships. In order to get a sense of how superior-subordinate
relationships are understood, a qualitative focus group was conducted and data was collected in
September, 2010, after the COM 210: Research Methods class received IRB approval for the
project.
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Participants and Data Collection
This specific research project began as a large research study on communication and
leadership and was conducted at a large Midwestern university with a population of
approximately 23,000 students. A total of 50 people participated in the study: 19 males (38%)
and 31 females (62%). Participants ranged from 19 to 32 years of age (M=21.26), with the age of
20 being the most common. Participants were recruited through a communication research class
by the focus group moderators, Dr. Gloria Galanes and Dr. Heather Carmack.
Focus groups were used to encourage participants to talk to other participants on the
issue, and are appropriate to study the use of emotions and nonverbals in superior-subordinate
relationships because they allow researchers to evaluate different levels of experience and “to
observe, describe and interpret settings as they are” (Hoepfl, 1997, p. 1). Before the focus group,
Dr. Galanes and Dr. Carmack developed a set of focus group interview questions and this
protocol was used in a semi-structured fashion. Participation in the focus groups was voluntary.
The 50-minute focus groups were audio-recorded, with the exception of a technical malfunction
later noticed with one of the eight focus groups.
The focus group moderators went over the informed consent form with the participants at
the beginning of the focus group, which participants were required to sign before the focus group
could begin. Participants were asked to provide their sex, age, and ethnicity to the focus group
moderators. They explained the purpose of the study and told participants that their identities
would be kept confidential. The participants were then asked questions concerning
communication in regards to leadership, experiences with good and bad leaders, and skills they
think they have that make themselves leaders. Specifically, participants were asked about
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qualities that they think make an effective leader. Focus group moderators observed participants’
verbal and non-verbal reaction to questions, and facilitated appropriate discussion.
Data Analysis
Focus group interview responses were analyzed using a constant comparative method
(Lindlof & Taylor, 2002). I began reviewing the transcriptions of all recorded focus groups to get
a sufficient feel of the data, and engaged in open coding, where I made notes of any and all
potential themes that could be useful. The steps of integration and dimensionalization happen
almost simultaneously. Themes are cemented, sub-ideas are identified, and everything is tied
together. Quotations and reoccurring comments have been utilized to support my study. Names
of the participants have been removed to protect their anonymity. The following is an
interpretation of how the focus group participants made sense of emotions and nonverbals in
superior-subordinate relationships.
Analysis
After reading the transcripts, it was apparent of themes that emerged not just from one
focus group, but from several. During the focus groups, three sets of questions were asked that
focused on the following: the qualities that you think make up a good and bad leader, personal
experiences with good and bad leaders, and what you feel your leadership strengths and
weaknesses are.
Three major themes emerged from this research. The first is that most people, whether
playing the role of superior or subordinate, consider the rewards and consequences of their
emotional and nonverbal actions before employing them. This goes back to the notion of
eavesdropping and trying to predict workplace outcomes. While this cannot be generalized for
everybody, there seems to be a trend that people tend to manipulate their emotions due to their
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own preconceived notions of a successful outcome that benefits them. The second theme that
emerged was that negative emotions and expressions of historically negative nonverbals result in
an overall negative perception from the person on the receiving end. This goes the same for
positive emotions and expressions of historically positive nonverbals. Instinct and human nature
set the precedent for this inherent behavior. The last theme that emerged from the research was
that people often immediately behave different upon receiving a title that promotes a much
higher or much lower status. Even if work has not changed and even though leadership skills
may stay the same, people allow superficial entities to control how they act. A simple title
changes everything.
Consideration of Outcome and Emotional Eavesdropping
The guiding research question ponders how subordinates truly make sense of the
nonverbals and emotions employed by their superiors, but before this can happen, one needs to
consider how the individual makes sense of their own nonverbals and emotions that they employ.
Most responses relevant to this theme came from answers provided about personal experiences
with leaders, and strengths and weaknesses that individuals think they possess. A focus group
participant said that “I have the confidence, but I always question, “Is that okay with everyone”
because I don’t want to make people mad.”
This relates closely to the thought of being able to eavesdrop on people’s emotions.
Being aware of the feelings and attitudes of others and adjusting your expressions adequately is
equally as important. According to one focus group participant, “I had a supervisor, who could
tell something was wrong with someone and he’d make sure, like, if there was anything he could
do to help. Because, if you’re at work, you know, he could tell something was wrong. If you
needed to go take an extra break or something, or, like, get something to drink, he would let you
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take that extra break if you needed it, so you could pull yourself together.” Another individual,
when asked for an example of a good leader, expressed the following: “My old boss was one of
those people. She knew if you were down, she knew it was better to bring you back up than, you
know, bring the whole store down because one person was in a negative mood. She’d just pull us
into the back room and – I worked for her for four years, and obviously she knew when I was
faking being happy, and she’d pull me in the back and she’d be like, “What’s wrong?” And we’d
talk about it, and we’d go back out, and everything was fine.” This is what every superior should
strive to be like.
Negative and Positive Expressions result in Negative and Positive Perceptions
At the root of expression of emotions and nonverbals is how they make people feel. From
the focus groups, it is obvious that an individual’s perceptions depend on the specific behaviors
exhibited by the other person. Being treated negatively generally yields a negative perception.
Likewise, positivity yields positivity. One focus group participant said that “when someone’s
very pessimistic, they just bring down the attitude for everyone around them. It doesn’t help get
anything done faster, even if someone’s not the most optimistic, like, “oh it’s going to turn out
great”, just being able to be realistic without bringing in “oh this is worst job ever” or “we’re
never going to do this.” Like, as long as you keep somewhat of a positive attitude, it’s just going
to make everything go better. People are just going to respond to you better.”
In regards to negative expressions, one participant said that “support’s a big deal just
because if the leader that you’re supposed to be following isn’t supportive then you’re not going
to want to follow them anymore. Support is something that every single person needs.” A prime
example of how behaving negatively produces a negative perception comes from the following
example about a student’s experience with a teacher in the past. “She would huff, like when I
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said certain things or tap her pencil or I don’t know, gather her papers real loudly. But, uh, she
brought a lot of her own personal issues into the classroom. And I think she even had a crush on
someone in the classroom. And because I sat by him, I was pinpointed was my conclusion. I
have a boyfriend. There was nothing going on. I was a target because of that, I feel. But everyone
was in some way a target, but I think myself more so… No matter if you’re in a work situation
or, I mean it puts you in this uncomfortable situation that you didn’t ask for and you almost think
going above her head, is it going to look like I’m trying to cause trouble. I’ve had a positive
experience with all my other professors, so I was very shocked when this occurred.”
For the most part, if you are the receptor of an unexpected positive or negative emotion, it
will be perceived equally with respect to valence. Being unexpectedly praised makes a person
happy, but being unexpectedly criticized can be a burden that lowers an individual’s self-esteem.
Polarization of Status Differentials
The overall study examines the relationships between superiors and subordinates, two
varying classes of individuals separated by titles of higher and lower status. Labeling with these
statuses will already create tension before anything can ever be expressed, as shown in the focus
group transcriptions. This is an important finding because it shows how society has warped our
views of how leaders and followers must behave to get the job done. One individual from a
focus group said that “it’s really important for people, even if they have a leadership position,
like, they’re higher, you could say on a totem pole, that they should respect everyone underneath
them because in reality, they’re your equal, even though they may do like a different job than
you or something that’s considered lower.”
Another individual said that “the absolute worst thing you can do as a leader is be seen
too much as a leader and not enough as a group member. Because, then people feel like you’re
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attempting to gain position, gain authority, use power. Whereas, if they can think, you’re just
kind of force pushing them in the direction they already want to go, that’s a much more effective
strategy.” People let titles affect the way they lead, in good and bad ways. The best example
pulled from the focus groups involves talking about the immediate transformational change from
not having a title to actually having one: “Yeah, the person that works up there and they’re like
the best person to get along with, but all of a sudden they get to that pinnacle position and they
just totally change. And they’re like, okay, who are you? You weren’t that person when we
worked with you but now you’ve got that title. I don’t know what would be their title, but it’s not
a leader.” Being a superior does not necessarily mean you are a leader. You have to already
possess those skills to be both a superior and a leader.
Discussion
The results of this study explored an overarching research question: how do subordinates
truly make sense of the nonverbals and emotions employed by their superiors? Superiors and
subordinates alike consider both the current atmosphere and the anticipated outcome before
intentionally expressing a certain emotion or before employing a certain nonverbal, which
contributes to how other individuals perceive them. Subordinates will behave differently when
they are aware of a difference in status, which possibly causes them to think more critically of
the superior above them.
This study contributes to communication by better allowing individuals playing the roles
of superior and subordinate to better gauge situations to solidify a more successful interaction.
The literature reviewed mentions a lot about perceived gender differences, which was not talked
about much, if at all, during the focus groups. People tended to have more examples of bad
leaders and bad experiences, which goes to show that there is not enough expression of positive
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emotion in our society. We are too critical of others and jump to conclusions too quickly, which
directly affects perceptions and inadvertently leads to more negativity. It is a cyclical process
that needs to be broken.
In instances where people had good experiences with good superiors, the emotions
expressed by the superiors tended to be the same. They were compassionate, empowering,
respectful, and not hypocritical. They treated their subordinates as equals and tried to not let the
inherent title of superior affect their leadership. Nobody is completely free of error. Nobody is a
perfect judge of neither character nor a perfect emotional eavesdropper. The research conducted
tries to make emotional motives more apparent, with the intention of creating a more dynamic
and useful communicative interaction.
The present study leads the way for more research about emotions and nonverbals in
superior-subordinate relationships. The specific types of emotions and nonverbals expressed in
certain situations would lead to a greater understanding of why they happen. This could be done
by narrowing questions from the topic of communication and leadership to a topic of leadership
and the relationships involved. From here, the focus could move on to looking at what is
emotionally critical to sustain these superior-subordinate relationships.
There were a number of limitations to this study. The focus groups consisted of only 50
undergraduates from the Midwest. This extremely limits diversity of life experiences and is not a
good representation of possible results to be found. The individual focus groups did not last very
long and would have been more beneficial if the interview questions were more directed towards
the topic at hand.
Relationships between superiors and subordinates exist around every corner and come in
every shape and size. This study was successful in determining a number of things. The first is
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that most individuals consider the outcome before intentionally employing an emotion or a
nonverbal signal. A second idea is that perceptions of a certain emotion or nonverbal directly
relate to its respective valence. In other words, negativity yields a negative perception, while
positivity yields a positive perception. Lastly, the study showed that the notion of status
differentials was crucial. Being given a title that indicates either a higher or lower status makes
you behave differently, regardless of the work you are actually doing. Being given the label of
subordinate might unmotivate an individual, while being given the label of superior might make
an individual act in ways that are completely unacceptable and have no place in these
relationships.
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