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Chapter 5: Communicating Nonverbally

Chapter Goals

  • Understand nonverbal communication and its importance to human interaction.
  • Identify the primary principles of nonverbal communication.
  • Explain and exemplify the types of nonverbal communication
  • Articulate the relationship between nonverbal communication and culture.
  • Apply a variety of strategies to improve skills in nonverbal communication.

Outline

I. The Ubiquitous Nature of Nonverbal Communication

A. When we attend to nonverbal behaviors, we draw conclusions about others, and others simultaneously draw conclusions about us.

B. The influence of nonverbal behavior on our perceptions, conversations, and relationships cannot be understated.

C. Nonverbal communication can be defined as all behaviors – other than spoken words – that communicate messages and have shared meaning between people.

1. Interaction adaptation theory suggests that individuals simultaneously adapt their communication behavior to the communication behavior of others (Burgoon, Stern, & Dillman, 1995).

II. Principles of Nonverbal Communication

A. Nonverbal communication is often ambiguous.

1. One reason nonverbal communication is so challenging in our relationships is that our nonverbal messages often mean different things to different people, which can lead to misunderstandings.

2. A major reason that this ambiguity exists is that many factors influence the meaning of nonverbal behaviors, including our shared fields of experience, current surroundings, culture, and so forth.

B. Nonverbal communication regulates conversation.

1. Who talks when and to whom, referred to as turn-taking, is based primarily on nonverbal communication.

2. We are often unconscious of our nonverbal cues.

C. Nonverbal communication is more believable than verbal communication.

1. People believe nonverbal messages over verbal messages.

2. Someone’s nonverbal behavior can influence a conversational partner more than what is said.

D. Nonverbal communication may conflict with verbal communication.

1. When nonverbal messages are not congruent with our verbal messages, we call this incompatibility a mixed message.

2. Adults who encounter mixed messages pay the most attention to nonverbal messages and neglect much of what is being stated.

III. Nonverbal Communication codes

A. Visual-auditory codes

  1. kinesics
  2. physical appearance
  3. facial communication
  4. paralanguage

B. Contact-codes

1. touch (Haptics)

a. 7 different functions

2. space

a. 4 categories

C. Place and time codes

1. the environment

2. time (chronemics)

a. 3 time systems

IV. Cultural Variations in Nonverbal Communication

A. Body movement

1. Greetings vary from one culture to another.

2. Gesturing has also been studied across cultures.

B. Facial expressions

1. Eye contact is a much-studied facial display.

2. Although frequent eye aversion may signal a lack of trust in people from the United States, in other countries it signals disrespect.

C. Personal space

1. In the United States we tend to clearly demarcate our territory.

2. Also, interpretations of personal space vary from culture to culture.

D. Touch

1. Some cultures accept more same-sex touching than others.

2. Nonverbal touching should always be understood within a cultural context.

V. Choices for Increasing Nonverbal Communication Effectiveness

A. Recall the nonverbal-verbal relationship

1. We need to pay attention to what is said in addition to the nonverbal behavior.

2. We need to remain aware of this relationship to achieve meaning in our conversations.

B. Be tentative when interpreting nonverbal behavior

1. Because of individual differences, we can never be sure what a specific nonverbal behavior means.

2. Be especially aware of your own biases, because they may not reflect the views of another.

C. Monitor your nonverbal behavior

1. Becoming aware of how you say something, your proximity to the other person, the extent to which you use touch, or your use of silence is just as important as the words used.

2. You need to look for meaning in both your behavior and the behavior of another.

D. Ask others for their impressions

1. We need to consult others as we decide whether or not we’re achieving meaning in our interpersonal relationships.

Terms for Review

bodily artifactsmixed messageself monitor

body orientationnonverbal communicationsocial distance

chronemicsparalanguageterritorial markers

citing gesturespersonal distanceterritoriality

delivery gesturespersonal spaceturn gestures

hapticsphysical characteristicsturn-taking

interaction adaptationphysical environmentvocal characterizers

theoryproxemicsvocal qualities

intimate distancepublic distancevocal segregates

kinesicsseeking gesturesvocalics

Student Activities

1.The purpose of this activity is to increase awareness of how environmental features of settings include and exclude social groups.

Directions: Choose 5 places to visit: 1) a business office, such as a realty company, 2) an administrator’s office on your campus, 3) a commercial building, such as a bank, 4) a waiting lounge in a hospital or doctor’s office, and 5) a conference room in one of the campus buildings. (This exercise taken from North & Wood, 2006).

Visit each of the 5 locations and record answers to the questions below.

A. How many pictures or paintings of non-white people are present?

B. Which parts (rooms, floors) are accessible to persons who have disabilities that restrict their movement?

C. Are rooms identified with Braille and are there reading materials in Braille?

D. How many photographs or paintings of women are present?

Business office

A.

B.

C.

D.

Administrative office

A.

B.

C.

D.

Commercial building

A.

B.

C.

D.

Waiting lounge

A.

B.

C.

D.

Conference room

A.

B.

C.

D.

Discuss your observations with other students in your class. Are there consistent trends in your observations? What can you conclude about nonverbal communication of inclusion and exclusion?

2. Directions: Go to your dormitory room or your room where you are currently living. List the personal artifacts that you have put there. Do not list any that were given to you that you didn’t choose. Beside each item on the list, explain its significance to you and what it communicates about your identity (This exercise taken from North & Wood, 2006).

Example: Artifact - Photograph of me and my sister in England. This picture makes me think of my family and how I love traveling.

A. ______

B. ______

C. ______

D. ______

E. ______

3. Directions: Invite a friend into your room or a common area where you can stand 10 – 12 feet away from him/her. Ask your friend a question or start a conversation about something familiar or a usual topic that you might discuss. Try to initiate another topic but move closer, although no more than 4 feet away. Now try a third round and only stand as close as possible to your friend.

How did your friend react? Did s/he respond in a way that was predictable or surprising? Was any one distance more or less comfortable?

Now explain to your friend that you are conducting an anecdotal study and ask your friend to help out once more. Conduct the same 3 attempts at conversation at the 3 different intervals.

Was there any difference to the outcomes? Did you feel any more or less awkward this time? Discuss your results with a classmate who tried the same activity.

4. Directions:Working with a partner, try the following. Think of a location such as the nearest restroom or a nearby building. Give your partner directions without using any nonverbal communication. Was it hard? Was it more difficult for the sender to send an accurate message, or for the receiver to interpret the message accurately? Switch roles and try again. Could you give the same directions only using nonverbal communication and no verbal communication at all?

Interactive Activities

5.1: Mixed Messages in Negotiations

Savvy business negotiators use nonverbal communication to create a mood and manner consistent with the message they want to communicate. But what if one person is misleading the other in the negotiation? Could you tell if someone was sending you a mixed message? Take a look at this website paying particular attention to the last section, “Are You Lying?”

  1. When trying to read a mixed message, we often look for facial and eye cues. What does the advice on this website suggest we do in this situation?
  1. Take note the next time you are judging the validity of a message or interpreting what you think might be a mixed message.

Summary: This website examines nonverbal messages that might be sent or received in business negotiations. The most pertinent information is found in the section “Are They Lying?”

5.2: Feelings, Attitudes, and Kinesics

To help you examine the meaning of nonverbal messages, Coping.org highlights fifteen feelings or attitudes and lists the nonverbal communication usually associated with each.

  1. Think of an interpersonal communication situation in which you’d want to display a particular attitude that reads as, say, professional, cooperative, or interested.
  2. Consider the bodily action associated with that attitude, then give that behavior a try.

Summary: Coping.org is a website dedicated to the Tools for Coping Series, which offers a variety of materials and resources for parents, children, and students.

5.3: Eyes, Mouth, and Tilt of Head

To see how changes in facial expression can determine what emotion a person displays, go to this interactive website. Click on “start game” and select from the eight emotions listed or create your own.

  1. Notice how the eyes, mouth, and position of the head change depending on the emotion.
  2. How good are you at interpreting the nonverbal messages of others? Next time you are assigning meaning to nonverbal behavior, remember to focus on the eyes, the mouth, and tilt of the head for clues about the message being sent.

Summary: Although this website is developed for children and adults with special needs, its interactive page that allows users to manipulate a variety of facial expressions is helpful in learning how to read nonverbal behaviors accurately.

5.4: Test Your Paralanguage Skills

To listen to some examples of paralanguage, take this interactive quiz at this website to select the appropriate interpretation of certain nonverbal behaviors. Simply press “play” and choose the best answer. Be sure to answer all ten questions before you check your answers.

Summary: Check out Randall’s ESL Cyber-Listening Lab for an interesting activity that tests your accuracy in interpreting paralanguage.

5.5: Nonverbal Behavior in Japan

Now that you better understand how nonverbal communication is influenced by culture, check out this website for a closer look at Japanese nonverbal communication. For the five areas noted—silence, facial gestures, touching, respect for objects, and gestures—make a list of how your nonverbal behavior is similar to or different from that described on the website. Do any of the similarities or differences surprise you? Why or why not?

Summary: This website explores various areas of nonverbal communication used in Japan, such as silence, respect for objects, and gestures.

InfoTracCollegeEdition Activities

5.1: What Is Your Body Language Saying?

“Your Body Speaks Volume, but Do You Know What It Is Saying?” by Anne Warfield
Business Credit, February 2002

“In business it is imperative to look at your body language you use and make sure it is congruent with your message” says Anne Warfield, author of “Your Body Speaks Volume, but Do You Know What It Is Saying?” Check out this article to discover more about mixed messages in the workplace.

  1. As Warfield suggests, ask a friend to tell you what nonverbal signs you send that you might not be aware of.
  2. Do these send mixed messages or communicate in a way that is consistent with your verbal messages?

Summary: This article comments on the power of voice and body when communicating in the business world. The author notes that when we send a mixed message, our nonverbal behavior plays a large role in determining how others interpret our message

5.2: Universal Facial Expressions

“Emotions Revealed: Recognizing Facial Expressions” by Paul Ekman and Gavin Yamey
Student BMJ, April 2004
Some facial expressions that display particular emotions are recognized across cultures. Take a look at the article “Emotions Revealed: Recognizing Facial Expressions” to learn more about universal displays of emotions that assist physicians in communicating with their patients.

  1. Read about the seven emotions universally expressed.
  2. Find a partner outside of class from a culture other than your own.
  3. Display the seven universal expressions and see if your partner can accurately identify the emotion.

Summary: Targeted to the physician, this article discusses seven universal facial expressions, including brief and subtle displays, so that doctors can accurately read the emotions of their patients.

5.3: What Does Office Space Communicate?

“Lessons from Frank Lloyd Wright: In Today’s Learning Organization, Office Space Should No Longer Signify Rank or Tenure” by MarthaH. Peak
Management Review, August 1996
Have you ever thought about what your space communicates about you or the type of person you are? The article “Lessons from Frank Lloyd Wright” looks at office space and design, and reports on how one company is changing its space to be more consistent with its mission and goals.

  1. To become more aware of the use of space, visit three of your professors’ offices, preferably from different academic departments and with varying personalities.
  2. What do you notice about the physical space and design, including its light, color, and personal items? Are these elements consistent with your perception of your professors’ personalities or the subjects they teach?

Summary: This article discusses one company’s changes to its personal workspace and conference and meeting spaces in an effort to promote interdepartmental communication.

Your Turn Journal Activity

Choose one type of nonverbal communication. Now, consider all of the close relationships you have, and write about how that specific nonverbal behavior functions in those relationships. For each relationship,describe the relationship (for example, work, personal, friendship, romantic) first and then explore the presence of the behavior you chose in that relationship. After you are finished making notes about all your relationships, consider these questions: Did you use the chosen behavior differently, depending on the relationship? Were there differences in the frequency with which you used the behavior? Did you not use the behavior at all in certain relationships? What similarities in usage of the behavior existed? Discuss the pervasiveness of the behavior by using specific examples.

Quiz

True or False

1. Verbal and nonverbal communication usually work together to create meaning. (p. 155)

True or False
2. Nonverbal regulators allow speakers to enter, exit, or maintain the conversation. (p.158)

True or False
3. Nonverbals often contradict verbal messages. (p. 159)

True or False
4. Seeking gestures are the same thing as turn gestures. (p. 161)

True or False
5. More than any other part of the body, the face gives others some insight into how someone is feeling. (p. 163)

True or False
6. The part of the face with the most potential for communication is the eye. (p. 163)

True or FalsE
7. A single eye movement communicates at multiple levels. (p. 163)

True or False
8. Silence is included in the discussion of vocal qualities. (p.165)

True or False
9. The most primitive form of human communication is touch. (p. 167)

True or False
10. Touch behavior is the ultimate in privileged access to people. (p. 167)

True or False
11. Your textbook might double as a territorial marker. (p. 170)

True or False
12. We usually include place and time codes when we think about nonverbal communication. (p. 171)

True or False

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of the following is NOT a function of touch? (p. 168)
A. positive affect
B. submissiveness
C. accidental reasons
D. playfulness

2. Michael’s research project focused on looking at distances between two people when they are discussing something upon which they don’t agree. This type of communication is called: (p. 169)
A. kinesics
B. proxemics
C. chronemics
D. haptics

3. Edward Hall’s four types of personal distance include each of the following EXCEPT: (p. 169)
A. intimate
B. personal
C. intermediate
D. social

4. Where you sit, sleep, dance, jog, write, sing, sew, play, or worship are all parts of your: (p. 171)
A. physical environment
B. practical environment
C. social environment
D. mental environment

5. This helps us to understand how people perceive and structure time in their dialogues and relationships with others. (p. 173)
A. kinesics
B. proxemics
C. chronemics
D. haptics

6. Which of the following is NOT one of the three time systems noted by Edward Hall? (p. 173)
A. social time
B. technical time
C. formal time
D. informal time

7. Bianca was taking a class in nonverbal communication and doing very well. Nelson asked her for advice on how he might improve his nonverbal communication effectiveness. Which statement was Bianca most likely NOT to offer as a suggestion to Nelson? (p. 180)
A. Be tentative when interpreting nonverbal behavior.
B. Monitor your nonverbal behavior.
C. Recall the nonverbal-verbal relationship.
D. Offer other people advice on their nonverbal behavior.

8. Other suggestions for improving your nonverbal communication include each of the following EXCEPT: (p. 181)
A. Increase your touching communication.
B. Ask others for their impressions of our nonverbal cues.
C. Interpret nonverbal communication within its context.
D. Avoid jumping to conclusions.
9. When Chelsea wants to speak during conversations with her friends, she notices she tends to touch the other person. This is an example of how nonverbal communication: (p. 161)
A. relaxes the other person.
B. offends the other person.
C. regulates conversation.
D. ruins conversation.
10. When nonverbal communication conflicts with verbal communication, we term this incompatibility: (p. 159)
A. turn-taking.
B. conflict.
C. inevitable.
D. a mixed message.

11. The theory that suggests individuals simultaneously adapt communication behavior to the behavior of others is known as: (p. 156)
A. individual adaptation theory.
B. interaction communication theory.
C. interaction adaptation theory.
D. simultaneous adaptation theory.

12. When Abby caught Jasper’s attention he winked at her. She wasn’t sure if that meant he liked her or if it meant something else. This ______of nonverbal gestures can easily lead to misunderstandings. (p. 157)
A. practice
B. type
C. ambiguity
D. analysis
13. During his interview, Zane noticed that Mr. Wagner raised his eyebrows whenever he finished speaking and was ready for Zane to respond. In conversation, these types of nonverbal regulators are called: (p. 158)
A. queuing up
B. turn-taking
C. facial indicators
D. paralinguistics