Nonverbal Communication

Nonverbal Communication

COM 372Theory and Research in

Intercultural Communication

COM 372Theory 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

• 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 NVCIssue #1: Emotion

• Channels involved– Kinesics

• Posture• Gesture

– Emblems– Illustrators– Adaptors– Regulators– Affect Display

Channels & Issues of NVCIssue #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?

Issue #2: Contact Cultures: Is it

useful to think of, group cultures in

terms of “contact” behaviors?

Channels & Issues of NVCIssue #2: Contact Cultures• Definition: • Channels involved

– Proxemics• Levels of space (Table 1)• Territory (primary, secondary,

tertiary, national)• “Queuing rules”

– 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 NVCIssue #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=3fdaG7ULqAo&feature=related

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbd1trNz9bY

– Many views/aspects!– Roland Barthes (Mythologies)

1. Sign = signifier + signified

2. Sign systems (codes)

3. Ideology (sign/semiotic shift, myth)

Semiotics