Nonverbal communication
What is nonverbal communication?
It fits within the three-part breakdown Albert Mehrabian [Nonverbal
Communication (Chicago: Aldine-Atherton, 1972)] found in his research.
Mehrabian found that only about 7 percent of the emotional meaning of a
message is communicated through explicit verbal channels. About 38 percent
is communicated by paralanguage, which is basically the use of the voice.
About 55 percent comes through nonverbal, which includes such things as
gesture, posture, facial expression, etc. It is behavior other than spoken
or written communication that creates or represents meaning.
Why do we study nonverbal communication?
Nonverbal messages communicate emotions
As we pointed out, it forms the bulk of our communication. Most of that
communication is about emotional information, which in turn is a powerful
motivator in human behavior. We base our feelings and emotional responses
not so much upon what another person says, but upon what another
person does.
Nonverbal messages are seen as more reliable
Old folk saying: actions speak louder than words. Research bears this out.
When verbal and nonverbal contradict, we tend to believe the nonverbal.
For one thing, it is seen as being more difficult to fake. An experiment
reported by Zuckerman, DePaulo, and Rosenthal ["Verbal and Nonverbal Communication
of Deception," Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 14 (1981):
1-59] showed that virtually everything we use to discern if someone else
is lying comes from the nonverbal realm or the paralanguage realm, with
the bulk falling in nonverbal.
Because of nonverbal communication, you cannot not communicate
The very attempt to mask one's communication communicates something in
and of itself. If you are playing poker with someone who has been talking
normally, but who suddenly stops talking and goes "stone-faced," that person
has communicated something. It may be a very good hand, or a very bad hand,
but at the least the poker player has communicated a desire to hide what
is there. Long periods of silence at the supper table communicate as clearly
as any words that something may be wrong.
Nonverbal communication is strongly related to verbal communication
Nonverbal cues substitute for, contradict, emphasize, or regulate verbal
messages.
For instance, if someone asks us which way the restroom is, we
may simply point down the hall. We may compliment someone's new haircut
while our faces give away the real feeling of dismay we have. We may describe
a fish we caught with a motion of our hands to emphasize the monster-like
proportions. And most certainly we regulate the flow of conversation nonverbally
by raising an index finger, nodding and leaning forward, raising eyebrows,
and/or changing eye contact.
Problems of studying nonverbal communication
Studying nonverbal communication presents a whole range of challenges that
are unique to its nature. They include:
Nonverbal cues can be ambiguous
No dictionary can accurately classify them. Their meaning varies not only
by culture and context, but by degree of intention, i.e., you may not be
intending to communicate (in the absence of nerve disorders, people seldom
talk out loud when they don't intend to). A random gesture may be assumed
to have meaning when none at all was intended. Plus, some people who may
feel emotion strongly nevertheless find that their bodies simply do not
respond appropriately, i.e., someone who is feeling happy may not necessarily
smile.
Nonverbal cues are continuous
This is practically related to the last point. It is possible to stop talking,
but it is generally not possible to stop nonverbal cues. Also, spoken language
has a structure that makes it easier to tell when a subject has changed,
for instance, or to analyze its grammar. Nonverbal does not lend itself
to this kind of analysis.
Nonverbal cues are multichannel
While watching someone's eyes, you may miss something significant in a
hand gesture. Everything is happening at once, and therefore it may be
confusing to try to keep up with everything. Most of us simply do not do
so, at least not consciously. This has both advantages and disadvantages.
Because we interpret nonverbal cues subconsciously and in a "right-brained",
holistic fashion, it can happen quickly and fairly accurately. However,
because it is not conscious and more "right-brained" it is difficult to
put one's finger on exactly why one got a certain impression from
someone, or even to put it into "left-brained" wording.
Nonverbal cues are culture-bound
Evidence suggests that humans of all cultures smile when happy and frown
when unhappy [M. Argyle, Bodily Communication (New York: Methuen
& Company, 1988)]. A few other gestures seem to be universal. However,
most nonverbal symbols seem to be even further disconnected from any "essential
meaning" than verbal symbols. Gestures seen as positive in one culture
(like the thumbs-up gesture in the USA) may be seen as obscene in another
culture.
Interpreting nonverbal cues
Mehrabian identified three primary dimensions for interpreting nonverbal
cues.
Immediacy
Immediacy cues communicate liking and pleasure. We move toward persons
and things we like and avoid or move away from those we dislike. Generally,
we instinctively decide whether we like someone or not and then later find
"reasons" to back up our feelings. We can summarize the nonverbal behaviors
then by saying that cues that move or lean or otherwise open up or go toward
the other person communicate liking.
Cues that fall in this dimension include eye contact, mutual eye
contact, touching, leaning forward, and touching.
Arousal
The label does not indicate anything sexual, although arguably such could
be included in this dimension. Arousal in this usage is similar to animation.
That is, when we are interested in communicating with someone else, we
tend to be more animated. A flat tone of voice and very little movement
indicate a lack of interest.
Cues that fall in this dimension include eye contact, varied vocal
cues, animated facial expressions, leaning forward, movement in general.
Dominance
These cues indicate something about the balance of power in a relationship.
They communicate information about relative or perceived status, position,
and importance.
For instance, a person of high status tends to hve a relaxed body
posture when interacting with a person of lower status. High-status people
tend to have more space around them, such as bigger offices, and more "barriers"
such as more hallways, doors, and gatekeepers such as secretaries.
Furniture, clothing, and location also tend to communicate in
this dimension.
Improving nonverbal communiction
Check context
Don't try to interpret cues isolated from other such cues, from the verbal
communication, or from the physical or emotional context. As we've said
in class, someone's arms being crossed may indicate nothing more than physical
discomfort from a cold room.
Look for clusters
This is the nonverbal context itself. See if the arms being crossed are
accompanied by a resistance to eye contact and a flat tone of voice.
Consider past experience
We can more accurately interpret the behavior of people we know. For one
thing, we notice
changes in behavior more than the behavior itself.
Unless we know someone, we can't know that something has changed. For another
thing, we interpret patterns of behavior. Your mother may always
cry when you come home from school with an A, and so you learn that this
represent happiness in that particular situation.
Practice perception checking
This is basically the art of asking questions. For instance, you come home
and announce to your significant other that you have received a great promotion
that requires you to move to another state. Your announcement is met with
silence. Rather than assume that s/he is upset, ask, "Does your silence
mean that you're opposed to the move?" You may find out that s/he is simply
stunned at the opportunity. Recognize that you are interpreting observed
behavior, not reading a mind, and check out your observation.