Non-Verbal Behaviour

12 Key excerpts on "Non-Verbal Behaviour"

• 

  eBook - ePub

  Social Psychology

  • Richard Gross, Rob McIlveen(Authors)
  • 2016(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  6 Non-verbal communication and interpersonal behaviour

  •  Introduction •  Animal communication •  Non-Verbal Behaviour •  Gender and cultural issues relating to Non-Verbal Behaviour •  Functions of Non-Verbal Behaviour •  Interaction of verbal and Non-Verbal Behaviours in conversation •  Verbal communication and questioning •  Application: health professional–client interaction •  Summary •  Suggestions for further reading

  6.1   Introduction

  We spend much of our social lives interacting, face-to-face, with another person or small group of people. This occurs via the medium of both spoken language and non-verbal communication. Verbal communication may be defined as the actual words spoken, whereas non-verbal communication includes both vocal and non-vocal behaviour. Vocal behaviour refers to aspects of speech such as intonation, pitch, speed and hesitations, and non-vocal behaviour includes other communicative behaviour. This includes physical contact (touch), body language, gaze and facial expressions, personal space, appearance, and environmental factors (Hargie et al., 1994) (see Fig. 6.1 ).

  We may regard these two types of communication as serving different functions. However, it is important to bear in mind that non-verbal communication can substitute for language; the best example of this is sign language used by deaf people. Functionally, verbal communication, in the form of language, is used to convey logical or abstract ideas, whereas non-verbal communication serves a much broader range of functions (Hargie et al., 1994).

  Early research on Non-Verbal Behaviours tended to concentrate on ‘channels’ of communication in isolation. Each different type of nonverbal behaviour, e.g. contact, proximity, touch, etc. was regarded as a different channel, just like television channels. However, more recent research has developed an ‘across channels’ approach which makes it possible to identify the functions served by different combinations and patterns of Non-Verbal Behaviour (Patterson, 1990). Three basic functions of Non-Verbal Behaviour originally identified by researchers in the late 1960s and early 1970s were: (a) providing information to another person or other people; (b) regulating interaction between two or more people; and (c) expressing intimacy, especially with our loved ones.

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  A Concise Introduction to Linguistics

  • Bruce M. Rowe, Diane P. Levine(Authors)
  • 2022(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Today, the study of nonverbal communication is a dynamic and expanding field. There is an abundance of articles and papers being published each month in popular magazines and professional journals, as well as a growing number of mass-market and specialized books. There was even a US television program, Lie to Me (originally broadcast 2009–2011), about the usefulness of the analysis of nonverbal cues in criminal investigations. 1 Charles Darwin, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (London: John Murray, 1872). This has been reprinted numerous times (and in several languages), most recently in 2016. What does “nonverbal” mean? A police officer stops a motorist for allegedly speeding. Taking a firm stance very close to the motorist’s car door while maintaining a forbidding gaze, the officer says, “May I see your license?” Fidgeting through his wallet, brows lowered and drawn together, eyes bulging, nostrils dilated, the motorist responds in a sheepish voice, “What did I do wrong?” Not receiving an immediate answer, the motorist begins nervously patting his leg. Only some of the messages being conveyed in this interchange depend on words. All the other messages are conveyed nonverbally. Nonverbal communication is any communication that occurs between people, usually within each other’s presence, by means other than spoken or written words or the signs (words) of a sign language. The firm stance, stern gaze, and the “invasion” of the motorist’s territory may have conveyed the idea of the officer’s authority and dominance. The motorist’s fidgeting, patting himself, and his facial expression may have delivered the message of his nervousness, restlessness, or anger. Nonverbal behavior is important in establishing, regulating, and maintaining interpersonal relationships. Although there are other forms of nonverbal behavior, we will explore the form and function of only eight types in this chapter

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  Communication in Everyday Life

  • Seyed Ali Fallahchay(Author)
  • 2020(Publication Date)
  • Society Publishing

    (Publisher)

  This chapter is also consisting of several types of non-verbal communication such as facial expression, body movement and posture, gestures, eye contact, touch, space, and voice. This chapter also provide explanation about how to enhance or improve the non-verbal communication, how to learn to regulate the stress, how to develop the emotion awareness. This chapter also provides highlights about the advantages and disadvantages of the non-verbal communication, what is the difference between the verbal and non-verbal communication. This chapter also includes the effects of non-verbal communication, and what is the future of non-verbal communication. 4.1. INTRODUCTION The important factor to success in both personal as well as professional relationships lies in the ability of an individual to communicate in a better way. It is not the words that an individual use, but it is the nonverbal cues or “body language.” All these speak the loudest. Body language is described as the use of expressions, physical behavior, and mannerisms to communicate nonverbally. Often, it is done intuitively rather than deliberately. When an individual communicates with the other person, he or she is constantly giving as well as receiving wordless signals. All the nonverbal behaviors that an individual does such as the gestures that an individual make, the posture, the tone of voice, how much eye contact an individual make, send strong messages to the other person. Through the nonverbal behavior, an individual can put the other person at ease, create trust, and draw the attention of others towards themselves. Also, they can upset, confuse, and undermine what an individual is trying to communicate. All these messages do not stop even if the person stops speaking. Even when the individual is silent, he or she is still conversing nonverbally.

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  Intercultural Communication

  An Interdisciplinary Approach: When Neurons, Genes, and Evolution Joined the Discourse

  • Mai Nguyen-Phuong-Mai(Author)
  • 2017(Publication Date)
  • Amsterdam University Press

    (Publisher)

  4.1 The role of non-verbal communication Non-verbal communication indicates all non-verbal, intentional and unin-tentional stimuli that have the potential to convey a communication mes-sage. In the metaphorical tree of culture, it belongs to the leaf-and-canopy layer. This includes everything in our surroundings as well as what our body communicates. In general, the surroundings include time and space, while the body includes all f ive senses in interaction: 83 per cent sight, 11 per cent hearing, 3 per cent smell, 2 per cent touch, and 1 per cent taste. 2 Their role in communication is crucial, and this section will discuss them in depth. 4.1.1 The Universal Role of Non-verbal Communication The majority of literature on non-verbal communication in intercultural context focuses on the dif ferences across cultures. However, the Inverted Pyramid model reminds us that we are similar at the universal level, and NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION – HOW YOU MAKE THEM FEEL 125 the metaphorical tree of culture reminds us that we all share certain similar outward expressions. For this reason, we should start the discussion at the point we converge, rather than diverge. 4.1.1.1 Primary Means of Communication Regardless of our diversity, there are certain facial expressions that tell the same story around the world, from the Tongan islanders in the middle of the Pacif ic to the urban inhabitants of Monaco. These facial expressions are understood across cultures and thus, are arguably biological in origin: anger, disgust, fear, joy, sadness and surprise. 3 The bottom line is, we are one species, with a shared and innate genetic inheritance of the most basic emotions. In The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals , 4 Charles Darwin attributed human facial expressions to the associated habits in our evolutionary past. For example, if a species attacks by biting, baring teeth was a crucial signal before an assault.

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  Handbook of Semiotics

  • Winfried Noth, Winfried Nöth(Authors)
  • 1990(Publication Date)
  • Indiana University Press

    (Publisher)

  PART VII Nonverbal Communication Nonverbal Communication: Introduction Gesture, Body Language, and Kinesics Facial Signals Gaze Tactile Communication Proxemics: The Semiotics of Space Chronemics: The Semiotics of Time Nonverbal Communication: Introduction Pursuing Saussure's program for the exten-sion of research from linguistics to a science that studies the life of signs within society, semioticians have turned to the study of non-verbal communication as the semiotic field most closely connected with verbal behavior (cf. Rossi-Landi 1968: 66). The core of non-verbal communication is the semiotic func-tion of the human body in time and space, but there is some vagueness in its delimita-tion against visual and vocal communication. The conditions under which nonverbal be-havior becomes sign or communication are of central interest to the foundations of semiotics. l. Survey of the Field Nonverbal communication is a transdiscipli-nary field of research. Its branches are com-monly determined according to the parts of the human body functioning as a signifier in semiosis, but some authors have proposed alternative classifications of the field accord-ing to criteria such as the relation to verbal behavior (Ehlich &: Rehbein 1982), chan-nels, and psychological or semiotic func-tions (Poyatos 1982a; 1983, Patterson 1983, Tantam 1986). 1.1 State of the Art Nonverbal communication research is a rap-idly expanding field of transdisciplinary interest.

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  COMM

  • Deanna Sellnow, Kathleen Verderber, Rudolph Verderber, , Deanna Sellnow, Deanna Sellnow, Kathleen Verderber, Rudolph Verderber(Authors)
  • 2020(Publication Date)
  • Cengage Learning EMEA

    (Publisher)

  If you are in the presence of someone else, your nonverbal messages (whether intentional or not) are communicating. When Austin yawns and stares off into the distance during class, his classmates may notice this behavior and assign meaning to it. One classmate may interpret it as a sign of boredom, another might see it as a sign of fatigue, and yet another may view it as a message of disrespect. Meanwhile, Austin may be oblivious to all of the messages his behavior is sending. Communication exchanges consist of more than verbal messages, such as those covered in Chapter 4. Communication exchanges are also rich in nonverbal communication. Nonverbal communication consists of all the messages we send in ways that transcend spoken or written words (Knapp, Hall, & Horgan, 2014). More specifically, nonverbal messages are cues we send with our body, voice, space, time, and appearance to support, modify, contradict, or even replace a verbal message. Nonverbal messages play an important role in communication. In fact, research suggests that 65–90 percent of meaning comes from the nonverbal messages we use to communicate in face-to-face interactions (Burgoon & Bacue, 2003; Littlejohn & Foss, 2009). In other words, the meaning we assign to any utterance is based on our interpretation of both the verbal message and the nonverbal messages that accompany it. Interpreting nonverbal messages accu- rately is critical to understanding and responding appropriately to what others are “saying.” The widespread use of social media (e.g., email, Facebook, texting, Twitter, Instagram, and smartphone technology) emphasizes the important role of nonverbal messages. We often use emoticons, all capital letters, GIFs, and acronyms such as LOL (a.k.a. laugh out loud) to communicate the nonverbal messages we would employ through facial expressions and body language in face-to-face communication. We begin this chapter by briefly describing the char- acteristics of nonverbal communication.

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  Empowerment Series: Social Work with Groups

  Comprehensive Practice and Self-Care

  • Charles Zastrow, Sarah Hessenauer(Authors)
  • 2018(Publication Date)
  • Cengage Learning EMEA

    (Publisher)

  Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. 161 Have an Increased Understanding of Nonverbal Communication The Risk of Misinterpretation Although nonverbal messages can be revealing, they can also be unintentionally misleading. Think of the times when people have misinter-preted your nonverbal messages. Perhaps you tend to say little when you first wake up, and others have interpreted this as meaning that you are angry or troubled. Perhaps you have been quiet on a date because you were tired or because you were thinking about something that happened recently—has your date at times misinterpreted your behavior to mean you are bored or unhappy with the relationship? While deep in thought have you had an expression on your face that others have interpreted as a frown? Nonverbal behavior is often ambiguous. A frown, for example, may represent a variety of emotions: anger, rejection, confusion, unhappiness, fatigue, or boredom. Nonverbal messages should be interpreted not as facts but as clues to be checked out verbally to determine what the sender is thinking and feeling. Forms of Nonverbal Communication Nonverbal communication may take many forms. We communicate by the way we move, the expressions we make, the clothes we wear, even by the way we arrange our homes and offices. The following discussion examines the different avenues of nonverbal expression, including posture and body orientation, gesture, touch, choice of clothing, control of per-sonal space and setting of boundaries, facial expression, voice tone and level, personal appearance, and design of personal environments.

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  Handbook of Communication Competence

  • Gert Rickheit, Hans Strohner, Gert Rickheit, Hans Strohner(Authors)
  • 2008(Publication Date)
  • De Gruyter Mouton

    (Publisher)

  It seems nonverbal behavior also communicates a great deal about one’s compe-tence. Research that had observers evaluate photographs of salespeople were able to predict the most successful salesperson (Walker and Raghunathan 2004). Further, it seems these effects are independent of physical attractiveness. Re-search finds that nonverbal behavior is a better predictor of how someone will be evaluated than physical attractiveness (Ambady and Rosenthal 1993). Further, in a medical context, doctors’ nonverbal cues predict patient compliance better than a doctor’s verbal cues (Milmoe, Rosenthal, Blane, Chafetz, and Wolf 1967). The goal of this chapter is to better understand how communicative compet-ence may be enhanced through an understanding of the role of nonverbal beha-vior in communication. To this end, the first section will consider what is meant by nonverbal behavior and the behaviors that appear to be the most fruitful for examination. Second, encoding, or the expression of nonverbal behavior, and decoding, or the interpretation of nonverbal behavior, will be considered. Within each of these domains, research that bears on the effectiveness or appro-priateness of the communication will be discussed. Finally, the impact of en-coding and decoding in concert will be examined in applied contexts. 2. Meaning of nonverbal behaviors Because of the importance of nonverbal behavior to interpersonal perception, considerable research has sought to understand the meaning of different beha-viors. Early research in this area focused on what is now termed “molecular” cues, or discrete actions that are easily coded (e.g., number of smiles, frequency of eye contact, Ambady and Rosenthal 1993; Grahe and Bernieri 2002).

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  Nonverbal Behavior

  Applications and Cultural Implications

  • Aaron Wolfgang(Author)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Academic Press

    (Publisher)

  Nonverbal in-formation reveals people in depth, and it is this sort of information that plays a huge role in determining how others relate to them, because it allows others to make crucial decisions from the very beginning of the interaction through to the end. It is often on the basis of nonverbal information that we decide whether or not to interact at all; that we decide on how to dispose our own faces and bodies as we make our approach; that we decide on a suitable topic for discussion, and when to change topics; that we decide on our tone of voice, our pitch, and our volume; that we decide when to speak and when to listen; when and how to withdraw from the interaction; and a whole host of other extremely important decisions. This is not to say that language information plays no part in these decisions; it most certainly does. It is only that very often language is not well suited to reflect quickly and efficiently the highly detailed and constantly shifting facts about a person to which another must have access on a continuous basis if he is to initiate and sustain con-tact with him. Another way to look at the importance of nonverbal communication is to con-ceive of the high volume of nonverbal messages as context, or environment, within which words occur. All words are ambiguous, out of context, and what nonverbal information provides is a massive system of cues that serves to shed light not only on the literal meanings of words, but on what they mean to the person speaking them-right here, right now. A manuscript of a conversation is a very poor sub-stitute and description of what really occurred. And while one may make guesses from such a manuscript about the nature of the relationship involved, these guesses may be completely at odds with the impressions one obtains from being there.

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  Interpersonal Communication

  Pergamon International Library: Pergamon General Psychology Series

  • Kurt Danziger, Arnold P. Goldstein, Leonard Krasner(Authors)
  • 2016(Publication Date)
  • Pergamon

    (Publisher)

  This is because the nonverbal aspects of behavior not only have a communica- Nonverbal Communication 79 tive but also an expressive function—movements, gestures, postures, and so on express intraindividual affects and attitudes, and unless the other partner in an interaction can decode the meaning of these acts, no communication has in fact taken place. Having assured ourselves on this point we can proceed with the analysis of the communicative functions of nonverbal acts. The first of these functions is the presentation of interpersonal relationships like closeness or intimacy and status differentials. Individu-als who are close to each other psychologically also stand or sit closer to each other physically, look at each other more consistently, and probably synchronize their movements and gestures more effectively. Similarly, differences in status express themselves in terms of nonverbal confronta-tion by means of posture, seating arrangements, direct looks, and so on. In other words, nonverbal behavior helps to define human interaction in terms of certain fundamental properties of social relationships. Another way of putting this is to regard the salient characteristics of nonverbal communication as constituting different forms of address. When individuals interact they must indicate for whom a particular message is intended, and this is frequently done by the use of nonverbal channels of communication. But an address is seldom neutral, it is generally given a specific form, which defines the relationship between addresser and addressee. People are not in the habit of addressing each other as social ciphers, rather they face each other as intimates or strangers, as superior and inferior, and so on. The act of address must be made in a certain mode that defines the fundamental features of the relationship in which the individuals stand to each other. In other words, the forms of address confer particular social identities on the interac-tants.

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  Business Practice NQF2 SB

  TVET FIRST

  • A Suresh, M Ronaldson B Wicks(Authors)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Macmillan

    (Publisher)

  Interpreting body language in the business environment Overview By the end of this module, you will… • understand the importance of interpreting body language (facial expressions, eye contact and posture) correctly in the workplace • give examples of positive and negative body language in the workplace • learn the proper use of a handshake as a greeting and the different handshakes used in South Africa • know the importance of respecting other people’s space and why it is inappropriate to use communication by touch in the workplace • know what behaviour could be considered as sexual harassment in the workplace. 38 Business Practice Module 2 39 Topic 1, Module 2 Non-verbal communication In the previous module, you learnt the importance of listening. You also were introduced to the basic communication process of sender and receiver. In this module you will look at non-verbal language. Non-verbal communication carries meaning that is not expressed in words. The picture in an advertisement may send a message that says, for example, “These people look happy because they use a particular product”. Non-verbal language is the transfer of information by means other than language and includes facial expressions, eye contact, posture, handshakes, use of personal space and communication by touch to get a message across. The most important fact to remember is that non-verbal signals have five times more of an impact than verbal signals in communication. Non-verbal messages can be conscious, for example, a picture that is chosen for an advertisement, or not conscious, for example, the body language that a person shows. Work with a partner. a) Look at the symbols and hand gestures labelled A – G here. b) What message does each one of these signs or gestures send? c) Do you think that these non-verbal signals are as effective, more effective or less effective than verbal messages? Explain why you say so. d) Draw two of your own signs or symbols that communicate a strong message.

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  Practical Aspects of Interview and Interrogation

  • David E. Zulawski, Douglas E. Wicklander, Shane G. Sturman, L. Wayne Hoover(Authors)
  • 2001(Publication Date)
  • CRC Press

    (Publisher)

  All behavior is meaningful; it is only the true meaning that may not be evident to the observer. Each time a victim, witness, or suspect manifests a particular behavior, it is caused by something, has a reason, or has an objective. In many cases, victims, wit-nesses, or suspects are not even aware that they are reacting and providing the interviewer with behavioral clues. 5 106 Practical Aspects of Interview and Interrogation This discussion considers two styles of behavior: • Verbal: Verbal behavior encompasses the words that are actually spo-ken, the choice of words used, tense of the language, tone of voice, and speed of delivery. • Nonverbal: Nonverbal behavior consists of facial expressions, body positioning, posture, and movements used to express the words that were chosen. In some cases, movements or gestures (emblems) take the place of words. Studies vary in the percentage of communication that takes place in each one of these channels. However, the dominant communication channel between individuals is the nonverbal channel, accounting for 55% to 65% of the communication between individuals. Between 30% and 40% of commu-nication is done using the tone of voice. Less than 10% of communication between people actually is the result of the words that are spoken. Simply listening to an everyday conversation should quickly convince anyone that the above percentages are true. The pauses, movements of the hand, and shifts of the body at certain points in a conversation tell a story that adds depth and fullness to the words that were spoken. Common Terms The following are some commonly used terms that are necessary to under-stand prior to a discussion of the meaning of behavior. • Leakage occurs when the true feelings or attitudes of an individual leak out through uncontrolled body language. In the deceptive indi-vidual, the behavior leaked may be contrary to the attitudes and words the individual is attempting to portray.

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