CHAPTER 8

The Nonverbal Code

Defining Nonverbal Communication

• The messages people send to each other that do not contain words– kinesics– occulesics– paralanguage– haptics– chronemics– proxemics– olfactics

Nonverbal code often…

complements

accents

substitutes

repeats

contradicts

… the verbal message.

Nonverbal vs. Verbal Communication

Nonverbal Verbal

Analogic Digital

Signal-based Symbol based

Informal Formal

gestures

hand/arm movement

leg movement

facial expressions

eye gaze

stance/posture

Kinesics

Categories of Kinesics

• Emblems—direct literal verbal translation. • Illustrators—accent/complement what is being said. – Metacommunicative

• Affect displays—facial expressions of emotion. – Considered universal

• Regulators—behaviors/actions that govern, direct, or manage conversation.

• Adaptors—actions that satisfy physiological or psychological needs.

Occulesics

• an essential biological skill • likely innate in humans and in animals as well• culture influences eye behavior across social

contexts

The study of eye contact

Paralanguage

Vocal qualities that typically accompany speech.

Silence is considered paralanguage.

• Voice qualities• Examples: pitch, rhythm, tempo, articulation.

• Vocalizations• Laughing, crying, sighing, snoring• Intensity• Nonfluencies

Two categories:

Proxemics

Perception and use of space.

Territoriality—physical geographical

space.

Personal space—perceptual or

psychological space.

Population size and socioeconomic factors affect

perception of space.

Haptics

Tactile communication; the use of touch.

Contact, moderate-contact and noncontact cultures

Opposite sex touch in cultures.

Touch avoidance.

Prohibited touch.

Olfactics

Sense of smell. Humans detect up to

10,000 different compounds by smell.

Scent comes from two glands: sebaceous and

apocrine.

Scent can function as:• A sex attractant• A marker for social class

distinctions.

Physical Appearance and Dress

• Can communicate age, sex, and status within culture. –Masai–India –Japan

Chronemics

Nonverbal channel of time.

M-time.

P-time.

Individualism vs. Collectivism

Individualism Collectivism

More distant proximally

More distant psychologically

Smile more Suppress affect displays

More nonverbally affiliative

More synchronized body movements

Power Distance and Nonverbal Communication

Low power distance cultures are less

aware of vocalic. High power distance

cultures avert eye contact more to show

respect.

Context and Nonverbal Communication

Low-context cultures are more

direct and talkative.

High-context cultures pay more

attention to nonverbal behavior

in interactions.

Nonverbal Expectancy Violations Theory

Premise—people hold expectancies about the appropriateness of nonverbal behaviors in others.

These expectancies are learned and culturally driven.

When violations are committed, arousal is triggered, and an evaluation is made.

Evaluation is dependent upon:

The communicator.Implicit messages associated with violation.Evaluations of the act.