CHAPTER 4 Understanding Nonverbal Messages FIVE PRINCIPLES NONVERBAL DEFINED <a href="/keyword/nonverbal-communication/" >nonverbal communication</a> is communication other than written or spoken language that creates meaning for someone. Sign language is the exception. UNDERSTANDING NONVERBAL Why Focus on <a href="/keyword/nonverbal-communication/" >nonverbal communication</a> ? The Nature of <a href="/keyword/nonverbal-communication/" >nonverbal communication</a> Codes of <a href="/keyword/nonverbal-communication/" >nonverbal communication</a> How to Interpret Nonverbal Cues More Accurately WHY FOCUS ON NONVERBAL Nonverbal messages are primary tools for communicating feelings and attitudes Albert Mehrabian's research showed the face can channel as much as 55% of our emotional meaning. Vocal cues such as volume and intensity can provide 38%. And as little as 7% of emotional meaning can communicated via explicit verbal channels. NONVERBAL MESSAGES OFTEN MORE BELIEVABLE Some <a href="/keyword/nonverbal-communication/" >nonverbal communication</a> is conscious but a great deal is generated subconsciously. When verbal and nonverbal messages are contradictory, nonverbal is often viewed as more trustworthy. NONVERBAL MESSAGES CRITICAL TO RELATIONSHIPS Consider the messages sent by a Weak handshake Failure to make direct eye contact Somebody with arms crossed Wink of an eye NONVERBALS SERVE VARIOUS FUNCTIONS FOR VERBALS Nonverbal messages can Substitute for verbal messages Complement verbal messages Contradict verbal messages Repeat verbal messages Regulate verbal messages Accent verbal messages NATURE OF <a href="/keyword/nonverbal-communication/" >nonverbal communication</a> Culture-Bound Rule-Governed Ambiguous Perception checking Continuous Non-Linguistic Multichanneled NONVERBAL CODES APPEARANCE Appearance, including things ranging from hairstyle to clothing Artifacts include clothing, jewelry, makeup, and tattoos. Appearance conveys a sense of one's culture. Clothing and artifacts do affect how we feel about ourselves and how others perceive us. MOVEMENT, GESTURES &amp; POSTURE Kinesics is the general term for human movements, gestures, and posture. Ekman and Friesen identified five kinesic categories; emblems, illustrators, affect displays, regulators, and adaptors. EMBLEMS Emblems are nonverbal cues that have specific, generally understood meanings in a given culture. Emblems are often used as substitutes for words or phrases, like the raised thumb of a hitchhiker. ILLUSTRATORS Illustrators are nonverbal behaviors that accompany verbal messages and either compliment, accent, or contradict the verbal. A speaker pounding the podium to emphasize a point. AFFECT DISPLAYS Affect displays are nonverbal behaviors that communicate emotions. Face tends to express which kind of emotion while body reveals intensity. Hugging somebody to express love. REGULATORS Regulators are nonverbal messages that help control interaction or level of communication between people. Do you lean in when you want to say something and lean back when you want to just listen? Make eye contact when you wish to speak? ADAPTORS Adaptors are nonverbal behaviors that help satisfy a personal need or help a person adapt or respond to the immediate situation. If you have test anxiety do you tap a pencil or shift in your seat? How do you flirt? EYE CONTACT Americans make judgments about a person's trustworthiness and sincerity based on making or avoiding eye contact. Eye contact also plays a role in judgments of credibility and deception. FACIAL EXPRESSIONS The face is the exhibit gallery for our emotional displays. According to Eckman and Friesen, the face exhibits six primary emotions. Happiness Fear Sadness Anger Surprise Disgust or contempt TOUCH Touch is the most powerful form of <a href="/keyword/nonverbal-communication/" >nonverbal communication</a> and the most misunderstood. Haptics is the study of human touching behavior. Touch ethic refers to a person's own guidelines regarding inappropriate and appropriate touch. THE VOICE Paralanguage or vocalics refers to the nonverbal aspects of the voice, such as pitch, speaking rate, volume, and the use of silence. Back-channel cues are vocal cues signaling when we want to talk and when we don't. Response latency is how long it takes someone to form a response. ENVIRONMENT, SPACE, &amp; TERRITORY The physical environment is important in two ways. Choices you make about your environment reveal a good deal about you Nonverbal behavior is altered by environments with which you come into contact ENVIRONMENT, SPACE, &amp; TERRITORY Proxemics is the study of how close or far away from people and objects we position ourselves. Every culture has wellestablished ways of regulating spatial relations. Edwin Hall has classified four spatial zones, as noted in the next illustration. HALL'S ZONES OF SPACE ENVIRONMENT, SPACE, &amp; TERRITORY Territoriality is the study of how humans use space and objects to communicate occupancy or ownership of space. Territorial markers are things or actions that signify an area has been claimed. INTERPRET NONVERBAL CUES MORE ACCURATELY Merabian found that we synthesize and interpret nonverbal cues along three key dimensions. Immediacy-feelings of liking, closeness Arousal-feelings of interest, excitement Dominance-feelings of power, status