Nonverbal Communication

Science and Applications

David Matsumoto, Mark G. Frank, Hyisung C Hwang

• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781452289540
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Langues et linguistique
• Subtopic: Études sur la communication

Edited by three leading authorities on nonverbal behavior, this book examines state-of-the-art research and knowledge regarding nonverbal behavior and applies that scientific knowledge to a broad range of fields. The editors present a true scientist-practitioner model, blending cutting-edge behavioral science with real-world practical experience—the first of its kind to merge theoretical and practical worlds. The observations of the practitioners who share their insights and experience will inspire and generate many new research ideas. This book is a valuable resource for students, practitioners and professionals to discover the science behind the practice and to see how other professionals have incorporated nonverbal communication into practice.

PART I

The Science of
Nonverbal Behavior

1

Reading People

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Introduction to the World of Nonverbal Behavior

David Matsumoto

San Francisco State University and Humintell, LLC

Mark G. Frank

University at Buffalo, State University of New York

Hyi Sung Hwang

San Francisco State University and Humintell, LLC

You are walking home late at night. You notice a man is walking toward you. He suddenly quickens his pace, body leaning forward, hands out in fists moving rhythmically with his stride. His eyebrows are drawn down in the middle. His eyes are wide. His lips are tight. He looks right at you.

How did this story make you feel? What did you think was going to happen? Notice that whatever assessment you made was based exclusively on the nonverbal behavior of this man. You did not need to hear a single word spoken; yet you likely got a clear and distinct impression from his behaviors.

This book is about nonverbal communication. We hope to explain the current science of nonverbal communication but also show how it is used in the real world, with perspectives written by professionals from the legal, security, police, medical, marketing, negotiation, and people skills–training worlds. We hope to identify why the man in the vignette would display those behaviors, and why you would have the reaction you did.

This introductory chapter describes some overarching aspects of nonverbal communication that will help us better comprehend the science and experiences spelled out in this book. We will identify where nonverbal communication fits in with science, provide some history of the study, and show how it relates to verbal communication.

What Is Nonverbal Communication?

Although “language” often comes to mind first when considering communication, no discussion of communication is complete without the inclusion of nonverbal communication. Nonverbal communication has been referred to as “body language” in popular culture since the publication of Julius Fast’s book of the same name in 1970. Researchers, however, have defined nonverbal communication as encompassing almost all of human communication except the spoken or written word (Knapp, 1972). We also define nonverbal communication as the transfer and exchange of messages in any and all modalities that do not involve words. As we discuss shortly, one of the major ways by which nonverbal communication occurs is through nonverbal behaviors, which are behaviors that occur during communication that do not include verbal language. But our definition of nonverbal communication implies that it is more than body language. It can be in the distance people stand when they converse. It can be in the sweat stains in their armpits. It can be in the design of the room. Nonverbal communication is a broader category than nonverbal behaviors, encompassing the way you dress, the placement of your office within a larger building, the use of time, the bumper stickers you place on your car, or the arrangement, lighting, or color of your room (Henley, 1977). The exact boundary of nonverbal communication, as part of communication, is a point of contention.

One source of messages in nonverbal communication is the environment or context. Different houses send different messages about their occupants. This is accomplished through the use of color, lighting, heat, fabric textures, photos, and so forth. Restaurants will capitalize on the messages sent by these environmental factors to influence the behaviors and impressions of diners. Fast-food restaurants use active, bright colors like orange, yellow, and red, in a well-lit environment with hard plastic seating. These messages subtly urge diners to eat more food more quickly and to not feel comfortable lounging around afterward so that the fast-food restaurants can get a quick turnover in order to maximize their profits. In contrast, elegant restaurants use dimmer lighting, softer and darker colors, and more comfortable chairs to communicate a more intimate impression, subtly urging diners to feel comfortable and stay around for dessert and coffee; this will cause diners to spend more per visit, as well as ensure repeat business through positive word of mouth. Designers of gambling casinos also know well about the power of creating an environment to send a message. And people can make relatively accurate judgments of the occupant’s personalities just by viewing a room (Gosling, Ko, Mannarelli, & Morris, 2002). Thus the nonverbal messages sent by the environment can help guide the behaviors that occur within that environment.

Another source of nonverbal messages is one’s physical characteristics or appearance. By physical characteristics, we mean the static physical appearance or smell of a person, including one’s height and weight, skin color, hair, eyebrows, cheeks, chin, proportion of eyes, nose, and chin size, as well as odors. Sheldon (1940) believed that different body types were predictive of personality; endomorphs (heavier, obese, rounder, softer looking) were sociable and pleasant, mesomorphs (angular, muscular, harder looking) were leaders and strong-willed, and ectomorphs (thin, frail, brittle looking) were withdrawn, smart, and nervous. The media capitalizes on this association by casting actors and actresses accordingly; notice how the leading man is almost always a dynamic mesomorph, the comic relief is almost always the sociable, chubby endomorph, and the smart person is almost always the nerdy, skinny ectomorph. Although these beliefs persist, there is no strong evidence that body types predict personality.

Moreover, people have historically made the same judgments of personality based upon facial appearance. Chinese face reading, for example, is based on observations of the structure of a person’s face. The ancient Chinese were not the only ones to do this; in the late 1800s, Europeans led by Caesar Lombroso felt they could characterize criminal personalities based upon the heaviness of one’s eyebrows and jaw (Gould, 1981). As with the body research, there has been no evidence that one can pick accurately criminals by their facial appearance. Research in the 1980s by other scientists found that adult humans with more babyish-looking faces—defined by a higher forehead, proportionally larger eyes, and smaller nose—are seen as more naïve, honest, and less likely to be picked as a leader (Berry & McArthur, 1986). However, research in the 1950s still best sums up the findings in this area: although people have reliably assigned personalities to particular faces, their assignments were not accurate (Secord, Dukes, & Bevan, 1954).

Odors also send messages, both at a conscious and unconscious level. At a conscious level, perfumes and aftershaves and lack of body odor send messages about hygiene in North America, but such messages are not so clear in other cultures. At a subconscious level, males send pheromones that, when placed under the nose of a woman, make her judge a man as more attractive, and men’s testosterone levels will rise when they are exposed to the scent of an ovulating woman (Miller & Maner, 2010). Infants can also recognize the smell of their mothers and will show strong preferences for items that smell of Mom. Many adults will also note how they are comforted by the smell of loved ones (reviewed in Knapp & Hall, 2006).

Physical appearance clues also include what are called artifactual clues, such as jewelry, clothes, glasses, and so forth. People wearing glasses are seen as being smarter. Jewelry sends messages about one’s socioeconomic or marital status. For example, North Americans signal their married status by wearing a band on their left “ring” finger, whereas Europeans often wear this signal on the right ring finger. Clothing also sends messages about income, group membership, and even respect for others. The person who wears a T-shirt and jeans to a formal occasion sends a message about how he or she feels about that occasion, although, as in the previous instances, this message can be inaccurate.

Nonverbal communication also occurs in the dynamic actions of the face, voice, and body. These are known as nonverbal behaviors. Nonverbal behavior intrigues us. We see the way a person looks, the way he or she moves, and how he or she sounds. Nonverbal messages are transmitted through multiple nonverbal channels, which include facial expressions, vocal cues, gestures, body postures, interpersonal distance, touching, and gaze. We call these channels because, like channels on a television, they are each capable of sending their own distinct message. Our biology, learning, and culture influence these actions. This book will focus on these dynamic expressive elements of nonverbal communication, and we will limit our description of the static elements. We will address these dynamic nonverbal behaviors in more detail in Chapters 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

What Are the Functions of Nonverbal Communication?

Nonverbal communication serves a number of functions (Harrison, 1973). For example, nonverbal communication can define communication by providing the backdrop for communication—quiet, dimly lit rooms suggest to people that the communication that occurs within that environment should also be quiet and hushed (like in a religious venue). Brightly lit rooms, with active colors like yellow and orange, communicate active, upbeat activities. It could also be the behavior or dress of others in the room. If others are moving calmly, or crying, and/or wearing formal clothes, that sends a message quite distinct from a room full of people moving with a bounce in their step, laughing, and wearing Hawaiian shirts.

Nonverbal communication can also regulate our verbal communication. Much of our conversations are regulated by nonverbal cues so subtle that the average person does not notice them. For example, people nod and smile at particular moments during a face-to-face conversation. This signals to the talker that the listener understands and that the talker should continue talking. When the talker is finished, he or she will drop his or her voice tone and loudness to let the listener know. If the talker wishes to continue talking, he or she will fill the pauses that occur with a louder voice, and with many “umms, ahhs” and so forth. These subtle nonverbal signals are called “back channel” communication, because they are not the main focus of communication. Instead they function at the periphery of communication. We will describe in more detail in Chapter 3, The Voice, how we can converse without constantly speaking over each other.

Nonverbal communication can be the message itself. A smile indicates joy. A frown indicates unhappiness. A wrinkled nose, accompanied by the phrase “I love it” may indicate deception. A wave of the hand signifies “good-bye.” A quiver in the voice signifies distress. Raising your index finger to your lips signifies “shhh” or “be quiet,” yet raising the index finger into the air in a thrusting manner may mean “We’re number one!” (Raising other fingers has entirely different meanings too!) No words are needed to send these messages. Note that most of these meanings are culturally determined, but some of them are not. We will address these in more detail in Chapters 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 on the face, voice, body, culture, and deception, respectively.

What Are the Structures and Properties of Nonverbal Communication?

Scholars have suggested that nonverbal messages conform to many of the same properties as verbal communication—properties such as structured rules, intentionality, awareness, how much of it is covert or overt, control, and how private or public it is—but in slightly different ways (Andersen, 1999; Burgoon, Buller, & Woodall, 1996). In order to communicate meaning, nonverbal messages must be rule bound, like speech. For example, the sentence, “Floats otter the on sea the” does not make much sense because it does not conform to certain rules applying to word order. “The otter floats on the sea” does follow those rules and, thus, makes sense. Nonverbal communication has similar properties, and rule violations change their meanings. In North America, there are often unspoken rules that guide where we can touch people and when we can do it. We may not hug our students, but we might give a congratulatory hug when they successfully defend their thesis. Male teachers might at some point touch a female student on her forearm, likely not touch her on the small of her back, and definitely not touch her on her backside. They would apply the same touch rules to a male student. However, under very narrow circumstances, they might be able to touch a male student on the rear end—if they were playing on the same intramural basketball team, and this male student made a great play, he might get a congratulatory slap on the butt. But that same student would not receive that congratulatory slap on the butt when he turned in his term paper two days early. So again culture and situation conspire to set some rules—and if they are violated, we might cause resentment, or even a lawsuit. As we’ll see in Chapter 5, situation and culture drive a lot of these differences.

We assume that the vast majority of spoken communication is intentional; we choose the words we speak. Likewise, most nonverbal communication is intentional. We deliberately wave to people or give them an insulting finger gesture. Scientists have argued, however, that a greater proportion of nonverbal communication is unintentional (Ekman, 1985). For example, some people may intend to communicate calmness and maturity about the death of their cat, and yet they often unintentionally communicate sadness through their voice tone and facial expression.

Similarly, people are also less aware of their nonverbal communication compared to their verbal communication. Except for unusual circumstances, people can hear all that they speak. People are mostly aware of some of their nonverbal communication, for example, the clothes they wear, the gestures they use, and the expressions they show—but not always. For example, when lying, a person may feel afraid and yet feel he or she was able to hide that fear. Despite their beliefs, liars are often unaware that in fact they are expressing clear signs of fear in their face, posture, or speech (Hurley & Frank, 2011). More on this in Chapter 6.

Verbal communication is also more overt, and nonverbal behavior is more covert. People are formally trained in their verbal behavior in the schools. Nonverbal communication is less obvious, as in subtle facial expressions and barely perceptible changes in voice tone, and people are not typically formally trained in their nonverbal communication. For example, children are not as often given lessons on how close to stand to others when talking or how to express anger in a facial expression. Studies of blind and sighted people show that their spontaneous expre...