Transcript Non Verbal Communication in Sixty Minutes

NON VERBAL COMMUNICATION
IN SIXTY MINUTES
Jane Westervelt
Teresa Martinez
Lara Hartman
WHAT IS NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION?
Refers to all stimuli (except meaningful words)
generated by individuals in a communicative setup.
 May be intentional or unintentional
 All cultures have their own systems for
understanding body movements, so there will be
differences across cultures.

THE BIG EIGHT
Body Communication
 Facial Communication
 Eye Communication
 Artifactual Communication
 Tactile Communication
 Paralanguage
 Territoriality
 Spatial Communication
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BODY COMMUNICATION
Our body movements communicate impressions
about personality and behavior.
 They send messages to others through eight
different areas: total head, face, neck, trunk,
shoulder-arm-wrist, hand, hip-joint-leg-ankle,
and foot.
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FACIAL COMMUNICATION
The face, considered the most important source of
emotional information, conveys both positive and
negative messages.
 On the positive side, the face can show positive
reinforcement, interest, involvement, or a sense
of control over oneself and the environment.
 On the negative side, the face can show negative
reinforcement, disinterest, withdrawal, or lack of
control.
 Facial expressions can be used to judge people’s
character, determine their true feelings, or tell
whether they are being honest.
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EYE COMMUNICATION
Communication occurs through the type and
length of eye contact or lack of it.
 Direct eye contact represents openness and
honesty, while lack of eye contact suggests either
indifference or dishonesty.
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ARTIFACTUAL COMMUNICATION

Our personal accessories-like clothing, jewelry ,
and home or office furnishings- represent who we
are.
TACTILE COMMUNICATION

Touch also communicates. People can show
affection by just holding hands; no words
necessary. One may also be offended by
someone’s touch if one dislikes that person.
PARALANGUAGE
We can communicate with our voice through
changes in rate, volume, quality, resonance,
pitch, pauses, and hesitations.
 These changes indicate our mood.
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TERRITORIALITY
Feeling of ownership over space influences
behavior.
 If a person encroaches on someone else’s
territory, it may lead to a feeling of violation or
hostility.
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SPATIAL COMMUNICATION
Use of space in interpersonal situations and
home/office arrangement communicates.
 If a supervisor’s office furniture is arranged so
that people must sit at a distance to talk, it may
indicate that the supervisor is a distant person.
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MYTHS OF NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
1.
2.
3.
Non-verbal communication is nonsense. All
communication involves language. Therefore
all communication is verbal.
Non-verbal communication accounts for most of
the communication in human interactions.
You can read a person like a book.
MYTHS CONTINUED
4.
5.
6.
If a person does not look you in the eye while
talking to you, he/she is not telling the truth.
Although non-verbal behavior differs from
person to person, most non-verbal behaviors are
natural to all people.
Non-verbal communication stimulates the same
meanings in different situations.
(from Richmond, 2004)
Paraverbals
All non-language sounds
made in communication
Paraverbals are used by others to understand
the meaning of your communication.
I didn’t say Mike was stupid.
NON-VERBAL QUIZ
QUESTION: Every culture has rules about the
CORRECT use of space. The "proxemic" rules are
unwritten and never taught-- but they are very
powerful and known to all members of the culture. A
woman is sitting alone when her personal space is
invaded by three other people. What will happen?
a. She will ask them to sit somewhere else
b. She will stare at the space "invaders" defiantly, but
she will not move
c. She will leave, saying nothing to the three people who
invaded her personal space
NON-VERBAL QUIZ
QUESTION: In American culture, personal space
affects EVERYTHING -- even bathroom behavior
among strangers. The chart shows six urinals in
a men's bathroom, with men already standing at
urinal 2 and 4. The man points at the "correct"
space, urinal 6 -- this is the one the third arrival
in the bathrooom SHOULD take. Which space
will NEVER be used by the third arrival?
a. Urinal 1
b. Urinal 3
c. Urinal 5
NON-VERBAL QUIZ
QUESTION: In this picture, an experienced flight attendant
demonstrates a facial expression she uses at work. Is she
performing genuine warmth, or is it concealed irritation?
a. Genuine Warmth
b. Concealed Irritation
NON-VERBAL QUIZ
QUESTION: People from all over the world
demonstrate the remarkable diversity of
international gestures. Can you guess the
meaning of this Japanese gesture?
a. I'm scared like a bunny
b. I've been hearing things about you
c. I'm angry
NON-VERBAL QUIZ
QUESTION: Who is the woman
talking to on the telephone?
a. Her mother
b. A female friend she has known for
many years
c. A male friend she has known for
many years
SMELLS
•The
US spends 8 million dollars in covering up natural
body odor.
•Other
cultures are not as concerned in fact, in the
Arabian culture they enjoy natural odors.
•When
in a conversation they stand close so they can
smell each other’s breath.
When their breath smells bad they do not hesitate to
tell them.
WHAT IS BEAUTIFUL
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U.S. the ideal look is the
“California girl” blonde,
tan, and thin.
To achieve this they
surgically reshape what
ever does not fit this ideal.
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Other cultures have a very a
different idea of beauty.
In Polynesia tattoos are widely
practiced.
In Africa darker skinned people
scar their entire bodies.
Flattened foreheads (Central
America)
Foot binding (China)
Elongation of neck (Padaung,
Burma)
When people encounter
others from other culture
they judge them by the
American expectation of
beauty
KINESICS

Some of the verbal communication
emblems are limited only to those
that use them such as baseball
catchers giving signs to their
pitchers or water skiers sending
messages with their bodies to those
pulling them.

People need to be careful when
using symbols in other countries for
example the gesture of “OK” in the
US has different meanings
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Money( Japan)
Zero or worthless ( France)
Obscene gesture (Mediterranean
countries)
Getting a waitress’ attention
The Greek symbol for hello goodbye
is often interpreted as “come here.”
Open hand means in a person’s face
means “Go to Hell.”
In Latin American culture you are
to greet everyone with a handshake
when you encounter them and
again when you leave. It is an insult
not to do so.
AFFECT
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Affect has less conscious control
than other forms of kinesics.
Affect may reinforce, augment,
or even contradict verbal
messages.
It is imperative to consider all
cues in context!
We may think that we are
making one face when in
reality something else is being
interpreted.
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American s are thought to not
display as much emotions as
other cultures. Specifically
anger
In Latin America It is ok to
display anger if something is
not right.
The British are even more
reserved when it comes to
demonstrating emotions.
In the Japanese culture losing
self control causes them shame
and humiliation.
In Iran men demonstrate
emotions that Americans would
consider feminine. They are
expected to rely on intuition
instead of logic.
EYE BEHAVIOR
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Scientist prefer to use the word “mutual
gaze.”
This means that the people interacting
are actually looking into each other’s eyes
and face. This is usually within a meter
of distance otherwise it would be known
as gaze.
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Americans use “civil inattention” when in
public places. They see people but don’t
look or stare.
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Elevator behavior
Outside of the country eye contact varies
especially if they do not have a great
influence by the American heritage.
People from Mexico look down and seem
to be more humble than other north
Americans
South Americans seem proud due to the
fact that they look at each other directly
in the eyes
Native American groups do not look into
each others eyes. They are thought to be
the window to the soul.
In Kenya men can speak to their motherin law but not look at them.
In Italy and France Men look at women
for long periods of time as they pass by.
SILENCE
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There are different types of
silence.
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Juncture: Shortest silence helps
us differentiate between “ice
cream” and I “scream”
Pause: These are used to accent
our words, gain emphasis, or to
let a message sink in.
Hesitation: used to collect our
thought decode feedback, and
react to emotion.
Interpersonal silences are not
classified with verbal
communication.
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Silence also varies in different
cultures.
In Central Africa the people of
Gbeya are frequently silent.
They may visit the sick and not
say one word to them.
In Scotland ‘s Shetland Islands
speakers have longer pauses in
their speech due to their
relaxed way of life.
Apache women are usually
silent due to the fact that is
considered a sign of modesty
and virtue
In the Arab culture people
become silent when they want
to be left alone.
TOUCHING
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Americans are a nontactile group.
Although the English,
English Canadians ,
and Germans are
reported to touch even
less. In Japan
touching is only half of
that in American
culture.
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The French, Italians
southwest Asians,
Russians and Latin
Americans are more
tactile. They may
greet each other with
a kiss on the cheek
and in the middle east
men kiss their beards
PROXEMICS
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Humans are like animals in
that they claim their
territory and will protect if
they feel threatened by
invasion.
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In the American culture
they are taught to
appreciate open spaces and
for that reason use lots of
windows and unbound
yards. They like to feel that
they have a lot of space.
Latin Americans build high
and have impenetrable
walls around their yards.
Germans have their walls
build up to the streets but
entrances are often out of
sight. They also always
close the doors behind them
Arabs do not close doors
instead close themselves
when they are upset.
PROXEMICS CONTINUED…
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Each person goes through life having a
personal bubble or personal space. This
space shrinks or expands depending on
the person’s decision to permit a
relationship among another person.
There are different types of distances.
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Intimate distances: Range from
touching to 18 inches. ( adults cradling
children, lovemaking and comforting,
this is closer than considered proper in
public)
Personal distance: 1.5 feet to 4
feet.(Distance where you can still smell
the cologne we can no longer touch the
person. )
Social distance: 4 ft to 12 ft. ( the way
we interact with classmates. Business
interactions are also in this phase.)
Public distance: takes place after 12 ft. (
makes us feel good when we are among
strangers.)
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Whites stand closer to each other than
blacks do Although they had a larger
distance when speaking to whites.
Navajo and Zuni Indians prefer an even
greater personal space.
There are contact and non contact
cultures. Contact cultures interact at
closer distances and touch more
frequently they tend to speak more
loudly.
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Latin Americans, southern Europeans,
and Arabian cultures
Non contact cultures: Oriental, and
Northern European Cultures.
Latin Americans and Arabs move around
as they speak to what they consider
conversational distance where as
Canadians back away.
Non contact cultures also stand in lines
for this reason.
REFERENCES
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Anderson, P.A., (2004). The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Body Language.
New York, New York: Alpha Books.
Gill, P & Hickey, W. (2007). Handling the Aggressive Parent. From
http://www.tmea.org/027_Magazine/DealingWithAgressiveParents_Feb20
07.pdf
Lewis, H. (2000). Body Language A Guide for Professionals (2nd ed.)
London: Response
Nierenberg, G.I. (1971). How to Read a Person Like a Book. New York,
New York: Hawthorne Books.
Richmond, V & McCroskey, J. (2004). Nonverbal behavior in
interpersonal behavior (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.
Exploring nonverbal communication. Retrieved 4/8/09 from
http://nonverbal.ucsc.edu/index.html
DVD- Body Language- An Introduction To Non-Verbal Communication.
The Learning Seed