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Nonverbal Communication (Principles and Functions of Nonverbal…
Nonverbal Communication
Definition: A process of generating meaning using behavior other than words.
Principles and Functions of Nonverbal Communication
A vocal element of nonverbal communication is Paralanguage, which is the vocalized but not verbal part of a spoken message, such as speaking rate, volume, and pitch.
Vocal = Spoken words = Paralanguage
Nonvocal = Writing, Sign language = Body Language
Non verbal communication (which is more credible) can assist one in conveying interpersonal and emotional messages for example: Determining ones credibility.
Nonverbal communication involuntarily leaks out in ways that expose our underlying thoughts or feelings.
Many nonverbal signals do not have any one specific meaning making it more difficult to read someones emotions
Mixed messages: Messages in which verbal and nonverbal signals contradict each other.
People engage in competition and strategically change their communication to influence others, making it important to be aware of how we nonverbally influence others and how they may try to influence us.
Immediacy behaviors: Verbal and nonverbal behaviors that lessen real or perceived physical and psychological distance between communicators like smiling, nodding, making eye contact etc.
Artifacts: The objects and possessions that surround us, also communicate our identities.
Types of Nonverbal Communication
Kinesics: The study of hand, arm, body, and face movements.
Adaptors: Touching behaviors and movements that indicate internal states typically related to arousal or anxiety.
Haptics: The study of communication by touch.
Proxemics: The study of how space and distance influence communication.
Vocalics: The study of Paralanguage, which includes the vocal qualities that go along with verbal messages, such as pitch, volume, rate, vocal quality, and verbal fillers
12 feet or more (Public): In terms of regular interaction, we are often not obligated or expected to acknowledge or interact with people who enter our public zone. It would be difficult to have a deep conversation with someone at this level
4-12ft (Social Space): It is also possible to have people in the outer portion of our social zone but not feel obligated to interact with them, but when people come much closer than six feet to us then we often feel obligated to at least acknowledge their presence.
Chronemics refers to the study of how time affects communication. ex: The way we experience time varies based on our mood, our interest level, and other factors.
1.5-4ft (Personal Space): We may use verbal communication at this point to signal that our presence in this zone is friendly and not intimate.
Intimate Space: A breach of this space can be comforting in some contexts and annoying or frightening in others.
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Nonverbal Communication Competence
Nonverbal congruence: Consistency among different nonverbal expressions within a cluster.
Mirroring: The often subconscious practice of using nonverbal cues in a way that match those of others around us.
Congruent nonverbal communication is more credible and effective than ambiguous or conflicting nonverbal cues.
Civil Inattention: A social norm that leads us to avoid making eye contact with people in situations that deviate from expected social norms, such as witnessing someone fall or being in close proximity to a stranger expressing negative emotions
We increase our nonverbal communication competence by becoming more aware of how it operates in specific channels.
Part of being a good listener involves nonverbal-encoding competence, as nonverbal feedback in the form of head nods, eye contact, and posture can signal that a listener is paying attention and the speaker’s message is received and understood.
Part of being a good listener involves nonverbal-encoding competence, as nonverbal feedback in the form of head nods, eye contact, and posture can signal that a listener is paying attention and the speaker’s message is received and understood.
Truth bias: leads us to believe that a person is telling the truth, especially if we know and like that person.
Nonverbal leakage: Nonverbal behaviors that occur as we try to control the cognitive and physical changes that happen during states of cognitive and physical arousal
People have idiosyncratic nonverbal behaviors, which create an individual context that varies with each person.
Nonverbal communication tends to do the work of communicating emotions more than verbal.