nonverbal communication - university of cagliari€¦ · nonverbal communication . prof.ssa...

Prof.ssa Ernestina Giudici 1

Nonverbal communication

2 Prof.ssa Ernestina Giudici

NVC roots

n It is more instinctive and natural than verbal communication (less intentional control)

n It constitutes a kind of body language which is basically universal


Cultural perspective

“What is shown on ones face is written in culture”

n  NVC is learned during childhood like languages

n  It differs from one culture to another, from gesture systems to facial expressions

n  Places emphasis on differentiation (unique and exclusively non verbal forms)


Connection between NVC and VC

n The communicational act is created by the sender and interpreted by the recipient on the bases of a multiplicity of systems of meanings and signals

n Each system (NVC and VC) produces a specific meaning


n Phenomenons of non verbal communication (NVC):

¨  Prosodic and paralinguistic voice qualities

¨ Kinesics system ¨  Facial expressions ¨  The way you look at someone

‘The look’ ¨  Gestures

Vocal system

Prof.ssa Ernestina Giudici


Vocal system

n The voice: meanings that go beyond words

n When pronouncing a word prosodic and paralinguistic aspects are associated to the intonation, the tone, rhythm and intensity

n The phonopoietic act is the synthesis of verbal and nonverbal aspects


Parts of vocal communication n The voice is comprised of various phenomenon and vocal processes:

¨  Reflexes (cough, etc.), vocal characterizations (laughter, crying, etc.), and vocalizations (“full pauses”)

¨  Extra-linguistic characteristics: organic and phonetics

¨  Paralinguistic characteristics (together with acoustic properties)


Paralinguistic characteristics

n  Parameters:

¨  Tone (pitch profile)

¨  Intensity (voice volume)

¨  Time: duration, speech speed (n. of syllables including pauses), articulation speed (n. of syllables excluding pauses), the pause (full pause = use of mhm, ehm, etc; empty pause = silent time)


Phonopoietic Act

n Vocal verbal section

n Vocal nonverbal sections


Vocal verbal section

n  Pronunciation of a word or phrase (phonology)

n  Vocabulary (lexicon and semantics)

n Grammar (morphology and syntax)

n  Prosodic profile (conclusive, interrogative, exclamation tone, etc.)

n  Prominence (emphatic importance or stress of an element)


Vocal nonverbal sections n  Factors influencing the human being voice quality ¨  Biological (sex, age)

¨  Social (culture, place of geographic origin, occupation)

¨  Personality (permanent psychological traits)

¨  Temporary psychological traits (emotional experience, cognitive situation of certainty or doubt, etc.)


The voice of emotions

Each emotion has its own exact and distinctive vocal profile

n Encoding phase: analysis and measurement of acoustic elements of vocal expression

n Decoding phase: the recipient’s ability to recognize the emotional state of the speaker taking only the vocal characteristics into account


Encoding

n Anger: increasing the intensity of the voice, short or absent pauses, enhanced rhythm, frequent changes of intonation

n Fear: speed of the articulation rhythm; very high intensity of the voice; thin, tense, and sharp voice (feeling powerless in front of a threat)


Encoding

n Unhappiness: low tone; long pauses; lessened rhythm of articulation; relaxed and sharp voice

n Joy: very pitched tone and progressive intonation profile; increasing intensity and, some-times, quickening of articulation rhythm


Encoding

n Contempt: very slow articulation of syllables and sustained phrase duration; rich voice pitch; full intensity

n Tenderness: regular rhythm; deep tones and linear intonation profile; volume basically low, broad and relaxed voice


Decoding

n Average accuracy of acknowledgement equal to 60%

n Easier to understand the negative emotional vocal expressions than the positive ones (reason: survival instincts make you recognise the perception of “danger”)

Silence



Silence

n Lack of words

n Strategic way to communicate

n Its meaning changes with situations, relationships and culture of reference

n The value of silence is determined by its ambiguity


Positive or negative communicative silence values

n Emotional ties (can connect on the basis of a deep emotional experience or separate with hostility and hate)

n Evaluation function (can show agreement and approval or bring disagreement and disapproval)


Positive or negative communicative silence value

n Understanding process (can show something to someone or it can be an opaque barrier for specific information

n Activation function (can show a strong mental concentration or report a mental dispersion)


Silence rules

n Complex set of social standards that manage silence

n Generally it is associated with: ¨  Social situations wherein the

relationship between the participants is unclear, not much is known, it’s vague or equivocal

¨  Social situations wherein there is a known and asymmetric distribution of social power between the participants


Culture and silence

n Western culture (individualistic): quick succession of tones in words, the latency period of pauses are very short

¨  Silence = threat, absence of cooperation to managing the conversation


Culture and silence

n Eastern culture (collectivist): long pauses of silence between one intervention and another, because of signals of reflexivity and judgement

¨  Silence = marker of trust, familiarity, harmony and agreement

Kinesics system



Kinesics system

n It is comprised by the movements of the body, face and eyes

Movements determine the production and transmission

of meanings


Kinesics system

n Components:

¨  Facial expressions

¨  The look

¨  Gestures


Facial expressions

n The face expresses: a specific mental state, emotional experience, interpersonal behaviour of a person

n The face is the most important part of the body that attracts the attention and interest of the interlocutor


La mimica facciale


Emotional perspective and communicational perspective

Emotional perspective

n Facial expressions have a dominant emotional value because they appear immediately, are instinctive and unintentional of emotions and are managed by specific and defined neuromotor programs


La mimica facciale


Communicational perspective

n Facial expressions have a communicational value because they show to others what the person’s purpose is with reference to the context

n By these means it is possible to identify a social value: in other words messages sent to others and as such they perform a communicational function


In the communicational perspective it is essential to take into account the

context Expressions regarded in isolation are difficult to interpret and may generate several misinterpretations


The smile n  Ekman has detected 19 different forms

of smiles. Among those: ¨  Spontaneous smile (or Duchenne smile):

involves the face as a whole ¨  Fake smile: only puts the cheekbone

muscles of the lower part of the face into action

¨  Miserable smile: the expression of the lower part of the face is extended; it means accepting a condition of unpleasant necessity


The smile

n According to Darwin and Ekman the smile is an expression, which is more or less intense, of joy

n New research (Fernandez-Dols) stated that smiling does not have any nexus with emotions, but it is strictly connected with social interaction


The smile

n It is the developer of relational affinity (it is useful to establish and maintain a friendly, stable relationship)

n It is a regulator of social relations (its frequency and intensity are managed by social power and genre)


The look

n The ocular contact (or reciprocal look) increases the nervous activation

n The look is an essential element to starting any interpersonal relationship


Look and personal image management

n The person that looks at the partner shows greater general expertise in terms of intelligence and social impact, plausibility and reliability, trust and sincerity


Look and personal image management

n  The look is useful to govern the relationship of proximity or distance among other people

n  Promotes cooperation

n  It is a strong signal to ask for and obtain consensus at its own standpoint


Looks and emotions

n Correlation looks-emotions:

¨  Positive emotions: increase of ocular contact

¨  Negative emotions: looking down and distortion of eye contact


Look and genre contrast

n Feminine mode: expressive and relational nature

n Masculine mode: informative and instrumental nature


The stare n  A prolonged and enduring look that is impossible to ignore

¨  In particular situations it may have a value of threat and danger

¨  It is typical of seductive situations

¨  People that have power tend to hold their look for longer

¨  Cultural differences


The gestures

n  Organized and limited motor actions

n  They aim to create a meaning

n  Are addressed to one interlocutor to reach a specific purpose

n  The set of gestures put together are also called “body language”, even though they mainly involve the hands


Kinds of gestures

n Gesticulation

¨  go with the action of speaking and are strictly related with speech

¨  change with reference to shape, space and length

¨  are poorly formal


Kinds of gestures

n Symbols (or symbolic signs)

¨  Are notably formal and encoded

¨  By custom, they are made from a distance due to a lack of language

¨  Express ideas that can also be said using words


Kinds of gestures

n  The language of gestures

¨  Sign language used by the deaf

¨  Has the properties of a language

¨  It is completely formal inside the community of users


Gestures and words

n  Are an integral part of speech

n  Can add some useful meaning to words

n  When the speaker stops speaking, all the connected gestures also stop


Gestures and culture n  Curiosity, but not only that:

¨  Gesture of mano a borsa n  unknown in United Kingdom

n  has the meaning of question and perplexity in Southern Italy

n  means good in Greece

n  slowly in Tunisia

n  fear in Southern France

n  very good in some Arabian communities

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