Search

Research and theory in nonverbal communication have made great advances toward understanding the patterns and functions of nonverbal behavior in social settings. Progress has been hindered, we argue, by presumptions about nonverbal behavior that follow from both received wisdom and faulty evidence. In this article, we document four persistent misconceptions about nonverbal communication—namely, that people communicate using decodable body language; that they have a stable personal space by which they regulate contact with others; that they express emotion using universal, evolved, iconic, categorical facial expressions; and that they can deceive and detect deception, using dependable telltale clues. We show how these misconceptions permeate research as well as the practices of popular behavior experts, with consequences that extend from intimate relationships to the boardroom and courtroom and even to the arena of international security. Notwithstanding these misconceptions, existing frameworks of nonverbal communication are being challenged by more comprehensive systems approaches and by virtual technologies that ambiguate the roles and identities of interactants and the contexts of interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic. The new physical distancing rules have had many consequences, some of which are felt throughout the justice system. Courts across the world limited their operations. Nonetheless, given that justice delayed is justice denied, many jurisdictions have turned to technologies for urgent matters. This paper offers an evidence-based comment and caution for lawyers and judges who could be inclined, for concerns such as cost and time saving, to permanently step aside from in-person trials. Using nonverbal communication research, in conjunction with American and Canadian legal principles, we argue that such a decision could harm the integrity of the justice system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses a new systems model of dyadic nonverbal interaction. The model builds on earlier theories by integrating partners' parallel sending and receiving nonverbal processes into a broader, dynamic ecological system. It does so in two ways. First, it moves the level of description beyond the individual level to the coordination of both partners' contributions to the interaction. Second, it recognizes that the relationships between (a) individuals' characteristics and processes and (b) the social ecology of the interaction setting are reciprocal and best analyzed at the systems level. Thus, the systems model attempts to describe and explain the dynamic interplay among individual, dyadic, and environmental processes in nonverbal interactions. The potential utility and the limitations of the systems model are discussed and the implications for future research considered. Although the systems model is focused explicitly on face-to-face nonverbal communication, it has considerable relevance for digital communication. Specifically, this model provides a useful framework for examining the social effects of mobile device use and as a template for studying human–robot interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the decline of behavioral research in personality and social psychology has attracted renewed attention. The decreased incidence of behavioral research over the past few decades has been documented in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin .This article examined whether this trend was also characteristic of two interdisciplinary language and communication journals (Human Communication Research and the Journal of Language and Social Psychology) that publish experimental research on interpersonal processes. In contrast to the two personality—social psychology journals, the language and communication journals showed no decrease in behavioral studies over the past two decades. Possible reasons for the contrasting trends in the two types of journals are discussed, including the pattern of increasing numbers of studies per article over time in the personality— social psychology journals, but not in the language and communication journals. Finally, the implications of these differences for research strategies are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors assessed the impact that social value orientations—prosocial (i.e., concerned about outcomes for both oneself and others) versus proself (i.e., concerned about one's own outcome only)—had on fairness judgments in a non-negotiation setting. The results indicated that prosocials generally formed fairness judgments in a manner suggested by equity theory: Given the same input as a comparison other, they saw an equal outcome as fairer than a favorable or unfavorable outcome. The fairness determinations of proselfs, however, tended to follow the tenets of self-interest theory: Given the same input as a comparison other, they saw a favorable outcome as fairer than an unfavorable outcome. Contrary to self-interest theory, proselfs did not find a favorable outcome fairer than an equal outcome. These findings indicate that social value orientations differentially affect the evaluation of outcome information in the formation of fairness judgments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The articles in this special issue provide important, new insight into the evolutionary roots of expressive behavior. Across the three articles, a strong argument is made for behavioral mimicry, expressivity, and laughter providing adaptive value to ancestral humans that is still reflected in our modern world. The place of an evolutionary analysis in the development of a broader functional approach to nonverbal communication is described and discussed. Each article proposes specific dynamics through which expressive behaviors predispose receivers to respond in a manner benefitting the sender. The mediating mechanisms advanced in the articles are examined more closely and modifications in the proposed processes are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study compared the accuracy and confidence of Japanese and American participants on the Interpersonal Perception Task (IPT-15). The IPT contains 15 brief, real-life scenes on videotape for which there are objectively correct answers about relationships and deception. A total of 344 participants were run in a 2 (Japanese vs. American participants) × 2 (Audiovisual vs. Visual-Only presentation) × 2 (Sex of participant) design. Support was found for the hypothesized greater accuracy of Americans over Japanese, but a Culture × Presentation Modality interaction qualified the main effect of culture. Specifically, Japanese and American participants had virtually identical scores on the IPT-15 in the Visual-Only condition, but Americans' scores increased while Japanese scores decreased in the Audiovisual condition. Analyses of the confidence measures indicated that American participants were much more confident than the Japanese participants, but this difference was larger in the Audiovisual condition than in the Visual-Only condition. In addition, the prediction that women would be more accurate on the IPT, but still report lower confidence than men, was also supported. Finally, Japanese participants with moderate proficiency in spoken English were more accurate on the IPT than those with low English proficiency. The likely processes underlying these differences and the possible directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the patterns of avoidance and recognition in pedestrians as they passed a confederate. Specifically, the effects of condition (avoid, look, and look plus smile) and sex of confederate on passing pedestrians were examined in a field study on over 600 participants. A log-linear analysis of the results showed support for the hypotheses of greater glancing toward the female confederates and greater glancing when the confederates looked and smiled. A Sex of Confederate ? Condition interaction qualified these main effects, however, with the female confederates receiving a much higher proportion of glances than men in the look-only condition. Analyses of additional pedestrian responses among those who did glance at the confederates indicated that the look and smile condition produced higher levels of smiling, nodding, and greetings than did the other two conditions. The apparent processes underlying these subtle, brief exchanges are discussed, and the ecology of passing encounters is considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the relationship between accuracy and confidence on the Interpersonal Perception Task (IPT-15). This version of the IPT contains 15 brief, real-life scenes on videotape for which there are objectively correct answers to questions about status, intimacy, kinship, competition, and deception. A total of 241 participants were run in a 2 (high vs. low cognitive demand) × 2 (first impression vs. nonverbal cues strategy) × 2 (sex of participant) design. Overall, no significant relationship was found when accuracy scores were correlated with two between-participant measures of confidence. There was, however, a significant relationship within-participants between accuracy and confidence. Thus, participants' rated confidence for each of the 15 scenes did predict accuracy in judgments about the scenes. In addition, a 2 × 2 × 2 ANOVA on participants' transformed accuracy-confidence correlations revealed a small, significant effect of strategy. Specifically, the accuracy-confidence correlations were higher when participants were instructed to attend to specific nonverbal cues in making their judgments than when they were told to rely on their first impressions. Although there were no differences between men and women in either their accuracy or their accuracy-confidence correlations, men rated their confidence significantly higher than did women. The factors affecting the accuracy-confidence relationship and their role in automatic judgments are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined the effects of cognitive demand and judgment strategy in performance on the Interpersonal Perception Task (Costanzo & Archer, 1989). The Interpersonal Perception Task (IPT) contains 30 brief, real-life scenes on videotape for which there are objectively correct answers to questions about status, intimacy, kinship, competition, and deception. A total of 142 participants were run in a 2 (high vs. low cognitive demand) × 2 (first impression vs. nonverbal cues strategy) × 2 (audiovisual vs. visual only modality) design. A significant Cognitive Demand × Judgment Strategy interaction supported the hypothesized benefit of a first impression strategy when participants experienced high, rather than low, cognitive demand. In contrast, participants receiving the nonverbal cues strategy had higher accuracy under low, rather than high, cognitive demand. The conditional effects of cognitive demand on person perception are considered and the larger role of cognitive resources in interaction is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the constructs of childhood depression and anxiety has typically found that the 2 traits are highly correlated. In a study of the construct validity of childhood depression, anxiety, and aggression, Epkins and Meyers (1994) concluded that, despite some mixed results, the 3 constructs demonstrated adequate convergent and discriminant validity. We reexamined the results of the Epkins and Meyers study in 2 new analyses—a focused comparison of correlational patterns among the traits and a confirmatory factor analysis—and found no support for the discriminant Validity of depression and anxiety and only weak support for their convergent validity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the effect of student's physical attractiveness on a variety of judgments made in educational settings. Methodology for studying physical attractiveness in the classroom; Teacher judgments; Influence of moderator variables such as gender, race, conduct and physical attractiveness effects.

Proposes a conceptual framework for analyzing interdependent behavioral and person perception processes in social interaction. Theoretical approaches to nonverbal exchange and person perception; Distribution of cognitive resources as a determinant of the effectiveness of interactive behavior; Example of a research paradigm for studying the behavior-person perception interface.

Considers issues regarding the structure and dynamics of rapport. Comments about an article by Tickle-Degnen and Rosenthal in the October 1990 issue of the journal 'Psychological Inquiry'; Interactive aspects of rapport; Utility in distinguishing between rapport as a dyadic state and rapport as a dyadic trait.

For security and justice professionals (e.g., police officers, lawyers, judges), the thousands of peer-reviewed articles on nonverbal communication represent important sources of knowledge. However, despite the scope of the scientific work carried out on this subject, professionals can turn to programs, methods, and approaches that fail to reflect the state of science. The objective of this article is to examine (i) concepts of nonverbal communication conveyed by these programs, methods, and approaches, but also (ii) the consequences of their use (e.g., on the life or liberty of individuals). To achieve this objective, we describe the scope of scientific research on nonverbal communication. A program (SPOT; Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques), a method (the BAI; Behavior Analysis Interview) and an approach (synergology) that each run counter to the state of science are examined. Finally, we outline five hypotheses to explain why some organizations in the fields of security and justice are turning to pseudoscience and pseudoscientific techniques. We conclude the article by inviting these organizations to work with the international community of scholars who have scientific expertise in nonverbal communication and lie (and truth) detection to implement evidence-based practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]