Non-verbal communication is the process of communicating through sending and receiving wordless messages. Such messages can be communicated through gesture, body language or posture; facial expression and eye contact, object communication such as clothing, hairstyles or even architecture, or symbols and infographics, as well as through an aggregate of the above, such as behavioural communication. Nonverbal communication plays a key role in every person’s day to day life, from employment to romantic engagements.
Speech may also contain non-verbal elements known as paralanguage, including voice quality, emotion and speaking style, as well as prosodic features such as rhythm, intonation and stress. Likewise, written texts have non-verbal elements such as handwriting style, spatial arrangement of words, or the use of emotions. A portmanteau of the English words emotion (or emote) and icon, an emoticon is a symbol or combination of symbols used to convey emotional content in written or message form.
However, much of the study of non-verbal communication has focused on face-to-face interaction, where it can be classified into three principal areas: environmental conditions where communication takes place, the physical characteristics of the communicators, and Verbal vs oral communication
Scholars in this field usually use a strict sense of the term “verbal— meaning “of or concerned with words,” and do not use “verbal communication” as a synonym for oral or spoken communication. Thus, vocal sounds that are not considered to be words, such as a grunt, or singing a wordless note, are non-verbal. Sign languages and writing are generally understood as forms of verbal communication, as both make use of words — although like speech, both may contain paralinguistic elements and often occur alongside non-verbal messages. Non-verbal communication can occur through any sensory channel
Table of Contents
PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
Environmental factors such as furniture, architectural style, interior decorating, lighting conditions, colours, temperature, noise, and music affect the behaviour of communicators during interaction. The furniture itself can be seen as a non-verbal message
Proxemics
Proxemics is the study of how people use and perceive the physical space around them. The space between the sender and the receiver of a message influences the way the message is interpreted.
The perception and use of space varies significantly across cultures and different settings within cultures. Space in non-verbal communication may be divided into four main categories: intimate, social, personal, and public space. (Scott Mclean, 1969) The distance between communicators will also depend on sex, status, and social role.
Chronemics
Chronemics is the study of the use of time in non-verbal communication. The way we perceive time, structure our time and react to time is a powerful communication tool, and helps set the stage for communication. Time perceptions include punctuality and willingness to wait, the speed of speech and how long people are willing to listen. The timing and frequency of an action as well as the tempo and rhythm of communications within an interaction contributes to the interpretation of non-verbal messages. Gudykunst & Ting-Toomey (1988) identified 2 dominant time patterns:
Monochronic time schedule (M-time): Time is seen as being very important and it is characterized by a linear pattern where the emphasis is on the use of time schedules and appointments. Time is viewed as something that can be controlled or wasted by individuals, and people tend to do one thing at a time. The M-pattern is typically found in North America and Northern Europe.
Polychronic time schedule (P-time): Personal involvement is more important than schedules where the emphasis lies on personal relationships rather than keeping appointments on time. This is the usual pattern that is typically found in Latin America and the Middle East.
MOVEMENT AND BODY POSITION
Kinetics
Information about the relationship and affect of these two skaters is communicated by their body posture, eye gaze and physical contact.
Kinetics is the study of body movements, facial expressions, and gestures. It was developed by anthropologist Ray L. Birdwhistell in the 1950s. Kinesic behaviors include mutual gaze, smiling, facial warmth or pleasantness, childlike behaviors, direct body orientation, and the like. Birdwhistell proposed the term kineme to describe a minimal unit of visual expression, in analogy to a phoneme which is a minimal unit of sound.
Posture in non-verbal communication
Posture can be used to determine a participant’s degree of attention or involvement, the difference in status between communicators, and the level of fondness a person has for the other communicator. Studies investigating the impact of posture on interpersonal relationships suggest that mirror-image congruent postures, where one person’s left side is parallel to the other’s right side, leads to favorable perception of communicators and positive speech; a person who displays a forward lean or a decrease in a backwards lean also signify positive sentiment during communication. Posture is understood through such indicators as direction of lean, body orientation, arm position, and body openness.
Gesture
A wink is a type of gesture. A gesture is a non-vocal bodily movement intended to express meaning. They may be articulated with the hands, arms or body, and also include movements of the head, face and eyes, such as winking, nodding, or rolling ones’ eyes. The boundary between language and gesture, or verbal and non-verbal communication, can be hard to identify. According to Ottenheimer (2007), psychologists Paul Ekman and Wallace Friesen suggested that gestures could be categorised into five types: emblems, illustrators, affect displays, regulators, and adaptors.
Emblems are gestures with direct verbal translations, such as a goodbye wave; illustrators are gestures that depict what is said verbally, such as turning an imaginary steering wheel while talking about driving; an affectdisplay is a gesture that conveys emotions, like a smile; regulators are gestures that control interaction;
and finally, an adaptor is a gesture that facilitates the release of bodily tension, such as quickly moving one’s leg.
Gestures can also be categorised as either speech-independent or speech-related. Speech- independent gestures are dependent upon culturally accepted interpretation and have a direct verbal translation. A wave hello or a peace sign are examples of speech- independent gestures. Speech related gestures are used in parallel with verbal speech; this form of non-verbal communication is used to emphasize the message that is being communicated. Speech related gestures are intended to provide supplemental information to a verbal message such as pointing to an object of discussion.
Haptics
A high five is an example of communicative touch.
Haptics is the study of touching as non-verbal communication. Touches that can be defined as communication include handshakes, holding hands, kissing (cheek, lips, hand), back slapping, high fives, a pat on the shoulder, and brushing an arm. Touching of oneself may include licking, picking, holding, and scratching. These behaviors are referred to as “adaptor” and may send messages that reveal the intentions or feelings of a communicator. The meaning conveyed from touch is highly dependent upon the context of the situation, the relationship between communicators, and the manner of touch.
Eye gaze
The study of the role of eyes in non-verbal communication is sometimes referred to as “oculesics”. Eye contact can indicate interest, attention, and involvement. Gaze comprises the actions of looking while talking, looking while listening, amount of gaze, and frequency of glances, patterns of fixation, pupil dilation, and blink rate.
PARALANGUAGE
Paralanguage (sometimes called vocalics) is the study of non-verbal cues of the voice. Various acoustic properties of speech such as tone, pitch and accent, collectively known as prosody, can all give off non-verbal cues. Paralanguage may change the meaning of words.
The linguist George L. Trager developed a classification system which consists of the voice set, voice qualities, and vocalisation.
The voice set is the context in which the speaker is speaking. This can include the situation, gender, mood, age and a person’s culture.
The voice qualities are volume, pitch, tempo, rhythm, articulation, resonance, nasality, and accent. They give each individual a unique “voice print”. Vocalization consists of three subsections: characterises, qualifiers and segregates. Characterisers are emotions expressed while speaking, such as laughing, crying, and yawning. A voice qualifier is the style of delivering a message – for example, yelling “Hey stop that!”, as opposed to whispering “Hey stop that”. Vocal segregates such as “uh-huh” notify the speaker that the listener is listening.
FUNCTIONS OF NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
Argyle (1970) put forward the hypothesis that whereas spoken language is normally used for communicating information about events external to the speakers, non-verbal codes are used to establish and maintain interpersonal relationships. It is considered more polite or nicer to communicate attitudes towards others non-verbally rather than verbally, for instance in order to avoid embarrassing situations
Argyle (1988) concluded there are five primary functions of non-verbal bodily behavior in human communication:
- Express emotions
- Express inter-personal attitudes
- To accompany speech in managing the cues of interaction between speakers and listeners
- Self-presentation of one’s personality Rituals (greetings)
INTERACTION OF VERBAL AND NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
When communicating, nonverbal messages can interact with verbal messages in six ways: repeating, conflicting, complementing, substituting, regulating and accenting/moderating.
Repeating
“Repeating” consists of using gestures to strengthen a verbal message, such as pointing to the object of discussion.
Conflicting
Verbal and non-verbal messages within the same interaction can sometimes send opposing or conflicting messages. A person verbally expressing a statement of truth while simultaneously fidgeting or avoiding eye contact may convey a mixed message to the receiver in the interaction. Conflicting messages may occur for a variety of reasons often stemming from feelings of uncertainty, ambivalence, or frustration. When mixed messages occur, non-verbal communication becomes the primary tool people use to attain additional information to clarify the situation; great attention is placed on bodily movements and positioning when people perceive mixed messages during interactions.
Complementing
Accurate interpretation of messages is made easier when non-verbal and verbal communication complements each other. Non-verbal cues can be used to elaborate on verbal messages to reinforce the information sent when trying to achieve communicative goals; messages have been shown to be remembered better when nonverbal signals affirm the verbal exchange.
Substituting
Non-verbal behaviour is sometimes used as the sole channel for communication of a message. People learn to identify facial expressions, body movements, and body positioning as corresponding with specific feelings and intentions. Non-verbal signals can be used without verbal communication to convey messages; when non-verbal behaviour does not effectively communicate a message, verbal methods are used to enhance understanding.
Regulating
Non-verbal behaviour also regulates our conversations. For example, touching someone’s arm can signal that you want to talk next or interrupt.
Accenting/Moderating
Non-verbal signals are used to alter the interpretation of verbal messages. Touch, voice pitch, and gestures are some of the tools people use to accent or amplify the message that is sent; nonverbal behaviour can also be used to moderate or tone down aspects of verbal messages as well. For example, a person who is verbally expressing anger may accent the verbal message by shaking a fist.
Dance and non-verbal communication
Dance is a form of non-verbal communication that requires the same underlying faculty in the brain for conceptualization, creativity and memory as does verbal language in speaking and writing. Means of self-expression, both forms have vocabulary (steps and gestures in dance), grammar (rules for putting the vocabulary together) and meaning. Dance, however, assembles (choreographs) these elements in a manner that more often resembles poetry, with its ambiguity and multiple, symbolic and elusive meanings.