Communication Theory· 2017Q1· Book chapter
Communication Without Words
- 872citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2017year
Short summary
Nonverbal behaviors like facial expressions, touching, and tone of voice can convey feelings and attitudes, though language is far more versatile.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Nonverbal behaviors can communicate feelings and attitudes.
- Examples include touching, facial expression, tone of voice, and spatial distance.
- Some nonverbal cues are overtly informative, while others have a subtler effect.
- Body movements and gestures can indicate attitudes towards specific situations and general social tendencies like dominance and anxiety.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Language, though, can be used to communicate almost anything. By comparison, nonverbal behavior is very limited in range. A great many forms of nonverbal behavior can communicate feelings: Touching, facial expression, tone of voice, spatial distance from the addressee, relaxation of posture, rate of speech, number of errors in speech. Some of these are generally recognized as informative. Other behavior, such as posture, has a more subtle effect. Facial expression, touching, gestures, self-manipulation (such as scratching), changes in body position, and head movements—all these express a person's positive and negative attitudes, both at the moment and in general, and many reflect status relationships as well. Movements of the limbs and head, for example, not only indicate one's attitude toward a specific set of circumstances but relate to how dominant, and how anxious, one generally tends to be in social situations.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Communication Theory, 2017 · DOI ↗
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Field: Language and Linguistics
Language and LinguisticsArts and Humanities