Social Perception (Person Perception and non-verbal Communication)

What is body language?

The importance of body language in social interactions

Non-verbal communication across situations

Culture specific non-verbal behaviors

Deception and non-verbal Communication

Social Perception

Refers to processes by which we come to know and think about others- their characteristics,
qualities and inner states (Zanden, 1984). Baron and Branscombe (2012) define it as the process
through which we seek to know and understand other people.

Perception is not a passive process. It is influenced by expectations, past experiences, language

Persons who are physically attractive are assumed to be sociable and outgoing. Those who are
neatly dressed are assumed to be responsible and conscientious (Albright et al.,1988). Height,
weight, physique, skin color, hair color, and eyeglasses are among the many cues that influence
social perception. Among Americans blonde women are perceived as social and fun loving, and
brunettes as smart and dependable. Men who are overweight are thought to be talkative, week,
dependent and lazy. Those that are thin are thought to be quiet, tense, stubborn and suspicious.

In our society, how do we perceive people that are

1. Thin?
2. Overweight?
3. Masculine?
4. Apply makeup?
5. Bleach their skin?
NB Research evidence does not generally support these beliefs.

At times people believe that the facial features of a person can reveal the person’s character, for
example

Adults who have baby-faced features – a combination of large round eyes, high eyebrows, a
large forehead, smooth skin and a rounded chin are perceived as warm, kind, naïve, weak and
submissive. In contrast, adults with more mature features—small eyes, low eyebrows and a small
forehead, wrinkled skin and an angular chin- are perceived as stronger, more dominant and less
naïve (Brehnn & Kassin, 1990). Even the sound of a person evokes specific impressions. As
speakers with soft, high pitched voices are assumed to have other qualities that are childlike as
well (Montepare & McArthur, 1987).

Sometimes impressions are formed by categorizing others according to their sex, age, race,
ethnic background and other demographic characteristics.

Non-verbal Communication

It is the process through which messages are conveyed using space, body language and facial
expression (Kasschau, 2001).

Types of nonverbal communication and body language

There are many different types of nonverbal communication. Together, the following nonverbal
signals and cues communicate your interest and investment in others.

Facial expressions

More than 2000 years ago Roman Orator Cicero stated, ‘the face is the image of the soul. ‘By
this he meant that the human feelings and emotions are often reflected in the face and can be read
in the specific expressions.

The human face is extremely expressive, able to express countless emotions without saying a
word. Unlike some forms of nonverbal communication, facial expressions are universal.
Numerous studies have shown that when presented with photographs , people from Western and
non-Western cultures alike can reliably identify at least six primary emotions, happiness, fear,
sadness, anger, surprise and disgust (Ekman et al., 1972). Its important to realize that only six
different emotions are represented on our faces does not imply that humans can show only a
small number of expressions. On the contrary emotions occur in many combinations (e.g. joy
together with sorrow, fear combined with anger) and each of these reactions can vary greatly in
strength (Baron and Brancombe, 2012).

Body movements and posture

Consider how your perceptions of people are affected by the way they sit, walk, stand up, or hold
their head. The way you move and carry yourself communicates a wealth of information to the
world. If you stand tall and erect, you convey the impression of self-assurance. If u sit and talk
with your arms folded and legs crossed- a closed body position – you communicate that you are
protecting yourself. When you unfold your arms and stretch out, your open body position may
be saying that you are open to [Link] type of nonverbal communication includes your
posture, bearing, stance, and subtle movements.

Body language reveals others’ emotional states. Large numbers of movement-- especially in one
part of the body does something to another part (touching, rubbing, scratching). – suggest
emotional arousal. The greater the frequency of such behaviors, the higher the feelings of arousal
and nervousness (Baron and Brancombe. 1984).

Gestures

Gestures are woven into the fabric of our daily lives. We wave, point, beckon, and use our
hands when we’re arguing or speaking animatedly—expressing ourselves with gestures often
without thinking. However, the meaning of gestures can be very different across cultures and
regions, so it’s important to be careful to avoid misinterpretation.

Eye contact

Ancient Poets often described the eyes as the windows of the soul. In a sense, they were correct.
We do often learn much about others’ feelings from their eyes. For example, we interpret a high
level of gazing from another as a sign of liking and friendliness (Kleinke, 1986). In contrast, if
others avoid eye contact with us, we conclude that they were unfriendly, don’t like us or shy.
While a high level of eye contact with others is usually interpreted as a sign of liking or positive
feelings, there is one exception to this general rule. If another person gazes at us continuously
and maintains such contacts regardless of what we do, he or she is said to be staring. A stare is
often interpreted as a sign of anger or hostility and most people find this particular non-verbal
cue quite disturbing (Ellsworth & Carlsmith, 1973). In fact we may quickly terminate social
interaction with someone who stares at us or even leave the scene.

Since the visual sense is dominant for most people, eye contact is an especially important type of
nonverbal communication. The way you look at someone can communicate many things,
including interest, affection, hostility, or attraction. Eye contact is also important in maintaining
the flow of conversation and for gauging the other person’s response.

Touch

How would you react when someone touches you briefly?

The answer to this question is, it depends. And what it depends on is several factors relating to
who does the touching (a friend, stranger, a member of your own gender other other gender) ; the
nature of this physical contact (brief or prolonged, gentle or rough, what part of the body is
touched); the context in which the touching takes place (a business or a social setting, a doctor’s
office). Depending on such factors, touch can suggest affection, sexual interest, dominance,
caring or even aggression (Baron & Brancombe, 2012).

One acceptable way in which people in many different cultures touch stranger is through
handshakes. Pop psychology or even books on etiquette suggest that handshakes reveal much
about other people,- for instance, their personalities- and that a firm handshake is a good way to
make a favorable first impression on others. Research evidence suggest that the firmer, longer
and more vigorous others’ handshakes are, the higher we tend to rate them in terms of
extraversion and openness to experience, and the more favorable our first impression of them
tend to be (Chaplin et. al., 2000).

We communicate a great deal through touch. Think about the messages given by the following: a
firm handshake, a timid tap on the shoulder, a warm bear hug, a reassuring pat on the back, a
patronizing pat on the head, or a controlling grip on your arm.
Space

Have you ever felt uncomfortable during a conversation because the other person was standing
too close and invading your space? We all have a need for physical space, although that need
differs depending on the culture, the situation, and the closeness of the relationship. You can use
physical space to communicate many different nonverbal messages, including signals of
intimacy, aggression, dominance, or affection.

Voice

It’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it. When we speak, other people “read” our voices in
addition to listening to our words. Things they pay attention to include your timing and pace,
how loud you speak, your tone and inflection, and sounds that convey understanding, such as
“ahh” and “uh-huh.” Think about how tone of voice, for example, can indicate sarcasm, anger,
affection or confidence.

Non verbal communication and deception

Why do people lie? How often do you lie?

Research findings indicate that most people tell at least one lie everyday (DePaulo & Kashy,
1998). People lie for many reasons, to avoid hurting others’ feelings, to conceal their real
feelings and reactions, to avoid punishments for misdeeds.

How good are we at recognizing deception by others? How do we do a better job at this task?

The answer to the first question is somewhat discouraging. In general, we do a little better than
chance in determining whether others are lying or telling the truth (Ekman, 2001). There are
many reasons why this is so, including that we tend to perceive others as truthful and so we don’t
search for clues to deception (Ekman, 2001), our desire to be polite, which makes us reluctant to
discover or to report deception by others or our lack of attention to non verbal cues that might
reveal deception (e.g Ekman, 2000). Another reason is that we assume that if people are truthful
in one situation or context, they will be truthful in others and this might prevent us from realizing
that they might indeed lie on some occasions (e.g O’Sullivan, 2003).
Given the fact that nearly everyone engages in deception at least occasionally, how can we
recognize such actions? The answer seems to involve giving attention to both non verbal and
verbal cues that can reveal the fact that others are trying to deceive us. With respect to non verbal
cues, the following information has been found to be very helpful (e.g DePaulo et. al., 2003).

[Link]

These are fleeting facial expressions lasting only a few tenths of a second. Such reactions appear
on the face very quickly after an emotion-provoking event and are difficult to suppress. As a
result they can be very revealing about others’ true feelings and emotions.

2. Interchannel Discrepancies

(The term channel refers to type of non verbal cues, for instance, facial expressions are one
channel, body movements are another.) These are inconsistences between non verbal cues from
different basic channels. These result from the fact that people who are lying often find it
difficult to control all these channels at once. For instance they can manage their facial
expressions well, but may have difficulty at looking at you in the eye as they tell their lie.

3. Eye contact

Efforts at deception are often revealed by certain aspects of eye contact. People who are lying
often blink more often and show pupils that are more dilated than people who are telling the
truth. They may show an usually low level of eye contact- or surprisingly, an unusually high one
as they attempt to fake being honest by looking others right in the eye.

4. Exaggerated facial expressions

People who are lying show exaggerated facial expressions. They may smile more- or more
broadly-than may show greater sorrow than is usual or typical in a given situation. A prime
example- someone says no to a request you have made and shows exaggerated regret. This is a
good sign that the reasons the person has supplied for saying ‘no’ may not be true.
In addition to these non verbal cues, other signs of deception are sometimes present in non
verbal aspects of what they say, or in the words they choose. When people are lying the pitch
of their voices often rises- especially when they are highly motivated to lie. Similarly, they
often take longer to begin- to respond to a question or describe events. And they show a
greater tendency to start sentences, stop them, and begin again. In other words, certain
aspects of linguistic style can be revealing of deception. Linguistic style refers to the aspects of
speech apart from the meaning of the words employed.

The effects of deception on social relations