Communicating Intentions Through Nonverbal Behaviors Conscious and Nonconscious Encoding of Liking

Abstract

Thefundamental components of interpersonal transactions at the nonverbal level ofen include the cognitively held intention of one person to increase or decrease affiliation with his or her partner, the encoding of this intention into behavioral displays, and the decoding of the behavioral displays by the other Nonverbal encoding of relational information may be conducted at less than conscious levels of infirmation processing although intentions may be held consciously. A study was conducted in which naive confea'erates were induced to either increase or decrease their displays of likingfir their partner. It was found that confhates' intentions to show increased or decreased liking toward their partners m e positively correlated with the partners'likingfor the confederate. However, less than one quarter of the confederates could demonstrate an accurate conscious awareness of the behaviors they used and how they used them. Of this small number, those who weregiven the conscious intention of showing decreased liking demonstrated the most conscious awareness of their nonverbal behaviors. w hen meeting face to face, strangers or acquaintances are faced with the task of managing interpersonal relationships under conditions of uncertainty. Social conventions typically inhibit open and explicit talk about the immediate relationship (Goffman, 1967;Watzlawick, Beavin, & Jackson, 1967). Under these constraints, relationships tend to develop through the subtle and rapid exchange of interpersonal messages carried through nonverbal channels (Burgoon, Buller, Hale, & deTurck, 1984;Cappella, 1984;Patterson, 1983). Assuming that the relational transaction process requires some strategic direction, and is implicit as well as rapid, this article addresses the question of whether nonverbal negotiations of relationships are conducted consciously or not.An experiment was conducted that tested whether individuals with conscious intentions to show liking or disliking during initial interactions were consciously aware of their choice and execution of nonverbal behaviors.

Automatic Cognitive Processes and Nonverbal Communication

“…One study even found that confederates who were instructed to create liking with a partner could not identify accurately the behaviors they used and how they used them, even though they were successful at their goal (Palmer & Simmons, 1995). Research on nonconscious behavioral mimicry (reviewed in the Rapport section below) has also demonstrated that people are not consciously aware that they mimic the behaviors of others or that other people might be mimicking their behaviors or that this mimicry creates liking Chartrand, Maddux, & Lakin, 2005).…”

Attributions for nonverbal expressions of liking and disliking: The extended self‐serving bias

“…When enacting the disliking condition, confederates were given the opposite instructions: to avoid smiling and eye contact, to sit far away from Ps, to lean away from Ps, and to avoid matching Ps' posture. These nonverbal behaviors are those commonly used to communicate liking and affection, or the lack thereof (Burgoon & Le Poire, 1999;Palmer & Simmons, 1995).…”

To Match or Not to Match: Effects of Behavioral Congruence on Interpersonal Connectedness

“…To ensure that they were not familiar with each other prior to their participation, Persons A and B completed two measures of prefamiliarity adapted from a study by Palmer and Simmons (1995 ranged from 1 (not at all) to 7 (very well). The second question was "How would you describe your relationship with this person?'…”