Nonverbal Communication of Emotion

1. Nonverbal Communication of Emotion How can we tell what someone is feeling without a direct verbal expression (i.e., “I’m mad”)?

2. Nonverbal Emotions What are some ways that we convey our emotions without actually having to explicitly state them? • Facial Expressions • Body Language • Voice Quality • Personal Space • Explicit Acts • Emblems/Gestures

3. Facial Expressions • Most obvious emotional indicators • Many facial expressions are innate (not learned) • evolutionary and adaptive- our ancestors used them to defend themselves, win mates, and compete for status (Ekman, 1992; Tooby & Cosmides, 1990)

4. Facial Expressions • Facial Expressions and Genuine Smiles • BBC Online- Spot the Fake Smile

5. Body Language • Second most useful form of nonverbal communication • We can tell how someone is feeling by the way they hold themselves • Relaxed state- stretching back in a chair • Tense state- stiff and upright • Why is this helpful?? • College interviews, walking off of the bus for a sporting event, drama club production* • *Beier videotaped subjects acting out emotions- most could only “act” 2 out of 6 emotions (Anger, fear, seductiveness, indifference, happiness, sadness)

6. Body Language Exercise

8. Voice Quality Consider the following scenario: Jay walks into the kitchen and his mother is unloading the dishwasher. Rather than helping, he sits down and starts snacking on Cheetos and checking facebook. Jay’s Mom: I hope you are enjoying those Cheetos, Jay. Jay’s Mom’s words do not express how she is feeling. How might her tone?

9. Voice Quality • We know from the tone of one’s voice, as well as the expression behind it, how a person feels. • Many times, we do not need hear or express directly with words how or what we or someone else is feeling. • Other examples??

10. Role play!!! • Round 1: How do we stand next to people who are our friends? Those who are not? • Round 2: How does our personal space change when we are scared? Angry?

11. Personal Space • Defined as the distance people maintain between themselves • Varies between nature of activity and emotion felt • closer = anger or affection • farther= fear or dislike • Normal conversing distance between people varies from culture to culture • Invasion of personal space = DISCOMFORT!

12. Explicit Acts • Outward expression of emotion • Examples: slamming a door, punching a wall, kicking a chair, slapping high five, etc. • Are sometimes tricky • Sometimes we demonstrate the “wrong” behavior • Laughing and crying often look similar • Crying can signify happiness or sadness • Lying can fool many of us!! • In a study of several hundred “lie catchers” (government officials, Secret Service members, judges, psychiatrists, lie detector experts), only Secret Service performed at a rate that was “better than chance” • “Lie to Me” • Masking, Neutralizing, Intensification, Deintensification

13. Emblem • Fancy name for a type of “gesture” used as replacement for words • Examples: Wink, Nod, Hand-wave, “O.K.” hand gesture • Culture-specific • An emblem that is common in one place may be highly offensive in another • Be careful of replacing gestures with words • Examples?

14. Emblems/Gestures Exercise

15. Display Rules • Circumstances under which it is appropriate for people to show emotion • differ greatly from culture to culture • Experiment: Japanese and American college students were shown videos • Round One: Students were alone in the room and displayed similar emotions (disgust) • Round Two: Students were in a room with an experimenter. When with the experimenter, Japanese faces were more neutral or pleasant, while Americans continued to display disgust • It is a “display rule” among the Japanese to avoid displaying strong negative emotion in the presence of a respected elder. (Ekman, Friesen, and Ellsworth, 1972)

16. Empathy vs. Sympathy • Sympathy- To recognize someone else’s emotions and appreciate them. • Empathy- To recognize someone else’s emotion, as well as to identify with the emotion another is experiencing, as if to also take on that emotion. • Examples??

17. Summary • What are the most effective nonverbal cues? • Are all emotional expressions universal? • Can you hypothesize what is going on in the following picture:

18. Gender and Emotion • Ladies ~ Do you ever feel like a guy doesn’t “understand” how you feel and you don’t “get” how they can “shut off” their emotions? • Gentlemen ~ Have you ever experienced an instance when a girl is way too emotional for you? • Are girls really more emotional than guys? (the question that plagues every relationship)

19. Gender and Emotion • Common observation: Men display different emotions than woman • Science or Stereotype? • Eisenberg and Lennon, 1983 • When exposed to people in distress, women expressed more feelings of concern. However, physiological responses were the same. • Conclusion: Men inhibited their emotion.

20. Gender and Emotion • O’Leary and Smith, 1988 • Boys are trained to suppress “unmanly” emotions, such as sympathy, sadness, empathy, and distress, at a young age • Perhaps this is why females sometimes don’t get the response they are looking for when seeking for comfort in their partners

21. Gender and Emotion • Females have stronger emotional reactions when they self-generate a thought • Ex: Think of your dog running away. • The emotional centers of the brain are more activated in females than males in these hypothetical situations • Ladies: Stop thinking too much! 

22. Gender and Emotion • Reactions to a hypothetical situation of being double-crossed • Women – betrayed and hurt (“how could you do this to me??”) • Men- anger (“watch your back”) • Men often outwardly express emotions • 4x as likely to be violent • Women often look inward • More likely to be depressed

23. Gender and Emotion • Holding anger in is extremely unhealthy • People who feel more hostile were three times more likely to die during study than those who were not (Julius, et. Al. 1986) • Venting and experiencing bouts of anger appropriately is essential to our survival! • Healthy ways to express anger??

24. Gender and Emotion • Males and females differ in the way they interpret nonverbal cues of emotion • Women can decode facial expressions, body cues, and tones of voices more efficiently • Evolutionary and/or a result of child rearing (practice) • People are more sensitive to the emotions of their “leaders” • Historically, men have been more “powerful” • Women hold emotionally laborious occupations

25. Culture and Emotion • Many cultures share similar emotional reactions • Death = sadness; Attack = fear • Many emotions depend the culture • Cultures that emphasize the “individual”- you are more likely to feel “proud” • Cultures that emphasize the “collective”- you may not feel as “proud” (say, of a job promotion)

26. Culture and Emotion • The English language has endless words for self-focused emotions (multiple words for one emotion!) • Angry, mad, infuriated • Sad, upset, hurt • The Japanese language has more words for “other-focused” emotions • i.e. words for empathy and sympathy

27. Culture and Emotion • Matsumoto, et al 1988 • American college students experienced emotions that lasted longer than Japanese students • Collectivist cultures put an emphasis on emotions that help the “flow” of society as a whole • Stop dwelling because you’re not doing anyone any good!

28. Culture and Emotion • Ekman and facial expressions • Happiness, anger, surprise, sadness, anger, fear, disgust • Are universal across cultures

29. Culture and Emotion • Once again, display rules come into effect when expressing emotions • Masking, Neutralizing, Deintensification, Intensification • Members of different cultures follow different rules for when it is appropriate to express emotion • When is it okay to show that you are mad? Disgusted? Angry? • Etre et Avoir clip (1:11)

30. Review • Format: • 15 Multiple Choice • 4 Matching • 1 Short Answer • 1 Essay • Use Chapter 9 terms sheet for review • Questions/Comments?? • Monday- JEOPARDY