Fundamentals Of Nonverbal Behavior

This volume provides a broad and comprehensive overview of current theory and research in the field of nonverbal behavior and details the major contemporary research areas within it. The contributions, written by prominent researchers in this area of study, consider nonverbal behavior from a broad perspective, focusing on the fundamental psychological processes that underlie the phenomenon. Several meanings of nonverbal behavior are employed throughout the volume and the contributors, whose work represents disparate research traditions and methodologies, consider biological and neuropsychological approaches, cognitive processes, gestures, facial expressions, and other symbolic behavior. The papers are united by a shared conviction that nonverbal behavior represents an important phenomenon with implications both for people's understanding of their own phenomenological and emotional worlds and for the nature of their social interactions with others.

The main theme of this publication is the fundamental features of verbal and nonverbal communication and their relationships with the identification of a person, his/her socio-cultural background and personal traits. The problem of understanding human behaviour in terms of personal traits, and the possibility of an algorithmic implementation that exploits personal traits to identify a person unambiguously, are among the great challenges of modern science and technology. On the one hand, there is the theoretical question of what makes each individual unique among all others that share similar traits, and what makes a culture unique among various cultures. On the other hand, there is the technological need to be able to protect people from individual disturbance and dangerous behaviour that could damage an entire community. As regards to the problem of understanding human behaviour, one of the most interesting research areas is that related to human interaction and face-to-face communication. It is in this context that knowledge is shared and personal traits acquire their significance.

This Handbook provides an up-to-date discussion of the central issues in nonverbal communication and examines the research that informs these issues. Editors Valerie Manusov and Miles Patterson bring together preeminent scholars, from a range of disciplines, to reveal the strength of nonverbal behavior as an integral part of communication.

The newly revised edition of this groundbreaking textbook provides a comprehensive overview of the theory, research, and applications of nonverbal communication. Authored by three of the foremost scholars in the field and drawing on multidisciplinary research from communication studies, psychology, linguistics, and family studies, Nonverbal Communication speaks to today’s students with modern examples that illustrate nonverbal communication in their lived experiences. It emphasizes nonverbal codes as well as the functions they perform to help students see how nonverbal cues work with one another and with the verbal system through which we create and understand messages and shows how consequential nonverbal means of communicating are in people’s lives. Chapters cover the social and biological foundations of nonverbal communication as well as the expression of emotions, interpersonal conversation, deception, power, and influence. This edition includes new content on “Influencing Others,” as well as a revised chapter on “Displaying Identities, Managing Images, and Forming Impressions” that combines identity, impression management, and person perception. Nonverbal Communication serves as a core textbook for undergraduate and graduate courses in communication and psychology. Online resources for instructors, including an extensive instructor’s manual with sample exercises and a test bank, are available at www.routledge.com/9780367557386

Discusses the fundamental features of verbal and nonverbal communication. This book states that the problem of understanding human behaviour in terms of personal traits, and the possibility of an algorithmic implementation that exploits personal traits to identify a person unambiguously, are among the challenges of modern science and technology.

Drawing significantly on both classic and contemporary research, Nonverbal Communication speaks to today’s students with modern examples that illustrate nonverbal communication in their lived experiences. This new edition, authored by three of the foremost scholars in nonverbal communication, builds on the approach pioneered by Burgoon, Buller and Woodall which focused on both the features and the functions that comprise the nonverbal signaling system. Grounded in the latest multidisciplinary research and theory, Nonverbal Communication strives to remain very practical, providing both information and application to aid in comprehension.

A series of essays, written by experts from around the world, on the role of nonverbal behavior in everyday social interaction. Among the topics addressed are nonverbal expressiveness in families, television viewing and nonverbal behavior, emotional mimicry, culture and nonverbal behavior, power, smiling and gender, children's use of nonverbal behavior; nonverbal interactions with friends, relatives and strangers, nonverbal behavior as a social interaction facilitator, the role of nonverbal behavior in close relationships, and how nonverbal behavior reveals deception.

For many years the Handbook of Methods in Nonverbal Behavior Research (Scherer & Ekman, 1982) has been an invaluable text for researchers looking for methods to study nonverbal behavior and the expression of affect. A successor to this essential text, The New Handbook of Methods in Nonverbal Behavior Research includes chapters on coding and methodological issues for a variety of areas in nonverbal behavior: facial actions, vocal behavior, and body movement. Issues relevant to judgment studies, methodology, reliability, analyses, etc. have also been updated. The topics are broad and include specific information about methodology and coding strategies in education, psychotherapy, deception, nonverbal sensitivity, and marital and group behavior. There is also a chapter detailing specific information on the technical aspects of recording the voice and face, and specifically in relation to deception studies. This volume will be valuable for both new researchers and those already working in the fields of nonverbal behavior, affect expression, and related topics. It will play a central role in further refining research methods and coding strategies, allowing a comparison of results from various laboratories where research on nonverbal behavior is being conducted. This will advance research in the field and help to coordinate results so that a more comprehensive understanding of affect expression can be developed.