Chapter 5: Social Perception - Nonverbal Communication

1. Social Perception Overview

• Definition: An active process where we try to understand and interpret others’ behavior, emotions, and intentions.

• Nonverbal cues are crucial for understanding inner states, including:

  • Facial expressions

  • Eye contact

  • Body movements

  • Posture

  • Touch

2. What is Nonverbal Communication?

• Communication between people using unspoken language through:

  • Facial expressions

  • Eye contact

  • Body language

  • Touch

• Often, nonverbal cues reveal more than spoken words.

3. Basic Channels of Nonverbal Communication

1. Facial Expressions

• The face reflects emotions and inner states.

• There are 6 universal facial expressions found across all cultures:

  • Anger

  • Fear

  • Happiness

  • Sadness

  • Surprise

  • Disgust

• Studies show that humans across cultures show similar facial expressions for these emotions.

2. Eye Contact

• Known as the "windows to the soul."

• People often interpret gaze as a sign of:

  • Liking or friendliness.

• Staring (prolonged gaze) can feel:

  • Threatening.

  • Uncomfortable.

• Eye contact can signal interest, attraction, or dominance depending on the context.

3. Body Language

• Body movements, posture, and positioning reflect:

  • Current moods.

  • Emotional states.

4. Touching

• The most intimate form of nonverbal communication.

• Meaning of touch depends on:

  • Who is touching whom.

  • Nature of the touch (e.g., handshake, pat on the back).

  • Cultural and situational context.

• Cultural and gender differences:

  • Among younger couples, men touch women more.

  • As relationships mature, women initiate touch more often.

  • Gender norms influence these patterns.

4. Cultural Differences in Personality and Communication

Culture Type	Personality Traits Emphasized

Individualistic Cultures (e.g., USA)

Strong autonomy and independence.

Collectivist Cultures (e.g., Japan)

Emphasize group harmony and cooperation.

Uncertainty Avoidance Cultures (e.g., Belgium, Peru)

High need for security, rules, and stability.

Low Uncertainty Avoidance Cultures (e.g., Singapore, Ireland)

Comfortable with change and ambiguity.

5. Attribution and Accountability in Ethical Behavior

• Ethical behavior depends on how responsibility is assigned:

  • Personal attribution: Individual is held responsible for ethical or unethical behavior.

  • Situational attribution: Blame placed on external factors like rules or orders.

• Example:

  • An observer may excuse unethical behavior if they believe the person acted under orders.

Attribution Errors in Ethics

• People sometimes misjudge responsibility and wrongly assume someone is:

  • Not accountable.

  • Or fully responsible when they are not.

Ethical Attitudes

• Research shows no universal ethical attitudes among managers.

• Ethical behavior is often:

  • Context-dependent.

  • Influenced by social situations, not fixed rules.

6. Recognizing Deception: The Role of Nonverbal Cues

• People rely heavily on nonverbal cues to detect lying.

Key Signs Someone May Be Lying:

Sign	Description
Microexpressions	Very brief facial expressions lasting fractions of a second, showing true emotions before they are masked.
Paralanguage	Changes in voice pitch, slower speech, less fluency when lying.
Eye Contact	Liars may blink more, dilate pupils, or show too much or too little eye contact.
Interchannel Discrepancies	Inconsistent nonverbal signals from different body channels (facial expressions don’t match gestures).
Exaggerated Facial Expressions	Smiles or emotional displays may be too broad or forced.
Linguistic Style	Lies tend to be less detailed, less personal, and more negative in tone.

7. Questions for Reflection

• Which channels of nonverbal communication are the most reliable? Why?

• Why are women generally better than men at sending and interpreting nonverbal cues?

• Why is detecting deception difficult?

• Why might it be harder for women to detect deception than men?