Superior–Subordinate Communication in the Workplace: Verbal Aggression,Nonverbal Immediacy,and Their Joint Effects on Perceived Superior Credibility

This study examined the joint effects of a superior’s verbally aggressive behaviors and nonverbal immediacy behaviors on a subordinate’s perceptions of a superior’s credibility. Participants (n = 415) from intact classes were randomly assigned into one of the four experiment conditions simulated by four video segments: use of nonverbal immediacy and verbal aggression, nonuse of nonverbal immediacy and use of verbal aggression, use of nonverbal immediacy and nonuse of verbal aggression, and nonuse of nonverbal immediacy and verbal aggression. The findings indicate that superiors who do not use verbally aggressive messages and who are nonverbally immediate were perceived with a higher level of competence, trustworthiness, and caring than superiors who use verbally aggressive messages and who are not nonverbally immediate. In addition, superiors who use verbally aggressive messages and who are nonverbally immediate were perceived with the lowest level of perceived competence as compared to superiors in the other three conditions.     

Cues filtered in,cues filtered out,cues cute,and cues grotesque: Teaching mediated communication with emoji Pictionary

Courses: Any course that examines mediated and/or online communication, including but not limited to: Computer-Mediated Communication, Communication Theory, Interpersonal Communication, Introduction to Communication, and Organizational Communication

Objectives: In this single-class activity, students apply their knowledge of mediated communication theory by playing a twist on the classic party game Pictionary. Students attempt to communicate messages using only emojis. In doing so, they refine their understanding of how individuals adapt their mediated messages to account for the lack of nonverbal cues in many online environments.     

Television as a medium of communication: Implications for how to regard the child viewer

Children respond to television in toto, as a medium of communication. Three repesentational codes are involved: iconic, media‐specific, and generic, e.g., verbal language. Children actively process the codes and messages, by calling upon both generic and media‐specific knowledge.     

“Anyone free to chat?” Using technological features to elicit quality support online

This study examines how support seekers can integrate verbal and nonverbal cues in social network sites (SNSs) to elicit quality support from others. Building from sensitive interaction systems theory and verbal person centeredness (VPC), participants (N?=?579) evaluated a SNS profile that contained manipulated levels of directness in status updates used to seek support and nonverbal emotional expression in profile pictures. To capture the transaction of support, participants provided supportive messages in public and private conditions that were coded for their level of VPC. Negative emotional cues in profile pictures increased VPC in private messages, whereas directness in status updates negatively predicted VPC in private messages. Participants produced messages with higher levels of VPC after they viewed profiles that incorporated more features to disclose distress effectively. Broadly, this study addresses whether the content people post on SNS profiles shapes the quality of the supportive messages they receive.     

Doctoral dissertations in speech: Work in progress, 1962

Human communication research has identified and investigated numerous aspects of interpersonal transactions, but has largely ignored the process by which people terminate these encounters. Through controlled observation and laboratory testing, this study sought answers to the following questions: (1) What specific verbal and nonverbal behaviors are associated with the termination of communicative exchanges; and (2) Do these verbal and nonverbal termination behaviors vary according to the situational and relational constraints that bind two communicators. Twenty‐five behavior styles were scrutinized during eighty interviews. Results indicated that behavioral regularity attends leave‐taking—signalling inaccessibility and signalling supportiveness.     

Impromptu speech gamification for ESL/EFL students

Courses: Any introductory undergraduate public-speaking course, in particular in ESL/EFL contexts

Objectives: This single-class activity is intended to (1) build students’ ability to communicate orally “off the cuff;” (2) foster students’ understanding of the major organizational formats used in organizing speeches; and (3) increase students’ awareness of their nonverbal communication.     

Parental Response to Child's Incongruence: Verbal versus Nonverbal Primacy in Parent–child Interactions

Whereas the question of verbal versus nonverbal primacy has gained intensive interest, considerably less attention has been devoted to parental response to children's verbal/nonverbal incongruence. This study comprehensively analyzed parental responses to children's incongruence during mutual interactions. Parent–child interactions (n = 160) in structured joint game sequences were filmed in their homes and analyzed using a mixed multivariate design. Unexpectedly, parents related almost equally to verbal and nonverbal channels. The analysis of a wide range of social and situational contexts, including child's sex, parent's sex, SES, and task difficulty, highlighted their significant effects and delineated the contexts that activated verbal primacy, nonverbal primacy, and incongruent responses. This study provides a composite theoretical framework for the relative dominance of verbal versus nonverbal communication.     

Nonverbal communication and the support process: Interactional sensitivity in interactions between mothers and young adult children

This study investigated the contribution of nonverbal cues to supportive communication in interactions between mothers and young adult children. Current support communication research primarily focuses on verbal messages communicating support or conceptualizes nonverbal communication in narrow ways. Using the concept of interactional sensitivity from attachment theory for direction, a number of hypotheses concerning support provision were proposed in order to develop our understanding in this area. Findings provide insight into the role of nonverbal as well as verbal communication in supportive interaction. Interactional sensitivity—in the form of certain conversational involvement cues (vocal warmth/interest and kinesic/proxemic attentiveness), responses appropriate to the child's needs, and movement synchrony—predicted young adult children's perceptions of mothers’ supportiveness during a conversation about a relationship problem.     

The impact of multichannel message inconsistency on verbal and nonverbal decoding behaviors

This study examines the relative importance and specific nature of the nonverbal and verbal decoding behaviors that subjects use to respond to inconsistent messages. The results indicate not only that inconsistent messages have a greater impact on nonverbal than verbal decoding behaviors but that individuals responding to such messages behave in ways predicted by the double‐bind theory of communication. Decoding behaviors appear to pass through a three‐step sequence which moves from confusion and uncertainty to a high degree of deliberation and interest to expressions of displeasure, hostility, and withdrawal. These decoding behaviors are illustrated and their theoretical implications discussed.     

Walking the Walk: Understanding Nonverbal Communication through Walking

Objective: Students will understand the communicative power of walking and how nonverbal communication relates to attitude development

Courses: Public Speaking, Introduction to Communication Theory, and Intercultural Communication     

To Hybrid or Not to Hybrid,That is the Question! Incorporating VoiceThread Technology into a Traditional Communication Course

Courses: This exercise can be applied to any course or discipline, particularly those that utilize public speaking techniques, interviewing skills, or media

Objectives: ? Students will identify key concepts from course readings and deliver verbal responses to the instructor's question, photo, and/or video example.

? Students will learn to effectively communicate and organize ideas around the course readings.

? Students will engage with technology that will enhance the in-class learning experience.

? Students will produce competent communication dialogue and discussion in an asynchronous online format.

     

Nonverbal cue context and episodic memory: On the availability and endurance of nonverbal behaviors as retrieval cues

Two investigations provide evidence that nonverbal cues (in this case, hand gestures) play a role as contextual cues in the retrieval of co‐occurring verbal messages. In the first study, type of hand gesture and processing strategies were investigated as possible determinants of message retrieval. Results indicated that the type of hand gesture was a major determinant of language recall. The second study investigated the durability and persistence of nonverbal cues in providing utterance retrieval. Results indicated that nonverbal cues provided retrieval of messages one week after exposure to conversational stimuli and that once again the type of gesture made a difference in the effectiveness of recall.     

Bringing the Magic of Folk Literature and Nursery Rhymes to Communication Classes

Course: Public Speaking

Objectives:

At the end of this activity, students will be able to:

• Construct a story-based impromptu speech that holds the attention of one's audience;

• Articulate how stories hold audience's attention and imagination;

• Recognize relevant communication theories/concepts that effectively engage with an audience; and

• Utilize specific verbal and nonverbal strategies that effectively hold an audience's attention.

     

Communication Strategies for Instant Messaging and Chat Reference Services

Summary

Instant messaging (IM) reference is gaining in popularity but still faces resistance. Some librarians agree with some researchers in the field of computer-mediated communications (CMC) that it can never approach the complexity of face-to-face communication, and is therefore an unsuitable medium for reference. Librarians in face-to-face reference use nonverbal communication skills such as a welcoming expression and an interested tone of voice to encourage patrons to approach the desk and discuss their topic; they also interpret the nonverbal cues of patrons. This analysis of online reference conversations shows how online skills can substitute for many of these nonverbal cues. Some skills are unique to computer-mediated communication while others involve written language skills to encourage exploration of the topic, increase clarity, demonstrate approachability and empathy, and instruct. The study illustrates communication problems and solutions using actual conversations, giving particular attention to the reference interview.     

Compassionate Communication in the Workplace: Exploring Processes of Noticing, Connecting, and Responding

This research contributes to the growing body of literature exploring emotion and communication in the workplace by considering the workers in a variety of jobs that require “compassionate communication.” Compassion is conceptualized as one form of emotional work and is theoretically developed through a model that highlights the subprocesses of noticing, feeling, and responding. Analyses of interviews with 23 workers in a wide range of human service jobs indicated a number of complexities in the communication of compassion in the workplace. Processes of “noticing” included both noticing the need for compassion and noticing details of clients' lives in order to communicate more successfully in compassionate ways. Processes of “connecting” included both emotional processes (empathy) and cognitive processes (perspective taking). Processes of “responding” included both nonverbal strategies, such as immediacy behaviors and environmental structuring, and verbal strategies for balancing the informational and emotional content of messages. These results are interpreted in the light of both contemporary and traditional communication theory, and practical implications are presented for human service workers and others involved in compassionate communication in the workplace.     

Examining verbal style in presidential campaign spots

Presidential candidates rely on political television spots to communicate their messages to voters, and the language used in spots conveys the verbal style of the candidate. This analysis of 1267 presidential spot units from 1952 through 1996 uses computerized content analysis to identify the presence of verbal style previously identified by Roderick Hart: optimism, realism, activity, and certainty. Findings show different patterns for different presidential candidates, but overall trends suggest that optimism, realism, and certainty has been decreasing. Differences in verbal style for political parties, incumbents and challengers, and winners and losers are also explored.     

Compassionate Communication in the Workplace: Exploring Processes of Noticing,Connecting, and Responding

This research contributes to the growing body of literature exploring emotion and communication in the workplace by considering the workers in a variety of jobs that require “compassionate communication.” Compassion is conceptualized as one form of emotional work and is theoretically developed through a model that highlights the subprocesses of noticing, feeling, and responding. Analyses of interviews with 23 workers in a wide range of human service jobs indicated a number of complexities in the communication of compassion in the workplace. Processes of “noticing” included both noticing the need for compassion and noticing details of clients’ lives in order to communicate more successfully in compassionate ways. Processes of “connecting” included both emotional processes (empathy) and cognitive processes (perspective taking). Processes of “responding” included both nonverbal strategies, such as immediacy behaviors and environmental structuring, and verbal strategies for balancing the informational and emotional content of messages. These results are interpreted in the light of both contemporary and traditional communication theory, and practical implications are presented for human service workers and others involved in compassionate communication in the workplace.     

Visual Assertions: Effects of Photo Manipulation and Dual Processing for Food Advertisements

In our media landscape, consumers view a plethora of messages with visual assertions, created through postproduction photo manipulation, which communicate meaning at-a-glance. These visual assertions are processed initially and directly and greatly influence how consumers think, feel, and behave. Yet the impact of visuals, which likely color all processing, is not incorporated in persuasive message processing models. Using dual processing models from multiple disciplines as a theoretical foundation, this study demonstrates through two experiments that the effects of photo manipulation, as visual assertions, in food advertising increased consumers' perceptions of healthfulness, positive attitudes, and purchase intentions. Dual processing models for persuasive messages should be extended to account for the initial, influential visual processing of implied assertions, often manipulated during postproduction.     

Supportive communication from bystanders of cyberbullying: indirect effects and interactions between source and message characteristics

Cyberbullying is an increasingly common experience that produces psychosocial consequences for targets. Interventions encouraging bystanders to support targets of cyberbullying are limited by a lack of focus on what to communicate. This study considers supportive messages that emphasize emotional comfort, attributions of responsibility, and beliefs that people can change as relevant to this context, and it examines how perceptions of messages differ based on whether support providers have or lack experience with cyberbullying. We extend research on the indirect effects model of supportive communication by randomly assigning participants (N?=?304), who self-identify as targets of cyberbullying, to message and source conditions and assessing their perceptions of messages, providers, and outcomes. Impressions of messages mediate their influence on outcomes, and the experiential similarity of support providers moderates these effects. Certain messages, notably those contending that bullies can change, are less effective when delivered by sources who lack experience with bullying.