Janet Beavin Bavelas

Visible Acts of Meaning An Integrated Message Model of Language in Face-to-Face Dialogue

The authors propose that dialogue in face-to-face interaction is both audible and visible; language use in this setting includes visible acts of meaning such as facial displays and hand gestures. Several criteria distinguish these from other nonverbal acts: (a) They are sensitive to a sender-receiver relationship in that they are less likely to occur when an addressee will not see them, (b) they are analogically encoded symbols, (c) their meaning can be explicated or demonstrated in context, and (d) they are fully integrated with the accompanying words, although they may be redundant or nonredundant with these words. For these particular acts, the authors eschew the term nonverbal communication because it is a negative definition based solely on physical source. Instead, they propose an integrated message model in which the moment-by-moment audible and visible communicative acts are treated as a unified whole.

Gestures Specialized for Dialogue

A small group of hand gestures made during conversation (interactive gestures) seem to function solely to assist the process of dialogue rather than to convey topical information. The rate of interactive gestures was significantly higher when 27 dyads talked in dialogue than in sequential monologues, whereas the rate of other (topical) gestures did not change; this difference supports the theory that interactive gestures are uniquely affected by the requirements of dialogue. A second, microanalytic study tested hypotheses about the specific functions of interactive gestures by examining the responses of the person to whom the gesture was addressed. Predictions were correct for 78 of 88 gestures sampled randomly from a large database. These results support the conclusion that interactive gestures are an important means by which speakers can include their addressees in the conversation. Moreover, these gestures demonstrate the importance of social (dialogic) processes in language use.

Political Equivocation: A Situational Explanation

Equivocation is non-straightforward communication and includes such speech acts as: ‘self-contradictions, inconsistencies, subject switches, tangentialisations, incomplete sentences, misunderstandings, obscure style or mannerisms of speech, . . . etc.’ (Watzlawick, Beavin Bavelas &Jackson, 1967: 76).* Numerous examples of political equivocation can be found in the news or even in carefully scripted political commercials (Joslyn, 1980). This article applies our general theory of equivocation (e.g. Bavelas, 1983,1985; Bavelas, Black, Chovil & Mullett, 1988b) to the specific case of the vague, tangential communication that politicians often use. In brief, we propose that equivocation is caused by the individual’s situation and not by any intrinsic characteristic of the individual. To define equivocation more precisely, we have used Haley’s (1959) model, based on departure from essential elements of communication. It is a classic principle of communication that all messages should contain four elements: Z (sender) am saying this (content) to you (receiver) in this situation (context). Haley noted that an equivocal message obscures at least one of these four elements. We have therefore translated the four elements into the following four questions, by which the degree of equivocation in a message can be assessed:

Anomalous Language in Sexual Assault Trial Judgments

We analyzed the language in a random sample of recent Western Canadian trial judgments in cases of sexual assault. We discovered five anomalous themes: erotic/affectionate characterization of sexual assault; sexual assault as distinct from violence; appropriate resistance by the victim; the good character of the offender; and grammatically omitting the agent of the assault. These themes are illustrated in context by a detailed analysis of one of the judgments. We propose that such themes may occur because, while there are interpretative repertoires for stranger rape and consensual sex, there is virtually no accurate vocabulary or narrative structure for the more common cases in which the assailant is not a stranger to the victim. The language currently used springs from—but also contributes to—establishing a false dichotomy between stereotypical stranger rape and consensual sexual contact; that is, either the sexual assault meets all of the characteristics of a stereotypical stranger rape or it is described as sexual contact and not as a sexual assault.

Truths, Lies, and Equivocations: The Effects of Conflicting Goals on Discourse

This article proposes a situational and discourse-oriented view of a particular class of messages, equivocations, that have usually been dismissed as ineffective or even deceptive. We distinguish between-and measure independently-what a message says (whether it is true or false) and how it is said (whether it is clear or equivocal), and we propose that the nature of the communicative situation determines the position of messages on these two coordinates. Specifically, situations can create external goals or consequences of messages, and these consequences can be positive or negative. There exists a class of situations in which all direct messages (true or false) have negative consequences. We predict that in these avoidance-avoidance conflicts, direct messages will be avoided and indirect, but true, equivocations should occur instead. Using hypothetical scenarios, the first four experiments confirmed that, in such conflicts but not in control conditions, people make their messages equivocal but true. A fifth experiment elicited false messages as well and showed that these could be distinguished from both clear and equivocal truths. Additional analyses showed that equivocations are not lies of omission and that nonverbal leakage did not occur in either equivocal or false messages.

EXPERIMENTAL METHODS FOR STUDYING "ELEMENTARY MOTOR MIMICRY"

For over two hundred years, social psychologists have been puzzled by elementary motor mimicry—overt behavior by an observer that is appropriate to the situation of the other rather than to the observers situation. This ubiquitous but fleeting behavior has not previously been amenable to experimental study, which might elucidate its meaning or meanings. The present article describes techniques for eliciting and videotaping such reactions in the lab. A wide variety of stimuli can be used to evoke smiling, wincing, leaning, and other motor mimicries. Recording is best done in split-screen, so that the relation between the behaviors of observer and observed can be analyzed. Several reliable scoring options are described (qualitative, quantitative, microanalysis, and self-report). Experimental controls can be introduced to rule out artifacts that might appear to be motor mimicry. These methods are introduced in the hope that the many different theories that have been offered to explain this phenomenon might finally begin to be tested.

How people disqualify: Experimental studies of spontaneous written disqualification

Disqualification is nonstraightforward communication — messages that say something without really saying it. The four experiments described here examined whether naive, normal individuals might generate disqualified messages. The participants were presented with hypothetical communicative conflicts to which they wrote their own replies. These messages were significantly higher in quantitative measures of disqualification than were the messages written in control conditions. Our conclusion is that disqualified communication is a systematic product of the senders situation and that anyone trying to avoid saying something will generate such messages.

An experimental investigation of the dilemma of delivering bad news

OBJECTIVE This randomly controlled experiment tested a theory of how experienced physicians solve the dilemma of communicating bad news by using implicit language. METHODS 8 physicians delivered both bad and good news to 16 analogue patients. Microanalysis of their news delivery reliably identified departures from explicit language. RESULTS As predicted, the physicians used implicit language at a significantly higher rate when delivering bad news than good news. For bad news, they tended to use alternative terms for the diagnosis, to qualify their evaluation, to underemphasize certainty, and to subtly separate the patient from the disease. The evidence both within and after the interview indicated that recipients still understood the bad news. CONCLUSION (1) The skilful use of implicit language is a solution to the dilemma of honest but not harsh communication of bad news. (2) Experimental methods can complement surveys and qualitative studies for investigating bad news delivery by providing a theoretical foundation and controlled conditions. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS Physicians can deliver bad news honestly without being blunt by skilfully incorporating implicit language. The theory, data, and examples presented here provide insights into the nature and functions of implicit language, from which students and practitioners can develop their individual styles.

Theoretical and Methodological Principles of the Equivocation Project

The theoretical framework of this long-term research project on equivocation includes three essential principles: (a) An interesting and unexplained phenomenon is worth studying for itself, by inductive methods; (b) communicative acts are part of a communicative sequence; and (c) the methods must keep the phenomenon in its communicative sequence. The article explicates these principles and applies them to other research, including the studies in this special issue. The broader issue is the cumulative nature of research, that is, how to judge when a new study adds to, confirms, or disconfirms a body of work versus when new studies take such a different direction that they do not bear on previous work.

How do we account for the mindfulness of face‐to‐face dialogue?

(1992). How do we account for the mindfulness of face‐to‐face dialogue? Communication Monographs: Vol. 59, No. 3, pp. 301-305.