Richard Heslin

Nonverbal Intimacy in Airport Arrival and Departure

Observers at an airport coded the nonverbal behavior of 103 pairs composed of a traveler and someone who was greeting or saying goodbye to him or her. It was found: (1) The intimacy of the relationship between two people relates positively to both the likelihood they will be at the airport together (Rho = .74) and the non-verbal intimacy of their encounter (Rho = .54); (2) men tended to initiate touch with women more than vice versa; and (3) the general trend was for more intimate touching to be less frequent (Rho = -.42).

Meaning of touch: The case of touch from a stranger or same sex person

Two hundred and eight respondents rated what it means to them if they are touched on various areas of their body by either a stranger or a close friend of the same or opposite sex. Male and female respondents agree that (a) touch from a close friend of the opposite sex is pleasant, and (b) touch from a same sex person is unpleasant. However, touch from an opposite-sex stranger, is considered to be unpleasant by women but quite pleasant by men. For women, the meaning of a touch is primarily influenced by how well they know the other person; for men, the meaning is primarily determined by the other persons sex. That the intrusiveness of touch depends on acquaintanceship supports the hypothesis that for psychological comfort the level of intimacy of a) nonverbal behavior and b) the social relationship of two people must be congruent.

Task Familiarity and Reliance on the Environment in Decision Making

The study investigated change in dependency on the environment as a function of increasing familiarity with the situation. 72 students formed 36 dyads which played a complex tactical and negotiations game for 6 one-half hour periods. Over periods, all subjects reduced their use of the environment as a source of influence on their decisions. Cognitively complex subjects reduced their dependency on the environment sooner and more sharply than simple subjects. It was concluded that as a task situation is mastered, decision makers gain the confidence to take a more active role in structuring it. The implications of increased familiarity with a task situation for the shift to risk phenomenon were indicated.

Dogmatism, Trust, and Message Acceptance

Summary Forty-eight high and 48 low dogmatic undergraduates were led to expect positive, neutral, or negative information about unidentified foreign nations, but along with a no-expectancy control group (n # 24) they received only neutral information. As hypothesized, low dogmatic (open-minded) persons were unaffected by the prior pronouncements of a source, but closed-minded (dogmatic) individuals rejected both source and message when their expectancies were disconfirmed. It was concluded that openminded persons attended to the content and implications of a message, whereas closed-minded persons attended to the surface quality of information and the reputation of the source.

Normative Ratings of National Attributes

301 college students rated 39 country names and 345 characteristics of foreign nations as to attractiveness, believability, importance, and clarity. A number of the normative values of the national attributes were tabulated. Varied groups of studenrs perceived the statements in a highly reliable manner; attractiveness, clarity, and importance ratings proved very stable over time, while believability ratings were less so. The relevance of the national attributes to information integration, impression formation, and artitude change studies was discussed.

Performance as a function of payment, commitment, and task interest

The present study analyzes dissonance and incentive responses to being under-or overpaid for performance. A U-shaped curve of performance as a function of amount of payment was hypothesized. It was also hypothesized that Ss who commit themselves to the importance of a task perform better than those who do not, and that they are more affected by both underpayment and overpayment conditions than uncommitted Ss. For the first and third hypotheses, trends were in the expected direction; the second hypothesis received clear support.

Confidence in information: Source and dogmatism effects☆

Abstract Forty-eight high and forty-eight low dogmatic subjects received neutral information about fictitious countries from sources who were positive, unbiased (neutral) or negative toward the country. Dogmatic persons had most confidence when they were given information that was consistent, either internally or over time. Open-minded persons placed most confidence in information when it came from a source that had previously been more favorable than his current pronouncements; they had little confidence in large amounts of (internally) consistent material. It was concluded that closed-minded people react to surface indicators of validity (consistency, amount of information) whereas open-minded people use the characteristics of a description (“shift toward negative”, distrust of over consistency), to make inferences about a communicator.

Issues in the Assessment of Attitudes in Pre- and Marginally Literate Cultures

It has been proposed (e.g., Davidson & Thomson, 1980: Irvine & Carroll, 1980) that the reliability and validity of direct attitude scaling techniques may be problematic for a given culture, especially those that are pre- or marginally literate. Numerical measurement procedures such as direct ratio scaling or numerically anchored category scales demand at least some proficiency with the mathematical system assumed in the technique. Verbally anchored category scales and Likert-type formats not only assume that individuals can conceptualize stimuli on a priori specified dimensions, but also can be invalidated by inappropriate scale anchors.

Nonverbal Aspects of Attraction

Why do some people like other people? Vonnegut’s (1965, p. 74) Elliott Rosewater was liked because of his goodness and helpfulness. Other people are liked for different reasons, the major ones being that they (1) satisfy some need of the person who likes them, (2) they are similar to that person, (3) they are desirable or attractive, or (4) they are close at hand. Before we discuss the role of nonverbal behavior, we will first summarize major conclusions from attraction research, as collected into these four categories.

Individual and Group Differences in Nonverbal Behavior

The purpose of the present chapter is to discuss some of the major factors affecting the role of nonverbal behaviors in social interaction. That is, while our intention in this volume is to try to discover and analyze the regularities in the social use of nonverbal behavior, we are all too aware of the limitations in generalizing these patterns across different circumstances. Another way of describing this concern is to appreciate that a number of factors interact with or moderate the patterns of nonverbal behavior discernible in various social processes. While the potential list of individual-difference variables could include a variety of different factors, this treatment will center on just three of them—culture, sex, and personality. Other factors such as age, socioeconomic status, or even occupation and religion may very well influence an individual’s nonverbal expression, but culture, sex, and personality seem to be more important and consistent in their effect.