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Emotional Prosody

Expressing robot personality through talking body language. Nonverbal Communication Blog

By 5 Mins Read

Friends of the Nonverbal Communication Blog, this week we present the paper “Expressing robot personality through talking body language”, by Zabala, U.; Rodríguez, I.; Martínez-Otzeta, J. M. and Lazkano, E. (2021), in which authors investigate whether it is possible for social robots to express emotions correctly through their body language.

Robotics it is not an invention from science fiction movies, it is a reality that each day is more present in our lives.

This week we will talk about social robots. This kind of robots are thought, for instance, for helping dependent or sick people, or even to accompany people in circumstances of isolation.

As they are robots whose aim is to interact with people, it is very important for them to master the nuances of human communication, and this includes verbal and nonverbal language.

Moreover, they must be capable of expressing affection or perceiving human emotions and possessing distinctive personalities. In this way, they could create social bonds with people.

That is why authors try to improve this aspect of robots’ communication. They made a series of changes in their software and their mechanics, in order to coordinate their bodies and what they want to say or transmit.

Within nonverbal language, as we already know, many areas exist. We have gestures, postures and movements of the body and face to convey information about the emotions we feel. Therefore, we see that making a robot’s body language resemble to a human’s, is not an easy task.

Authors carry out a series of changes in the chosen robot in order to achieve their purpose.

On one hand, we have the importance of body movements. It is necessary for them to be coordinated with the speech. That is why authors adapted the speed of the gestures’ execution to the intended emotion, in order to better convey it.

For instance, if the emotion is understood as positive, the gesture will be executed livelier than when the emotion is depicted as negative or neutral.

Authors also modified head movements. When a neutral emotion is portrayed, the robot head will simply look forward. The robot will tilt the head in other situations: in case of positive emotions the head will direct upwards, while with negative emotions it will go downwards.

The same would happen with the chest.

We already know how important facial expression in nonverbal communication is. In the case of the robot used in this investigation, the only manipulable facial expression by the programmers are the eyes.

Authors decided to install LED lights in robot’s eyes. These can be programmed in different manners. The color intensity changes according to the intensity of the emotion that the robot wants to transmit or show.

Therefore, two colors with different intensities existed for each one of the three types of emotions. Negative emotions appeared in blue, while there was gray for neutral ones and yellow for the positive ones.

Paralinguistics was an area that authors also wanted to explore. People modulate the intonation of their voices according to the context and add emphasis to their speeches. Plus, intonation is also correlated with the speaker’s mood.

One of the limitations of the used robot is that it does not provide a way to directly manage voice intonation. But it is possible to adjust some voice parameters, as volume and speed.

In order to check whether with the changes in the robot desired results were obtained, authors carried out two tests.

First, they made the robot read a definition authors found in Wikipedia. They manipulate its functioning to its body language flow within the three types of emotions proposed (negative, neutral, positive).

Afterwards, the robot read a book and authors tried to adapt its body language to what was happening in the different chapters. For example, if sad scenes appeared, robot showed negative emotions. The same happened for happy scenes and positive emotions.

Authors considered their experiments a success, because with the configurated changes, the robot’s emotions were understood paying attention to its body language.

In this way, it is easier to create a personality for the robot and it also facilitates to establish bonds or relations with people.

A limitation in this study is that authors achieve the robot to react with emotions, but only when large speeches appeared. In other words, it looks like the robot does not react as successfully with short sentences.

Authors point out that they will correct these limitations. Plus, they say that there is a need for a public evaluation, a performance in front of real people.

In this way, we would know whether if authors have achieved for the robot to show emotions with its both verbal and nonverbal behavior.

Besides, they were looking for an emulation of human behavior, so, if the results in front of people are positive, this objective would be achieved.

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Emotions

Being optimistic affects our facial expression of pain? Nonverbal Communication Club

By 5 Mins Read

Friends of the Nonverbal Communication Club, this week we present the paper “The effect of optimism on the facial expression of pain: Implications for pain communication” by Basten- Günther, J.; Kunz, M.; Peters, M. and Lautenbacher, S. (2021), in which authors carry out an experiment to know wether optimism affects the facial expression of pain, and if it does, how it happens. 

Optimism is usually defined as the positive expectations we may have about the future. It has been shown to have numerous positive health-related effects, for example in treating diseases such as cancer or cardiovascular problems.

There are also many studies that explore the idea that optimism helps with pain. However, there are no consistent results. There are indications about that optimism leads to “catastrophize” less when pain is felt, which, in turn, may reduce pain reporting.

Since optimism apparently has health benefits, many experts have investigated how to induce it. One of the proposed techniques would be “The best possible self” (BPS for its acronym). It consists of imagining and writing about a future in which everything is going well for oneself. There are several studies that show that this technique has been successful.

However, one of the aspects that we find most interesting, like the authors, is to study facial reactions during pain and see if they vary when optimism comes into play.

The idea that optimism affects the facial expression of pain has to do with the fact that numerous studies have revealed that facial reactions to the latter can be influenced by cognitive and affective factors, such as fear.

They also vary with social context. For example, the socio-evolutionary function of the facial expression of pain is to warn another person, ask for help or compassion. This data can be related to optimism because it has been associated with searching for social support. Consequently, the facial expression of pain could be influenced by optimism.

How? There can be two opposite effects. The first is that the facial expression of pain could be weakened after the induction of the state of optimism, as a consequence of a decrease in the experience of pain. On the other hand, since optimism is also associated with greater confidence in the social environment, causing people to express their weakness and ask for help, optimism could lead to greater facial expressiveness of pain.

Therefore, the objective of this study is to decide which of the two effects prevails.

In order to do this, a total of 40 people were recruited, all of them healthy and without pain. They were asked not to take alcohol, pain relievers, or any psychotropic drug that could ease an experience of pain. They were given a monetary reward at the end of the experiment.

People were divided into two groups: one of them would be manipulated into optimism and the other would be the control group.

The participants underwent thermal stimulation to the arm, which would cause a level of pain sufficient to be noticeable but not excessively uncomfortable. Their facial activity and heart rate were recorded and, in addition, self-reports were made.

The group that was subjected to a manipulation for the induction of optimism, did the exercise of the BPS technique, where they wrote about their future life imagining everything turns out well, just as they want. The other group had to write about a typical day in their life.

The participants’ faces were recorded during heat stimulation. To avoid the effects of social desirability on facial expressions, participants were told that the main focus of interest was heart rate measurement. They were also told not to speak during heat stimulation.

Facial expressions were coded from video recordings, using the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) by Ekman and Friesen, which, as we already know, is based on an anatomical analysis of facial movements and distinguishes a series of action units produced by the muscles of the face.

The obtained results showed that optimism does affect the facial expression of pain. How? Releasing the brake that normally holds this expression. Authors found that changes in facial responses to pain depend on the presence of other people. Facial responses were significantly stronger in the presence of people with whom we have an intimate relationship, such as our partner, compared to the conditions in which the directors of the experiment were present.

Optimism, thus, can lead to a greater communicative openness as expectations about the present social context become more positive. If one is in a state of optimism, he/she may be inclined to expect empathy and help from others, rather than rejection, and thus, be more willing to show one’s pain through facial responses.

A finding authors point out is that the increase in facial expression of pain as a consequence of induced optimism was observed mainly in two action units of the FACS: AU4 (frown) and AU6 and 7 (squinted eyes).

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Human Resources

Influence of interviewer’s nonverbal behavior in the perception of the applicant’s skills in selection processes. Nonverbal Communication Blog

By 4 Mins Read

Friends of the Nonverbal Communication Blog, this week we present the paper “Nonverbal behavior of interviewers influences the competence ratings of observers in recruitment interviews: a study investigating social influence using 360-degree videos with virtual reality and 2D screen displays”, by Wyssenbach, T.; Zeballos, M.; Loosli, S. and Schwaninger, A. (2020), in which authors study, using virtual reality and 2D videos, whether the interviewer’s nonverbal behavior affects the observer’s perception about the applicant’s skills in selection processes within the world of work.

 Nowadays, interviews continue to be the most widely used method in employee selection processes.

In a survey carried out among the human resources staff of companies in Switzerland, it was revealed that 99% of the subjects included some type of interview to select personnel, and a 71% of them were semi-structured interviews.

In them, interviewers must judge the applicant’s competencies as objectively as possible, being guided by his/her curriculum but, increasingly, by what each candidate transmits.

An essential part of human communication and interaction is nonverbal, we already know that. Nonverbal behavior has a huge social influence, affecting our attitudes and beliefs.

That is why authors wonder how the nonverbal behavior of the interviewer would influence the perception that a third, an observer, would have of the candidate’s abilities.

Until now, this has never been studied, although efforts have been dedicated to investigate how nonverbal behavior influences those who apply for a job.

We know that there are nonverbal signals that we can classify as positive or negative, depending on whether they convey something good or bad to us.

Positive signs could be looking into the eyes, nodding to agree, or smiling. While negative signals would be frowning, pursing the lips, or staring. Although we must add that they depend a lot on the context.

To carry out their experiment, authors study these negative and positive cues. How?

A total of 110 participants were divided into four groups to watch a video of a job interview.

On one hand, those who would see the scene with positive body language through virtual reality, and those who would see the interview with negative body language using the same method.

On the other hand, there was a group that would see a video of an interview with positive signals in two dimensions and another, using the same system, would watch a video with negative nonverbal signals.

This distinction between virtual reality and two dimensions was made to find out which one facilitates immersion the most, if there is a real difference between them.

Participants had to evaluate three skills of the candidates: behavior in a team, customer care and sales skill.

The results obtained were in line with the expectations.

Participants, acting as observers of the interview, rated behavior in a team and customer care skills higher when the interviewer reacted with positive body language to the candidate’s responses, while the opposite occurred when observed body language was negative.

No significant difference was observed regarding the observer’s perception of the sales skill of the candidate based on whether the interviewer’s non-verbal language was positive or negative.

One possible explanation for this may be that participants felt more competent or demanding when rating this skill.

These results confirm the bias of social influence and, therefore, authors recommend training and practice in this area. In particular, because selection processes in which there are more than one interviewer are becoming more and more popular.

This training would be beneficial because it would increase the awareness that social influence goes hand in hand with nonverbal behavior and, that really, this is an element that influences our behavior and our perceptions.

Regarding the use of virtual reality versus two-dimensional videos, no significant differences were observed in terms of the immersion of the participants in the study.

Like any research, this one has limitations. One of those that authors point out is that the information collected only examines the perception of three skills judged in semi-structured interviews.

It would be interesting to increase the range of the capacities mentioned and also add descriptive questions about the nonverbal language that participants are observing.

In this way, conclusions, surely interesting and useful, would be reached about other competencies that also have social influence, especially at work.

People don’t always say what they think, but their body reveals everything. Learn to interpret these hidden messages with the Master in Nonverbal Behavior. This program is 100% online, allowing you to study from anywhere. Earn your degree from Evidentia University, a university licensed in the United States, guaranteeing high-quality education under the highest international standards. All of this from just $208 USD per month.

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Emotions

Pupil dilation reflects the authenticity of received nonverbal vocalizations. Nonverbal Communication Club

By 5 Mins Read

Friends of the Nonverbal Communication Blog, this week we present the paper “Pupil dilation reflects the authenticity of received nonverbal vocalizations” by Cosme, G.; Rosa, P. J.; Lima, C. F.; Tavares, V.; Scott, S.; Chen, S.; Wilcockson, T. D.; Crawford, T. and Prata, D. (2021), in which authors wonder whether a reaction by the autonomic nervous system exists when we listen nonverbal vocalizations and we judge if they are genuine or not.

Lie detection is one of the more controversial areas of study in nonverbal communication.

Not only body movements are studied when it comes about discover lies, but also the authenticity of the emotions showed.

This process is something we do voluntarily and involuntarily too, because the emotions we express and receive in social interactions are extremely important to stablish bonds. From a biological and evolutive point of view, they mark the difference between surviving or not.

Emotions can be expressed with nonverbal vocalizations and yet they can provide valuable information.

Crying, for example, is an intense emotional expression of a negative state often accompanied by lacrimation. In a social context, is assumed to have the purpose of eliciting help from listeners, or, in an interpersonal context, is understood to function as relief and improve mood after shed tears.

On the contrary, laughter is an emotional expression of a positive state and has the role of promoting and maintaining social bonding.

Authors say that previous studies have shown that some differences exist between real and faked laughter and cries. Authentic ones are often more highly pitched and longer in duration. Moreover, they have more variable pitch, lower harmonicity and less regular temporal structure.

On one hand, whereas genuine laughter is a reaction to a positive and surprising stimulus, acted laughter is associated with polite agreement and fake appreciation in formal contexts.

On the other hand, authentic crying is a genuine reaction to a negative stimulus, while acted crying is associated with manipulative social deception.

Authors explain that, according to previous works, interpreting non-authentic stimuli, and solving its ambiguity, is cognitively demanding. This is when pupil dilation comes into play.

Pupil size is used as proxy of arousal and cognitive effort in emotion research, and it depends on autonomic nervous system activity.

The pupil dilates with higher arousal elicited by a stimulus, thus, emotionally charged vocalizations evoke higher pupil dilation compared to the others. In addition, the pupil also dilates with cognitive effort, which is something we have already mentioned.

Considering what has been explained, authors wonder, for the first time, if the process of authenticity recognition in nonverbal emotional cues indues an autonomic nervous system response in the listener. The response would be the pupil dilation or contraction.

To carry out their study, authors have two hypotheses. The first prediction is that authentic vocalizations would elicit higher pupil dilation compared to acted, because they have been found to be more arousing in general, and pupil dilation increases with arousal.

Secondly, they ask themselves if authentic vocalizations would elicit lower pupil dilation, because authenticity discrimination, at least in laughter, has been found to decrease the cognitive effort.

A total of 28 people participated in the study. They were filmed while they listened to cries and laughter that were genuine or fake.

Results were interesting, because has been proved for the first time that authenticity recognition in human vocalizations has effects on pupil dilation.

Authors observed that fake laughter elicit higher pupil dilation than authentic ones. The opposite was observed with cries, genuine ones provoke higher pupil dilation that fake cries.

These consequences are explained by authors in the following way.

We must bear in mind that they work with the ideas that cognitive effort is related to pupil dilation and that is possible that the same happens if we talk about intensity in the listened emotions.

Authors comment that is possible that the reason why obtained results are like this, is that the discriminating authenticity in laughs depends more on cognitive effort than on emotional arousal, whilst in cries, the discrimination of authenticity may depend more on the level of emotional arousal they elicit.

Besides, there are more things that may influence these results. For instance, the fact that a fake laugh is considered a more recent cultural tool from an evolutive point of view, whereas fake cries are thought to have a manipulative role. Plus, genuine crying has a biological function of alarm and provokes an intense emotional response when it is heard.

One of the limitations of this study is that information about pupil dilation may be lost with the blinks. Authors say they will try to improve this in future research.

The most important thing in this experiment, it is that it is confirmed that a pupilar response exists, and thus, a response from the autonomic nervous system, when it comes about distinguish which nonverbal vocalizations are true or faked.

Nevertheless, as this is a novel study, authors point out the need of delve into this topic.

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Non-verbal communication

Physical distancing and the perception of interpersonal distance in the Covid-19 crisis. Nonverbal Communication Blog

By 4 Mins Read

Friends of the Nonverbal Communication Blog, this week we present the paper “Physical distancing and the perception of interpersonal distance in the Covid-19 crisis” by Welsch, R.; Wessels, M.; Bernhard, C.; Thönes, S. and von Castell, C. (2021), in which authors investigate whether variations in the perception of interpersonal distance due to Covid-19 crisis exist, and, in general, how this matter has affected social proxemic.

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to the implementation of drastic, omnipresent and needed prevention measures in order to stop the infection risk.

As one of the most dangerous situations are face-to-face social interactions, social distancing is one of the main measures proposed by governments.

To talk about this matter, we need to explain the most known and used proxemic measures first.

Intimate space exists for the romantic or sexual partner and for the family, and it’s between 0 and 45 centimeters.

Then, there is personal space, only to be entered by close friends, and it’s between 45 and 120 centimeters.

When it comes about social interaction with strangers, the distance is called social space and it’s between 120 and 365 centimeters.

And last, there is public space, which is between 365 and 762 centimeters and it’s the distance we keep when we are in public, maybe in the street or an open space.

Authors talk about different hypotheses in the paper.

First, they wonder if physical distance requirements change the social norm, and thus increase interpersonal distance even after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Then, there is a second hypothesis, that is whether exposure to social isolation and loneliness, such as the lockdown context, affects to interpersonal distance preferences.

Lastly, they explore if the effects persist after the nation-wide restrictions were lifted.

In order to that, authors carried out a study with a sample of 186 German people, due to Germany has been one of the European countries that has most suffer the effects of the pandemic.

The survey started one week after the first lockdown in Germany. At that time, and interpersonal distance of 150 centimeters to 200 was mandated by the sanitary authorities and the government.

The questions in the survey were focused on the perception of the interpersonal distance before, during and after the pandemic.

Subjects deemed a physical distancing norm of 172 centimeters, which is appropriate during the pandemic.

When it comes about calculating the mean difference between the interpersonal distance before and after the pandemic, and then during it, the results showed only 6 centimeters. Thus, the first hypothesis that authors proposed would be confirmed.

It looks that, at the end of 2020, subjects retrospectively reported that preferred to keep larger distances than the ones before the pandemic. This confirms the authors’ hypotheses, but also manifests how simple and easy is for people to adapt to the new prevention norms when it comes about proxemic.

It is suggested that the perceived individual risk of infection also affects the perceived importance of physical distancing. This would be coherent due to the sanitary situation.

An interesting information obtained is that exists an important discomfort when interpersonal distance is reduced approximately 10 centimeters or more.

Moreover, authors consider that after the pandemic, these customs are being maintained over time, and people prefer to keep the distance recommended by the sanitary authorities in the worst moments of the crisis, even when these have already been left behind.

Therefore, the hypotheses that authors proposed, make sense according to the obtained results.

As any other research, there are some limitations in this study that should be considered. For instance, that the study sample was non-representative of the German population, since two-thirds, which is the majority of the participants, were university students, and the mean age of the sample was around 30.

Future research, point out the authors, should focus on correct this and other limitations that appear in the paper.

Besides, it would be interesting to study why exactly the interpersonal distance recommended at the beginning of this pandemic is still preferred, even when the Covid-19 crisis is not at its peak.

People don’t always say what they think, but their body reveals everything. Learn to interpret these hidden messages with the Master in Nonverbal Behavior. This program is 100% online, allowing you to study from anywhere. Earn your degree from Evidentia University, a university licensed in the United States, guaranteeing high-quality education under the highest international standards. All of this from just $208 USD per month.

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Lie detection

How Body Posture Influences Deception Detection. Nonverbal Communication Club

By 5 Mins Read

Friends of the Nonverbal Communication Club, this week we present the paper “Sitting in judgment: How Body Posture Influences Deception Detection and Gazing Behavior”, by Zloteanu, M.; Krumhuber, E. G. and Richardson, D. C. (2021), in which authors study whether changing our body posture affects to people’s ability of perceiving and read other one’s behavior.

A very popular field of study within nonverbal communication is deception detection.

Reality is, that even though we think we are good at it, we are pretty clumsy. Our percentage of correct answers in deception detection is only slightly better than predicted by chance. Moreover, we tend to assume most statements people make are honest.

Prior research have demonstrated that changes in posture appear to have systematic and causal effects on how we see the world and how we see ourselves. An example of this would be the “power-posing”, which is worldwide known thanks to some recent studies.

Thus, if there are studies that confirm that maintaining a specific posture can make us feel more self-confident and powerful, is the posture also able of making us better or worse deception detectors?

This is the question that authors want to make clear, and the reason why they think this study is so important.

Postures can transmit lots of information in nonverbal communication, for instance, they can reflect friendliness or unfriendliness. They affect how we are perceived, how we perceive others and how we interpret information. Even effects on cognition and memory have been found in some investigations.

Authors wonder which are the differences that would appear in our deception detection capacity whether if we adopt an open posture or a closed posture when we observe the objective we have to analyze.

But what is an open posture and what is a closed posture?

Traditionally, an open posture has individual sitting with their arms uncrossed and legs uncrossed, in a relaxed recline. Basically, they are expansive physical displays adopted by individuals when feeling relaxed and willing to engage social interaction.

On the other hand, a closed posture typically has individuals sitting with their arms and legs crossed, in a rigid position. It is adopted when feeling threatened, uncomfortable, and, to sum up, signaling a lack of desire to interact.

The hypothesis authors try to confirm with their studies is: if posture influences social acuity, “judges” (these would be the people that have to discover if the other is lying or not) adopting an open posture should attend more to nonverbal information and integrate it more optimally in their veracity judgements compared to the closed posture judges.

Will it happen as authors expect?

In order to answer this question, two studies were carried out. The first of them had the objective of knowing if adopting one or another type of posture affects deception detection judgements. The second one considers the effect of posture on gazing behavior.

Participants of both studies had to watch a total of 12 videos. In 6 of them, a person saying the truth appeared. The opposite happened with the other 6.

Individuals were trained in order to know what microexpressions are, and how to identify and link each one of the basic emotions with some typical microexpressions. Besides, they answered a questionnaire to test their levels of empathy, because as we know, empathy is a very important element if we want to infer emotions.

In the first study, it was found that adopting an open posture resulted in higher discriminability in deception detection, compared to adopting a closed posture. An effect that was more visible with higher levels of empathy.

In the second study, when people adopted open postures, it seems they focused less on the hands of the people. They actually payed less attention to the nonverbal behavior of senders than it was expected.

To explain this last information, authors say that, perhaps, if people adopt an open posture, they are primed to dedicate more resources to processing social information. In this way, posture may be affecting how the judges process information, and not their tendency to inspect their targets more thoroughly.

As is usually happens, there are some limitations in this study. For instance, the inability to measure emotion-specific recognition rates. On the other hand, gender biases were not studied either.

Authors recommend to other researchers that further investigations should correct these mistakes in order to obtain more accurate results. Besides, they point out the need of continuing studying this field of nonverbal behavior.

Because we all want to know when somebody is lying to us, right?

Nonverbal behavior has a significant impact on both personal and professional relationships. If you want to better understand this impact, the Master in Nonverbal Behavior is for you. Study online at your own pace and earn a degree from Evidentia University, a university licensed in the United States, guaranteeing high-quality education that meets the highest international standards. Study from just $208 USD per month.

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Emotions

Nonverbal synchrony, racial bias and their relationship to doctor-patient interactions. Nonverbal Communication Blog

By 5 Mins Read

Friends of the Nonverbal Communication Blog, this week we present the paper “Nonverbal Synchrony: An Indicator of Clinical Communication Quality in Racially-Concordant and Racially- Discordant Oncology Interactions”, by Hamel, L. M.; Moulder, R.; Ramseyer, F. T.; Penner, L. A.; Albrecht, T. L.; Boker, S. and Eggly, S. (2022), in which authors use two previous studies to know how nonverbal synchrony affects the communicative process of the interactions between doctors and patients when their races match and when they do not match.

Communication, both verbal and nonverbal, is the key to social interactions in all areas, including healthcare.

Good, high-quality patient-physician communication is associated, as we have noted in previous articles, with good adherence to treatment. Conversely, poor communication can lead to poorer treatment outcomes, with consequences such as discontinuity of care, patient dissatisfaction, and higher costs overall.

Unfortunately, it appears that the quality of clinical care is also influenced by patient race. Black patients, for example, would experience poorer quality communication more frequently compared to white patients.

For oncology cases, previous research indicates that physicians tend to be less patient-centered, verbally more dominant, more confrontational, and also give less information during interactions with black patients.

Research has consistently demonstrated the relationship between verbal and nonverbal doctor-patient communication and patient health outcomes, considering elements such as trust, satisfaction, understanding, symptom resolution….

For example, it has been shown that, when it comes to focusing on the patient, having interactions with him/her, developing an empathic relationship and being aware of any psychological problems the patient may have, eye contact is a great ally.

Another example of the effect of nonverbal communication is that the authors’ team observed that, in an oncology setting, if patients and physicians smile and show “open to interaction postures”, the results of the interaction will be more positive.

In this week’s study, authors wanted to investigate the dynamic, interdependent, and unconscious nature of nonverbal interpersonal communication during oncology interactions with black patients in racially discordant contexts and, on the other hand, with white patients in racially concordant contexts.

And how did they do this? They used software that was able to measure the synchrony of patient-physician interactions based on the movement coordination. It is understood that the greater the synchrony, the greater the likelihood that communication is occurring effectively and to the benefit of both parties.

People synchronize more with those with whom they have existing positive relationships, or with those with whom they want to develop them. Higher levels of nonverbal synchrony result in more subsequent positive affect and sympathy.

The analysis in this article was conducted using data from two recent studies. The first was conducted between 2002 and 2006 and the second between 2012 and 2014. Both studied different aspects and influences of nonverbal communication in oncology patients and included video data.

The total number of patients analyzed reached more than 220 people. Numerous research studies have shown that unconscious processes affect the outcome of human interactions. Authors’ findings suggest that, among black patients and nonblack doctors, unconscious processes were operating to overcome possible cultural and racial barriers and, thus, help create greater nonverbal synchrony. These motivations may have been absent in racially concordant interactions between black physicians and black patients.

There is evidence that people with higher levels of implicit racial bias may work harder to control it during interracial interactions.

On the other hand, it appears that black patients who had experienced higher levels of prior discrimination were more verbally active when communicating with their white or nonblack physicians, which may suggest that black patients may use verbal and nonverbal strategies, consciously and unconsciously, to be more in control of the medical interaction.

Ideally, racial discordance or concordance would not affect the quality of communication in oncology interactions. The reality is, however, quite different. The authors concluded that there are differences in nonverbal communication that are almost certainly beyond conscious control.

An important idea to keep in mind for future studies is that one should study whether the differences found in nonverbal synchrony in racially discordant and concordant interactions replicate in other types of medical interactions. If they do, then why these differences in Healthcare occur and how to combat them should be investigated. 

If you want to know more about nonverbal behavior and how it affects personal relationships, visit our Master of Science in Nonverbal and Deceptive Behavior, which you can take in English or Spanish, with special grants for readers of the Nonverbal Communication Blog.

Mastering nonverbal behavior analysis is a fundamental skill in the professional world. With the Master in Nonverbal Behavior, you will not only learn to identify behavior patterns but also understand how they impact communication. This master’s program is 100% online, and upon completion, you will earn a degree from Evidentia University, a university licensed in the United States that guarantees international-quality education. Study from just $208 USD per month.

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Non-verbal communication

Online communication: a new challenge for body language. Nonverbal Communication Blog

By 4 Mins Read

Friends of the Nonverbal Communication Blog, this week we present the paper “Online communication and body language” by Paradisi, P.; Raglianti, M. and Sebastiani, L. (2021), in which authors comment some hypotheses about the changes that online communication is bringing on to nonverbal communication.

The progress of digital technologies is having a deep impact on interpersonal communication.

The emergence of Covid-19 brought to light the need to further exploit digital technologies online to transfer interpersonal relationships to this context. Due to the need for physical isolation, we were also forced to adapt through a very fast process.

Therefore, the natural modality of face-to-face interaction today is often replaced by interactions through online communication platforms.

In fact, these types of platforms are now used much more routinely for meetings, courses, etc., all of them in different contexts: work environments, educational ones, and in general for any activity that involves social interaction.

Even older people, who previously were only marginal users of these technologies, were forced to use them as their only opportunity to maintain social contact with those close to them.

This new way of communication has brought about a great improvement in the possibilities of social interaction by overcoming the limitations of time and space. However, this have also modified the rules of communication, for example, those related to proxemics.

How is this? When we communicate through online video platforms, the distance that separates the image from the screen and the real interlocutor is a few tens of centimeters, which is less than the distance between the people involved in a face-to-face conversation.

Such closeness would presuppose an intimacy between people that does not really exist and a mutual predisposition to the potential use of the tactile channel (handshake, hug, etc.).

The problems noted suggest that online communication changes are complex and should be studied.

The body language is crucial both in nonverbal communication based on emotions, and in social interactions based on cognition. Therefore, it is foreseeable that the extensive use of online technologies may have important effects on cognitive processes, not only those related to educational activities, but also those related to emotional relationships in social life.

An example proposed by authors is “dance therapy.” In this therapy, body movements are used to promote personal and social well-being. The social component through bodily interaction plays a crucial role in this type of therapy: it is played with distances, perspectives, and reciprocity, creating a communicative context where movement takes place.

Studies that have previously been carried out, have shown that online meditation is compatible with the idea of ​​working with oneself, but this does not happen regarding interactions with other members of the group.

Authors suggest that the “human touch” plays a crucial role in establishing a sense of closeness between people, in addition, it facilitates affiliative behavior and social bonding. In fact, previous studies have shown a close relationship between a pleasant social touch and the release of oxytocin (modulator of social behavior and emotions).

The sense of smell is also involved in human nonverbal social communication; in fact, through it, we may inadvertently transmit personal information. And this sense would also be impaired by online communication.

Therefore, authors conclude that smell and touch are absent in online social interactions, visual stimuli are limited to 2d perception, while auditory stimuli are practically no different; there are changes in the relationship between perceived distances and knowledge, and there are no direct bodily interactions.

When people are online, those who interact cannot retrieve most of the relevant characteristics of the environment and the bodily behavior of others, adapting theirs accordingly.

These changes can undermine the emotional and empathic aspects of interpersonal communication.

A better understanding of these aspects might require a partial revision of the classical theories of communication, to consider the new modalities introduced by online interactions.

An open question, which authors consider for further investigation, is the quantification of perceived virtual distances in online interactions.

Although it seems that only negative points are observed, authors encourage us to approach the matter differently. We should not think about what we lose, but what lies ahead and what is new in this unexplored context.

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Emotional Prosody

Nonverbal Auditory Cues allow us to infer the Quality of the Relationship between the People who talk. Nonverbal Communication Blog

By 5 Mins Read

Friends of the Nonverbal Communication Blog, this week we present the paper “Nonverbal Auditory Cues Allow Relationship Quality to be Inferred During Conversations”, by Dunbar, R. I. M.; Robledo, J. P.; Tamarit, I.; Cross, I. and Smith, E. (2021), in which authors wonder whether it is possible to infer through auditory nonverbal cues the quality of the relationship between the people who talk and how.

Language is undoubtedly one of the most important evolutionary developments achieved by humans. Apart from its obviously central role in enriching culture, it is also invaluable as a medium through which we transmit information, negotiate cooperation, or convey emotions.

For some years now, there has been a growing interest in studying which aspects of communication are most important, whether the verbal or the nonverbal.

The first investigations affirmed that the nonverbal elements predominated. Mehrabian was one of the experts who affirmed this idea, saying that, at least regarding the communication of affections, more than 90% of the conversation was transmitted by nonverbal signals, such as intonation, volume or facial expressions.

Although there are many other experts who deny this version, no one doubts that nonverbal signals provide a great deal of information during verbal exchanges. In fact, they are what allow us to infer the meaning of a sentence.

This also has something to do with Mehrabian and his famous claim that only 7% of the meaning of any sentence is found in its verbal component.

On the other hand, other experts found, after conducting their experiments, that both audio and visual channels independently report characteristics such as social dominance or reliability.

Authors point out that the criticism that previous studies on the subject have received the most is that they have focused on the transfer of information of a very low level, such as the recognition of emotional states. Simply recognizing the expression of an emotion, or an affective disposition, is not comparable with, for example, recognizing the degree of rapport between two individuals who are having a conversation.

A recent attempt to overcome this challenge found that listening to a short clip of two people laughing together was enough to allow the listener to predict whether the couple was in a friendly relationship or, on the contrary, were strangers, with an accuracy between 53-67%, in 24 different cultures.

Although this is just above the level of luck, the results suggest that it may be possible to infer some information about the quality of social interaction from just nonverbal cues.

Authors’ study differs from the others in that it uses natural recordings of real situations in which two or more people interact. Previous studies focused on how we interpret emotional information with the intervention of a single speaker.

The fact that natural conversations are used, ensures that the stimuli are ecologically valid and do not include prosodic exaggerations such as those introduced by actors in laboratory studies.

On the other hand, while most previous studies have focused on the emotional cues of expressions, authors focus on interpreting the quality of the relationship.

The objective of the study, therefore, is to evaluate to what extent semantic and prosodic information is required for listeners to identify the quality of the relationship between speakers.

Participants listened to three different versions of the same audio clip: the original clip, with all prosodic and verbal cues preserved; a version in which the prosodic clues were preserved but the verbal content was removed; and a version in which the audio stream was converted solely to tones and rhythm.

It involved 199 native English speakers and 139 native Spanish speakers to determine if familiarity with the language had any effect.

Authors made three predictions: if verbal content is essential, they expected performance to be above luck when participants listened to the full audio; whereas if nonverbal cues play such an important role, performance will be above luck even when verbal content is degraded.

On the other hand, if verbal content is crucial, authors expected that participants would perform better when listening to their own language, with which they are more familiar.

By classifying the clips, participants could choose between friendly situations, such as: free agreement, difference of opinion with respect (where the speakers still want to maintain a good relationship), phatic communion (the speakers are not concerned with the topic of conversation, but simply spend time together) and friendly provocation/jokes.

They could also choose between unfriendly interactions, such as enforced agreements, disagreements without regard, malicious gossip, or aggressive provocation.

The first of the results surprised the authors, as it did not agree with their predictions: there were no significant differences in the performance of Spanish and English speakers when listening to their own language and the other.

The lowest rates of correct responses were obtained by clips that effectively corresponded to enforced agreements and malicious gossip. This may be because a broader range of signals is needed to clarify the meaning of the interaction in these cases.

There was also a tendency to misclassify friendly provocation/jokes as free arrangements, and vice versa, which seems like a reasonable alternative.

In the delexicalized clips, participants were 80% correct when it came to classifying them as belonging to positive or negative interactions (that is, they made a binary decision).

The overall results confirmed that nonverbal cues from conversational exchanges alone provide significant information about the quality of the relationship between those who interact.

This study is interesting because, among other things, it can have many implications for understanding messages online, where we have fewer verbal and non-verbal channels available, depending on the interaction.

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Personality

Does giving instructions to ignore nonverbal cues improve the ability to detect lies? Nonverbal Communication Blog

By 5 Mins Read

Friends of the Nonverbal Communication Blog, this week we present the paper “No evidence that instructions to ignore nonverbal cues improve deception detection accuracy”, by Bogaard, G. and Meijer, E. H. (2022), in which authors carry out a series of experiments to know whether, when somebody receives the order of ignoring the nonverbal behavior of other person, effectively, he/she does, and pays more attention to verbal cues, making it easy the deception detection process, and doing it more effectively. 

When people are asked what they look for in a person when trying to unmask and uncover their lies, most of them answer that they pay attention to nonverbal signs such as gaze aversion or general nervousness.

People believe that such nonverbal signals are the most difficult to suppress and control, more so than verbal signals, therefore, they are very useful in detecting lies. 

This belief that nonverbal cues are a foolproof diagnostic method for deception diagnoses is common in most countries. Even dedicated experts such as police officers, correctional officers, probation officers, prosecutors or judges strongly believe it on many occasions. 

However, this belief is at odds with empirical research, which shows that the relationship between nonverbal cues and deception is actually weaker than we think. 

Knowledge of nonverbal communication cues is useful in many areas, but empirical evidence has shown that paying attention to them alone is not the most reliable method of catching a liar.

Judges and prosecutors are often warned not to pay attention to whether a witness looks away, moves, is nervous, or speaks too fast, as these signals may lead us to errors. 

Even police departments around the world, such as the Dutch police, expressly advise officers that stereotypical nonverbal cues do not indicate deception and therefore should not be used to make credibility judgments. 

Based on legal research, there is reason to be skeptical about the effectiveness of ignoring instructions when making a judgment. Authors point out that when evidence (that is, evident nonverbal cues) makes a significant impression on jurors, it is very difficult to eliminate the impact, even if they have been expressly instructed to please disregard a specific element. 

Empirical research shows that verbal cues are indeed more diagnostic for lying than nonverbal cues. Liars are generally less forthcoming, tell stories less convincingly and plausibly, and include fewer verifiable details. And therefore, people who rely more on these types of cues when making deception judgments outperform those who rely solely on nonverbal cues in accuracy. 

In addition, having training in what verbal behaviors we should pay attention to, is positively correlated with accuracy in lie detection. 

Thus, being instructed to pay attention to verbal cues is likely to result in increased accuracy in lie diagnosis. 

To test this, authors conducted three experiments that had more or less the same basis. Participants were asked to watch videos in which people were interviewed and told about events in their lives. Some of these stories were lies and others were true. The participants were divided into several groups, each with a condition: one group received no instructions at all, another group was instructed to ignore the nonverbal cues, and the last group was instructed to pay attention only to the verbal cues in addition to ignoring the nonverbal cues. 

The results show that giving instructions to ignore nonverbal cues is far from sufficient to prevent people from being influenced by them, and thus far from improving deception detection. 

In one of the three experiments it seems to have improved the latter point, however, not in a statistically significant way. 

Ignoring nonverbal cues seems to be a very complicated task, possibly because they play a vital role in everyday social interaction. This reliance on nonverbal cues is called visual bias.

It is suggested that future research should devote efforts to investigate this issue, as relying too much on nonverbal cues may lead us to make wrong decisions in diagnoses of truthfulness and deception, which, depending on the context, may go hand in hand with very negative consequences that, with research, could be prevented. 

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Nonverbal communication is crucial in all of our interactions. If you want to delve deeper into how body signals influence communication, the Master in Nonverbal Behavior is perfect for you. This online program offers flexibility and provides you with an accredited degree from Evidentia University, a university licensed in the United States, where the education system is recognized for meeting the highest standards of quality. All of this from just $208 USD per month.

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NonVerbal Communication Blog