Nonverbal Communication

The study of nonverbal communication involves examining all the parts of a message that do not include language. Different scholars have organized the study of nonverbal communication in different ways,[Page 1099] but often, it is organized around seven different areas: (1) the kinesic code, which examines features of the eyes and face, as well as the movement of the body such as gestures, posture, and gait; (2) the proxemic code, which includes the personal area of space around the body as well as the use of space in the structural environment; (3) the haptic code, which studies the use of touch; (4) the vocalic code, which studies the use of paralanguage around the voice in the pitch, rate, and other qualities of the voice; (5) the chronemic code, which examines features of time as a communicative cue such as urgency, waiting time, or multi-tasking; (6) the appearance code, which examines features of the body such as physical attractiveness, body features, adornment, clothing, and even scent; and finally (7) the environment and artifacts code, which studies the built space around us including features such as light, temperature, and texture as well as the decoration and objects we place in our environment. The type of method used to study nonverbal communication depends on which code is of interest or whether multiple codes are being examined simultaneously. Many researchers adopt a functional approach in which the codes work together to send messages relating to emotional expression, affection, persuasion, dominance, deception, and a host of others. For example, a researcher interested in whether prolonged eye gaze is a stare that communicates dominance or a flirtatious gesture indicating affection might have to examine the face, body posture, voice, and touch in order to know the meaning of the stare. This entry introduces common methods used to research nonverbal communications.