Psychological Influences on Nonverbal Communication
|
As in the chapters dealing with cultural and social influences on nonverbal communication, topics from chapter one will be discussed here from a psychological perspective. Psychologists have studied human behavior from a variety of perspectives, orientations and approaches, ranging from biological, cognitive and neuropsychological approaches to social psychological and clinical approaches. Today, transpersonal and quantum psychology have emerged, along with various post-modern perspectives. Recently, it has been suggested that psychological study should be based on corporality and corporeal processes (Harre, 1991). Nonverbal communication of course is about corporeality, or the body, and the ways humans perceive and use it.
Human behavior is influenced deeply and profoundly by psycho-genetic factors. The nature-nurture argument continues unresolved although it is clear that body and mind together produce nonverbal communicative behavior. Humans perform "acts of meaning" (Bruner,1990). The child at birth is dependent upon others; later, as the child matures, she builds up social skills and is able to perform nonverbal tasks with competence. As mentioned, it takes time for a child to learn simple tasks like sitting up and eating with a fork and spoon. Later, as a young adult the person will use complex self management skills, managing self impressions, presenting the self competently.
Although SI was developed and shaped in Sociology, it is highly influential in Social Psychology as well (Jones, 1964, 1990; Leary, 1996; Howard & Hollander, 1996). As in other chapters, it is this approach that is taken. Some of the topics discussed in previous chapters are presented from a psychological perspective. Important psycho-biological aspects of behavior are added as well.
That humans are conscious is not questioned; what consciousness is presents quite another question. "I think, therefore I am" is a famous saying implying that consciousness is evidenced by thought processes which are now understood to be neuro-chemically produced, but in early Egyptian times, the heart was thought to be the center of reasoning. Today, multiple theories of the mind abound. (1)
Framing Theories of the Mind
Multiple theories: One hypothesis suggests that consciousness arises from a combination of memory and attention; a Darwinist view suggests that neural mechanisms compete to provide an accurate model of the world, a theory of the mind; a quantum consciousness approach suggests that the mind is a product of interactions taking place at the subatomic level of reality; an antimaterialist approach suggests that the mind cannot be explained by resorting to materialist explanations; The Haldane hypothesis says that evolution has placed limits on what the mind can do. Rats, for example, cannot think about relativity (Davis, 1997).
Symbolic interactionists relate mind, self and society together interactively; they do not reduce the concept of mind to the level of organisms or neurons. There is an old African saying that declares, "If you can talk, you can sing; if you can walk, you can dance". But the ability to dance is not a material thing; rather, it is cultural and learned. One cannot reduce the dancer to a set of neurons. One cannot talk meaningfully about dancing when it is reduced to a specific area of the brain, as though the activity were simply neuro-chemical.
In Meadian thought, the mind directed and influenced human behavior in social interaction, producing a sense of self.
Evolutionary psychologists and ethologists assert that human nonverbal communication is shared by other species, especially by higher order primates. (Eibl-Eibestadt, 1975; E.O Wilson, 1992). Even very abusive acts, such as rape, have been cast in evolutionary terms in an attempt to explain why humans rape (NY Times Online, March 14, 2000). Other forms of physical aggression, such as war or street gang fights, have been studied by evolutionary psychologists in an effort to minimize their destructive effects. Perhaps new studies of the genetic make-up of humans and other species will lead to an understanding of aggression or to why males seem to engage in bully behavior more than do females.
Primates and other animals signal with their eyes, they bare their teeth, they play, use tools; parrots even appear to talk like humans (Potter, March 3, 2000). Researchers suggest that the hair that is raised on the back of a dog under fear conditions is somehow related to the goose-pimples that appear on humans when they are scared. In short, there appears to be an evolutionary path that species, along with humans, seem to be trodding (LeDoux,1996). Chimps, for example, have been trained to use a large number of nonverbal phrases or words and cues that appear to be closely akin to the behaviors of humans. Indeed, the Genome Research institute (NHGRI) in Bethesda, Maryland, has shown that the DNA of chimpanees is 98.5 percent identical to the DNA of humans. This naturally leads to the assumption that the differences between chimps and humans is one of degree rather than kind.
Claims have been made that chimps can recognize human speech patterns, but can they think, too? Not if one uses the "hardwired" concept, which refers to the neuronal behaviors of lower order animals; the implication is that animals act without thinking. It is generally believed that lower order animals do not have mentative abilities, but there is a dispute about whether chimps can think like humans do. Humans think about their bodies, about behaviors, interpreting them, symbolizing them. Apparently, chimps, like dolphins, can recognize themselves in a mirror, which suggests that they may have a sense of self, of self-awareness.
All primates have five senses but they are developed differently from those of humans, adapted for specialized purposes or environments. Obviously, humans do not use their hands and arms to swing from a tree as chimps do; the human hand is similar to a chimp's hand but sufficiently different to permit humans to grasp and use tools in sophisticated ways. Many ethologists maintain that human behavior is not far removed from chimp behavior, although there are substantial differences. There are a number of associated issues, not the least of which is the issue of human uniqueness, brought up by people who prefer to think that human behavior should not be ethologically associated with the behavior of lesser animals.
Pupil size and breathing are two activities that are activated autonomously; the autonomic nervous system (ANS)controls the behavior. Both of these body functions may be influenced by context, but essentially they are unwilled actions. The iris changes in size under different lighted conditions and under different emotional situations as early research on cats and animals revealed (Hess, 1975). For example, people attach meaning to pupil size. It is recorded that belladonna was used by early Egyptians to make their pupils enlarge; larger were pupils considered more beautiful than small pupils (Richmond & McCroskey, 1992). Even today, women highlight their eyes for the same reasons. People use body semantics in everyday life; they attach meaning to body actions.
Breathing becomes labored when people are ill or when they exert themselves physically, perhaps by running fast. Although sponge divers and others have learned to increase the time that they can hold their breath, from the moment of birth, when as neonates they gasped for breath, breathing was essentially out of their control. There are limiting thresholds. Even though such body activities are not completely under their control, people attach meanings to them. For example, when people sneeze, they may hear someone say, "Bless you!" in signal response. When people itch or scratch, others may wonder if they need a bath. But itching and scratching are essentially adaptive mechanisms. Adaptors, designed to protect the body, are feedback mechanisms. Tics and spasms are biological phenomena but they are given symbolic meaning by observers. In short, physical behaviors are social behaviors as well. They nonverbally communicate something to the observer.
With the use of modern imaging machines, such as scanning devices, researchers are beginning to focus on how the brain controls and affects human behavioral activities. PET technology, or positron emission technology, permits researchers to track the flow of blood in the brain; this is important because blood moves to the area of the brain that is associated with the performance of tasks, such as speaking. It is suggested that various activities are localized in the brain while others tend to be spread throughout the brain. Humans enact their lives socially, but they do so heavily influenced by biological-neuronal processes. All human activity, from self talk to action, to perceiving, seeing and remembering, to smelling, touching and the use of the senses are centered in some way in the human brain, in the way it processes information.
Laterilization of the brain, or hemispheric specialization, is gender and sex related; that is, females and males use the brain in differently patterned ways. Recent research suggests that this specialization is not rigid or strictly divided, it is a matter of emphasis. (LeDoux, 1996). Although there is some localization, it now appears that many parts of the brain fire up to accomplish various tasks, although women tend to use the right side of the brain more than do men.
Framing Specialization in the Brain
Approximately 96 percent of the American public is right handed, meaning that language is lateralized to the left; curiously, left-handers, on the other hand, are lateralized to the right for the production of language in only about 15 percent of all cases (Zaidel,1994). Language appears to involve the use of many parts of the brain even though it is basically left-sided. Visual processes, too, seem to be spread across many brain areas; the right hemisphere appears to house perception.
Interestingly, brain size does not appear to be correlated with intelligence(Gould, 45) nor does the brain feel pain, a fact which allows researchers to investigate a living brain. Researchers have investigated pleasure and control centers by touching them and observing finger, facial and other body movements. In a book titled, "Conversations with Neal's Brain", the writer, a reporter, remained awake during an operation on his brain and carried on conversations with the operating doctor, telling him about the sensations that were created when the doctor touched various parts of his brain.
Clearly, the brain influences nonverbal behavior in the thought-act process. Altzheimers disease, epilepsy, Parkinsons's disease and other physical maladies interrupt and impede neuronal processes, illustrating the intimate connection between the functioning of the brain and human behavior. How humans interpret the meaning of behavior, however, is a symbolizing process.
In England, a university professor, head of the Cybernetics Department at the University of Reading, a futurist, has wired himself, implanting a computer chip into his nervous system, hoping to discover whether the brain can pick up sonar signals (CNN, Dec 7, 2000). The attachment of machinery to body functions, including the brain, is becoming more common in modern societies. The belief is that scientists can understand the brain better and maybe even improve how it works by connecting machines to the body. A contemporary imaginative metaphor refers to these efforts as the Cyborg Factor.
The senses were discussed in Chapter Two showing how cultural beliefs influence the ways that natives in the culture view the senses. In this chapter, the five senses are discussed from a bio-psychological perspective. Each of the five senses--taste and smell acting as chemical senses and touch acting as a contact sense-- is located in a specific controlling area of the brain. Smell, for example, is controlled at the base of the frontal lobe, closely tied into the brain. People use figurative language that reveals how they think about the senses. People may say that something "smells like a dead rat"or that something "tastes rotten" or that "you can't touch him with a 10 foot pole". In short, humans symbolize all bodily activities, think about them and incorporate their thoughts in language. In fact, human languages contain many references to sensate activities. Below, the five senses are outlined showing their importance and how they relate one to the other. The research involving each sense is variously developed, more interest being shown about the visual sense, for example, than about the smelling sense.
Oculesics. In Western cultures, as mentioned, vision, or sight, dominates the sensual world, touch being not far behind. The ability to see is a result of highly complex neural functions. If the retina is blemished, for example, or if neural connections from the eye to the brain are impaired, as may happen more to the aged in society than to younger people, the 20/20 standard is not met. Perception is associated with seeing. For example, it may be that two people seeing the same color may not label it the same way because they do not construe it in the same way.
People who have synesthesia, a disease in which the victim confuses colors, numbers, days, and activities, as part of their visual production process, are not able to use their brain in a normal way. The neuro-chemical network is imbalanced. Various parts of the brain intrude on one another, forcing colors onto objects that are not normally colored. In short, the meaning of an object is not located in the object, but in the brain and in the symbolic world of the perceiver. Humans see things selectively; that is, the focus of their attention is usually directed to something that is salient or important to them. In interaction, people may focus mostly on the eyes or the mouth. Selective attention enables people to focus, to disregard that which they think is irrelevant. The downside is, of course, that they may miss important actions or events by focusing narrowly on a specific target.
The physiological mechanism through which humans see, of course, is the eye, which is symbolized in various ways. As mentioned, it is said that the eyes are the windows to the soul or that people have a third eye, which discerns spiritual entities. In popular writings, shamans are said to see through their navels (Castaneda, 1969).
Meteorologists use the "eye on the sky" and people "eye-ball" this or that and "big brother is watching us". He doesn't "see what I mean". The CBS network uses the eye as an icon of identification. All of the above examples show how physical processes become social-perceptual processes. Human language is closely tied to body behaviors. Indeed the spoken language can be related back to nonverbal behaviors either directly or indirectly.
Haptics. Touch and tactility have been studied by ethologists and researchers concerned about human behavior. The skin, which is the largest organ of the human body, is variously sensitive. That is, the skin on the elbow is not nearly as sensitive as the skin of the underarm. Using a kind of "dermal vocabulary", one can even discern what is being written on his back.
Tactility, or touch, is coded; that is, humans create rules of conduct for touching. Touch codes vary among the young and the old, between the genders, and by situation. For example, in the United States, males are not supposed to touch females above the knee or near the breasts, even though the female may be wearing a skimpy bikini, her body visible to the eye. On the other hand, lovers touch intimately, following romantic ideals. Babies are touched all over their bodies by their parents. Older people may be touch deprived, especially when they have lost their companion or live in homes for the aged. Touch codes are gendered. It is suggested that males and females differ in how they use comforting strategies through touch. In general, women are more likely to touch in order to comfort others than are men (Dolin & Booth-Butterfield, 1993).
Thus, humans take into account the social rules that influence how they touch. Different contexts allow different behaviors. For example, a medical doctor is permitted to touch her patients professionally, whether they are men or women, as part of their medical codes (Jones, 1994). As mentioned in chapter two touch codes vary considerably from one culture to another.
Aurality. The ability to hear varies considerably between species and across the human age span. Lower order animals may have well-developed hearing abilities, as do many creatures of prey. In humans, hearing is aided by the receipt of information from the other senses. There is generalization across some senses (Green, Hulse, & Mowsfield, 1999). Indeed, in many human actions, the reportoire of senses is involved, each sense coordinated with the other. For example, when people hear something, they orient their bodies toward it, to visualize it. The senses, taken together as a sensorium, enable people to locate themselves. A sound in the night may arouse the emotions or strike fear in their minds and people go searching for the source or meaning of the sound.
To compensate for the lack of hearing, hearing-impaired people may "hear" others by lip-reading, a skill that most people do not acquire. Popular myth says that Native Americans could put their ear to the ground to hear what the white man could not hear. As with the other senses, people have hearing thresholds, or levels, below or beyond which most humans cannot hear. This range of frequencies may be constricted as people age.
Olfaction. Smelling ability varies considerably from culture to culture as it does among animal species. Perhaps it is the least examined sensory mechanism. It cannot be mediated by thought, unlike the other senses. The ability to smell is elemental. The olfactory bulb at the top of the nose feeds directly into the limbic system, which is the most primitive part of the brain, where the emotions, cognition and sexual response are initiated. Therefore, odors can evoke powerful emotions. The anthropologist E.T. Hall suggested that Americans are culturally underdeveloped regarding the sense of smell, resulting in olfactory blandness and sameness (Horvitz, 1997). Despite this belief, or perhaps because of it, arachmologists are enjoying a new status in American life, testing odors to see if they stimulate romance or to determine what appeals to the consumer public. Aromachology, the study of smells, is a term claimed to be coined by researchers at the Olfactory Research Fund.
Whatever the status of research, in the everyday world, people associate fragrances with colors, knowing how a red rose smells, even attaching romantic thoughts to the colors and odors. People associate thoughts with odors; memories are associated with smells. Smells, visual images, tactility, sounds, tastes and emotions work together to produce memories. There is generalization across sensory modes. The smell of grandmother's kitchen brings warm feelings. Smell memories, experiences in life that are associated with smells or odors, are triggered and brought to consciousness when similar smells are encountered in the present.
As another illustration, it was said that the the country doctor was able to detect diseases, or miasma, by their smell and appearance, experience playing a role (Montagu, 1971). Whatever the truth of this example, other claims are made that the sense of smell is involved in mate selection and that pheromones, arising from glands in the armpits, let an interested person know about the individual's health and sexual desirability. Further, arachmotherapists claim that one can improve her mood merely by smelling certain essences. For example, it is claimed that peppermint and vanilla reduce anxiety. For now, these claims are without evidentiary foundation. It is known, however, that gender and age affect the ability to smell.
Researchers have attempted to classify smells into a scale, much like a musician classifies notes on a scale or painters select colors from the color spectrum. Some research suggests that there are nine basic odors that may be combined in many ways (National Geographic, 1987). Enologists and winetasters are able to detect fine nuances between and among varieties of wines, something that the average drinker may not be able to do. It appears that the ability to smell can be improved with training.
Gustatory Processes. In order to taste things, people must touch them with their tongues, although tastes can be triggered by memories. One can almost taste something by thinking about it. The tongue is able to distinguish very coarse textures from very fine ones and very sweet ones from very sour ones. Young children pucker their lips when something tastes sour, indicating that this sense may be somewhat hardwired. Yet, people acquire tastes and taste preferences, one person preferring what another dislikes. The ability to distinguish tastes is affected by cycles in the female body and by aging factors; different tastes are preferred as one goes through life stages or experiences significant body changes. In the production of foods, the chef knows that special customers prefer their foods salty or spicy, but that others want them to be bland. What people prefer depends greatly on how they have symbolized various tastes and on the foodways with which they were familiar in their youth. It is probably the case that many northerners have never tasted vinegar pie, a southern treat, nor have they tasted hot, green chili peppers associated with the southwest. In short, tastes are associated with experiences, often regionally based, as the study of foodways shows.
Important to this section about the senses is the fact that people are furnished with knowledge by the senses, which they use to help them evaluate how they feel and think about things, in the construction of meaning. The senses do not operate independently; rather, they are coordinated around specific tasks. They work together in nearly every situation. The more that the senses are coordinated, the more knowledge the individual can derive and use.
The study of the emotions was jump started by Charles Darwin, who believed that they served evolutionary, adaptive functions. Their study has attracted a large amount of research (Andersen & Guerrrero, 1998; Goleman, 1995; Izard, 1977, 1990). The SADFISH emotions, referring to seven types of emotions discussed in Chapter Two, have been studied by a number of scholars, some of whom believe that these emotions are universal and innate (Ekman & Friesen, 1972). But, it is not clear how emotions were developed even though it would appear that each emotion may have been developed for adaptive reasons (LeDoux, 1996). The experience of fear, for example, may serve as an evolutionary warning signal that danger is afoot.
Framing Fear
Fear seems to be pervasive in human affairs. Humans express fear when they must deal with symbolically labeled fear items, such as snakes, tigers, airplane crashes,blood, horror movies, and so on. They become alarmed, scared, frightened, anguished, panicked, unnerved, and defensive, to name a few responses that characterize fear.
Action often precedes thinking when people are startled by something, such as the very loud noise that disturbs the sleep. People respond reflexively. A frightened person may be temporarily unable to speak, the protective response system taking over. Terrified people may lash out, scratch, bite, hit or kill. Fear, it appears, is expressed in similar ways across the animal kingdom; in this sense, the fear response plays an important role in evolution, resulting in an almost programmed response. Too much fear, of course, is a problem for humans, often requring psychoanalysis (LeDoux, 1996).
It is not clear where the emotions are centered in the brain; they may occupy different areas of the brain. Emotions, apparently, are associated with a modular network in the brain, connected in the frontal cortex region, but how they "fire up" is not clear. Is there an underlying neural mechanism that controls the various emotions? The fact that children who were born sightless may smile, even though they do not see what they are smiling about, suggests that there may be something emotionally innate causing the display. On the other hand, people learn through experience to display their emotions. One usually does not laugh at a funeral, nor does one usually cry when she is happy.
Important research continues to focus on how the emotions function (Andersen & Guerrero, 1998). It is interesting that people may feel something but not display the feeling in any discernible way. It is clear, too, that people can force a smile and create a feeling of happiness. One can imagine a happy moment and then feel a sense of happiness. People smile when they feel good about something; on the other hand, the act of smiling can produce good feelings, an interesting twist. A smiling face is associated with good feelings.
Framing Display Rules
To understand one another, humans must be able to understand emotional displays, which vary from culture to culture, between genders and ethnic groups and even by age. Five display rules have been used to analyze nonverbal behaviors. They are:
Some researchers believe that there are emotional tonics, or pre-existing states, that when aroused, produce emotional displays (Andersen & Guerrero, 1998).
As discussed previously, a body of research suggests that people leak emotional information even though they may not want to. People can mask various emotions, but they may also give themselves away. For example, when deliberately lying, humans may unwittingtly give off signals, perhaps by exhibiting nervousness, or by producing an obviously feigned smile. (Buller & Burgoon, 1998). It would seem that emotional display rules must be circumvented if a person is to deceive others successfully. Researchers want to know to what extent one can mask feelings and to what extent observers can detect the masking. Some evidence suggests that observers can distinguish emotions at little better than the chance level and it appears that spontaneous emotions may be more difficult to detect than prolonged emotions. Other research suggests that positive emotions of joy and happiness may be more distinguishable than negative ones, such as sadness and disgust (Ekman & Friesen, 1975).
Whatever the emotion, it is clear that emotional behavior is learned in context through socialization; children learn what is appropriate and what is not (Buck, 1982, 1984). Indeed, the concept of emotional literacy or EQ, like the concept of the intelligence quotient (IQ) is promoted by a number of scholars and people who are interested in emotional health.(Goleman, 1995), The assumption is that people can learn about emotions-- how to feel them, display and control them. For example, people who display angry outbursts inappropriately or people who are "locked in" emotionally can change these negative emotional displays which were learned during their early socialization.
An individual's emotions are influenced by the context. For example, crowd behavior is emotionally contagious behavior, influencing individuals within the crowd. The emotional contagion thesis suggests that humans pick up on the feelings of others and act just like them, sharing emotional behaviors; collective emotion is the result. The emotions may be spontaneous, but they arise from the context. When people watch musical performances they share in a context that permits the display of emotions. Emotions are shared by members of a marching band, by students who march for a cause, by people who attend a concert. The meaning of the event influences how emotions will be displayed. There is a relationship between the meaning of the event and how emotions are displayed.
This thought-emotion relationship has received recent scholarly attention. Scholars, focusing on the relationship between cognition and the emotions, suggest that much thinking, perhaps most, is accompanied by emotion. Thoughts are connected to feelings. Thoughts usually are centered on experiences, which have an emotional flavor. In other words, the college professor may talk about a topic in a dispassionate way; yet, when pressed to talk about the topic, he may reveal an emotional attachment to the ideas in the topic. When people say they have a favorite topic or a good idea, they may be saying that they are emotionally, positively oriented to the idea. Yet, people can and do control their emotions, framing them in accordance with cultural display rules. "Men don't cry" or "don't be a sissy" are statements that young male Americans have heard, indicating that they should be stoic and strong. Perhaps these teachings have led many young males to be out of touch with their own emotions. Of course, people must learn to manage their emotions through affect control; otherwise, they will not act appropriately toward others. (MacKinnon, 1994). For example, professional therapists, have learned about emotion and its relationship to emotional and mental health; they are able to control their emotions as they relate to clients in therapy. They co-construct therapeutic reality, displaying and controlling their emotions for the purposes of analysis and therapy.
In summary, there is an intimate connection between the emotions and body action. Emotions are expressed through body actions, or body channels, such as the eyes, the hands or the voice, as in yells and shouts (Planalp, 1999). People may involuntarily sweat, urinate, vomit or blush, expressing uncontrolled emotions, which are not intended by the actor to communicate anything in particular. Yet, when observed by others, they are given meaning, whether the actor likes it or not. This type of accidental communication is common. People see happiness in a walk, in the way that the arms swing and in the speed of walking. Depressed people tend to gesture less and to hold their heads down more than do nondepressed people (Segrin, 1998). Certainly emotional expressions vary by circumstances. When one is sick or deeply fatigued, perhaps it is easier to show depression, even sadness, but when one is feeling healthy, perhaps it is easier to show the sparkling smile.
Symbolic interactionists focus on the symbolic nature of body action and upon the idea that there may be multiple interpretations of any given action by an actor. Human behavior may be interpreted polysemically or monosemically. People may walk slowly for a variety of reasons, not merely because they are depressed; the seasoned observor knows that any particular interpretation may miss the mark.
Recent medical research is focused on how time and biology interact. The topic centers on built-in biological and psychological clocks, in a field called chronobiology. The evidence, just emerging, suggests that digestion, respiration and hormone production fluctuate over the course of a day, a week, or even a year, mostly because people respond to dark and light, to sleep and temperature and to other background conditions. (Snyderman, Jan 24, 2001). Scholars, of course, have studied chronobiology under several different themes.
Framing A Chronobiological Growth Pattern
Humans change in patterned ways over the period of time from birth to death. A basic model of physical development that applies to Americans suggests the following:
This physiological model of growth, above, shows how time interacts with human growth, how people grow physically, cognitively and socially over a period of years. Modern research suggests that there are diurnal changes in the body as well, influencing behaviors throughout the day. People have suggested that they are "day" or "night" people; perhaps recent research will review the dynamics of diurnal change, whether male or female.
Humans become aware of themselves and their social world through perceptual processes. They make sense of things through a perceptual lens. Perceptions yield knowledge, although it is not always accurate. People label one another and attach labels to themselves based on their perceptions. Individual experiences influence how the self and social acts are viewed; the construal of the self, for example, is largely dependent upon how parents and others have influenced the child.
Psychologists know that human perceptions are biased, that they involve stereotyping, that they parcel out reality according to the limitations of experience and that they tend to focus on what is considered important by the person. For example, some White Americans perceive Black Americans people as threatening so they reduce their contacts with them. Native Americans, the Navajo in this case, do not celebrate Columbus Day, having a very negative association with the white man's arrival. In short, humans selectively attend to matters that are salient; perceptions may be shared widely, such that regions of a country may have a regional flavor.
Perceptions are based on sensory mechanisms; pain, pleasure, and other emotions arise from sensory experiences (Baron, 1996). People learn to adapt and use information that is provided by the senses. For example, children learn that unheated bath water feels cold and expect it when they take the next bath. In short, perceptual baggage, learned from the past, is brought to the present. When humans attribute meaning to an act, event or to themselves and others, they affix semantic markers, or labels, to the the phenomena. For example, one child may attribute meanness to the parent who is spanking or scolding another child, identifying with the pain being inflicted on the child.
The attribution process, of course, is involved in nearly every daily activity; unfortunately, it may result in stereotypical thinking. Lacking further information, in a first impression, one may conclude something about the other that does not bear out over time. First impressions may not be lasting impressions. People who hastily attribute demeaning qualities to another person are using early closure, not being open to the receipt of new, accurate information. The attribution process is a way of finding causes in other people's behavior. People attribute wealth to doctors; sometimes they attribute chicanery to lawyers. Women may say that he is doing the "man thing"; men may say that she is acting "just like a woman". In short, the attribution process, although it is necessary part of the symbolizing process, may be selective, distorted and based on little information.
When people with anexoria describe themselves as being fat or overweight, when in fact they are very thin, they have distorted the image of their bodies. Not realizing that being fat is a cultural perception, they become slaves to a concept, one that can be changed. For example, it has been shown that Black American women tend to obsess over their weight far less than do White American women (Angier, Nov 7, 2000) and that media images contribute to anexoria according to the British Medical Association (CNN, May 30, 2000). In short, perception and attributions may be distorted.
In another example of distorted perceptions and attributions, it has been reported that shyness is the third most common mental disorder in the United States. Shy people, of course, are not inclined to seek help, due to their self-image. Unfortunately, they may have labeled themselves as weird or socially misfit. Dr. Mark Olfson of Columbia University reports that from the onset of the shyness disorder, on average, it is thirteen years before shy people seek professional help (CNN, Jan 16, 2000). One purpose of this book is to show readers how the symbolizing process works, expecting that this knowledge will help them create meanings that rest on solid foundations, through careful analysis.
Since the development of early psychoanlaytic theory under Freud, Jung and others, the unconscious was thought to be a repository of information about the meaning of things that happen in life. Freud thought that the patient gave off unconscious signals, by moving the foot or by walking the fingers. His patients were not aware of these signals. In other words, the body spoke its own language; the discerning psychotherapist's job was to know meanings that were hidden from the patient, bringing them to light as a form of ventilation therapy.
People may say they feel fine but their body may be tightened up in "knots", indicating that they are out of touch with their bodies. Just how the unconscious, or subconscious mind influences everyday behavior is not entirely clear. Certainly body chemistry combined with life experiences will go a long way to help explain these relationships. It is not only the schizophrenic (Birdwhistell, 1970) who may be out of touch with his or her body; humans, in general, may be out of touch with their own body and related social processes. Self-awareness is a variously learned process.
When people make plans, they do it consciously, aware that they are doing so. That is, people prepare a shopping list, planning to go to the store. They may even visualize how they will shop, with the bread winding up on top of the heavier groceries. People who are used to doing the shopping may shop almost routinely; but the routine character of the activity belies the fact that they learned how to shop over a period of time. Two year old children have not mastered the ability to shop. Routines come about through experience.
The dramaturgical ideas that are part of this text suggest that people are purposive, that they plan rationally to do things(2). Not all SI researchers, however, are so certain that the sum of nonverbal behaviors are the result of conscious planning. For example, the role of habituation, of non-conscious performance, as in repeated performances, and the role of automatic responses seem clear. In novel situations, however, the individual must schematize and come to grips with new information with which she or he is unfamiliar. Novel situations, like puzzles, require the application of imagination. Even the highly skilled professional tennis player must adapt to the game of a competitor. She or he may study films that show how the other player typically acts and reacts during a game in preparation for the contest. Conscious planning is needed.
The role of sleep is receiving new attention. For example, it is suggested that sleep deprivation interrupts skillful performances and that people have "sleep windows" and sleep periods, such as the last two hours of sleep, that directly affect the quality of their performances. People are encouraged to "sleep on it". The role of dreams in human behavior is receiving new attention as well. A variety of scientific approaches have been formulated to account for dreaming. Darwin believed that all animals, including birds, dreamed.
Framing Dream Analysis
By and large, dreams are seen as psychologically meaningful and important or they are seen as meaningless waste products of brain metabolism. It has been proposed that dreaming is a way to deal with redundant information, acting as a dumping ground. Another, very different approach is that dreams are meaningful, suggesting that a hermeneutic interpretive mode of dream analysis can be productive. From this perspective, dreams are rich in meaning. Dreams can promote decisionmaking; they can clarify, and they may fire the imagination.
To understand the greater reality beyond the purely personal ego, one might consult dreams. "The desire to possess this reality is what has produced analysis: It has also produced religion, mythology, psychology, and art---all attempt to construct mirrors of the Self, to find a cultural route to individuation, and to the achievement of higher consciousness."(Stevens, 1995).
Jung stressed that dreams contain collective and individual symbols. Individuals have stored within their unconscious the many memories of the two million year old man. Humans perform daily acts against a backdrop of deep cultural and symbolic meaning common to modern individuals and to their ancestors, embedded in their unconscious processes.
Dreaming may be important to the building of memories and for learning. The psychology of dreaming, often associated with REM studies, is yielding new understandings about how humans dream, even about the contents. For example, in a recent study involving 49 men and 115 women, 33 percent of the men and 40 percent of the women recalled having experienced sensations of smell or taste in their dreams. Auditory experiences were reported in approximately 53 percent of all dream reports. Women, more than men, reported references to olfactory sensations (Zadra, Nielsen & Doneri, 1998). As noted, theories about the role and nature of the dreaming process abound. Dreams are commonly experienced by most people; certainly, the content of dreams is shaped by human experiences and culture, but often the dreams are a mixed, confusing mosaic, of disconnected and intertwined events and people. Yet, at least one Nobel Prize winner claims that he discovered symbolic clues leading him to solve a scientific puzzle through a dream.
Dream analysis is both popular with the public and important to scholars (Domhoff, 1996). Over the course of history, kings and other leaders have sought out diviners and others who could interpret a particular dream, to show the implications of the dream for the person. Dreams appear to be loaded with symbolic meaning, not always understood by the dreamer.
Considerable attention has been paid to the concept of scripted behaviors, of scripts used in everyday life. Humans act as though they were following scripted lines on the stage of life, dramaturgists say. These scripts arise from experiences of the individual as she or he is socialized. Although adults will not remember everything about their past, they do have episodic memories (Tulving, & Thompson, 1973), salient images of the past that still influence them. Females learn distinctive ways of behaving as do males. People from urban centers tend to approach their experiences differently from people raised on a farm. Their reflections on their experiences lead them to fairly stable schematic representations, which they draw upon as they interpret events in their lives. Ethnic groups learn ways of expressing themselves that are uniquely associated with them. Thoughtways, perceptions and learned behaviors are employed in everyday interactive life as scripts. If one were to ask where her mother learned to be a mother, she may reply that she does not know, or she may say that she learned from her mother. Scripts seem to just occur or happen; but they are learned. In a general sense, scripts are self-fulfilling prophecies. They are efficient mechanisms, seemingly operating without much attention.
The concept of mindfulness and mindlessness (Burgoon & Langer, 1995; Langer, 1989) suggests that humans vary in their focusing abilities, their skill to analyze carefully. People who are very aware of themselves, of their body parts, of their interactions with others are said to be mindful and attentive. Others, less motivated or careful, may be considered relatively mindless, not learning from their experiences. The idea of skill in nonverbal communication arises directly from paying attention mindfully, of monitoring the self. Scholars refer to individuals as being either high or low self monitors (Leary, 1996). From this perspective, the skilled actor, a high self monitor, learns to act successfully, fulfilling the demands of the situation, managing the self and the impressions she creates.
In Chapter Three, the concept of identity was focused upon. It appeared in that chapter because identity is achieved through socialization(Denzin, 1972; Persell, 1987); however, the study of identity has a rich history in psychology as well. The words used by researchers from varying persuasions to describe personhood differ; in this text the idea of self and the idea of self-concept are closely allied, although there are minor technical differences.
Mead, who gave early symbolic interactionism its psycho-philosophical orientation (Mead, 1934), believed that humans learn to view themselves as the I and the Me. The "I" part of the self was the active, subjective part; the"Me" part of the self, or the objective part, was influenced by the activities of the I, or the dynamic part. Cooley, another early scholar who influenced the SI orientation considerably, developed the concept of the looking-glass self, which suggested that humans use social interactions as they use a looking glass, to take a good look at who they are. By taking account of the ways that others in interaction treat them, individuals reflect upon their perceived attitudes and views and internalize them in conversations with the self. Gradually, the self, the identity of the self, emerges (Hewitt, 1999). Humans, having construed or reflected upon who they are, perceive the world through the self lenses. Lines of human action emerge from this self-reflexivity. The reader should bear in mind that, just as in the use of the terms IQ, mind or soul, the word self does not describe a physical thing located somewhere within the inner person. It is a symbolic, metaphorical concept. Scholars who study self and identity approach it from a variety of perspectives. For example, they may research it from cognitive, motivational, emotional or behavioral positions. Indeed, recent scholars emphasize the concept of the multiple self or the saturated self (Gergen, 1991) to indicate that the idea of self is dynamic and somewhat fluid and that it reflects the situation in which it is involved. In the modern world, researchers are concerned about how identity can be achieved in a fractured society, where little seems to be stable. Parents who work, their children arriving home before they do, may be concerned about the role of television and the internet on their children, to be discussed in a later chapter.
Identity of course is an achievement. The concept of face is part of it, as is the presentation of self. Playing the sleuth, researchers analyzed an adolescent's bedroom below.
Framing Adolescent Identity
The everyday work of creating an adolescent identity is reflected in how his bedroom looks. Humans use cultural symbols, myths and rituals as they build their identity. Especially important to youth are popular images from television, film and popular music. By examining the bedrooms of youth, researchers believe that they can uncover identity-building activities of adolescents ( Brown, Dykers, Steele & White, 1994).
Self identity is important to the understanding of interpersonal behaviors. Recently the International Society for Self and Identity established an online interdisciplinary journal devoted to the topic of identity. The journal, appropriately titled, Self and Identity, is devoted to an analysis of self-awareness, self-representation and self-regulation, all topics that are included in the study of nonverbal communication.
Thus far, topics associated with subconscious and conscious symbolizing activities have been discussed. The body, of course, goes with people wherever they go. Even when they are shy, a fairly serious 'problem' in the United States among young people, people carry their bodies with them. The shy person may try to hide her or his body, or bury himself in the classroom out of the sight of the teacher, but he cannot be rid of his body presence. People live within the reality of their bodies. They create meaning and metaphors for them. The shy person has created an identity based on his experiences.
Although people observe the bodies of others because they are in full view, they cannot always see their own bodies. For that reason, it may not be entirely clear to them that their bodies give off signals to others. As an example of unawareness, most people, perhaps, are not aware of the asymmetry of their bodies. Except in extreme cases, for example, when one side of the jaw droops more than the other as in Bell's palsy, people are not aware of body asymmetry. Observers, however, may observe the asymmetry that the owner has not observed.
The human body is asymmetrical in many ways as noted below.
Framing Body Asymetry
If we look in the mirror and try to imagine a line drawn down the center of our body, from the top of the head, down the nose, down to the crotch, we can see that each side of our body has a counterpart, roughly the same on each side. There are two parts of most things including the eyes, the cheeks, the arms, the legs and feet. On the inside, however, there is but one heart, one liver, one stomach, one pancreas, one spleen. These are asymmetrically placed; even the lungs which are paired are different sized, as is the lateralization of the brain (Izpisua, 1999).
The point being discussed, of course, is not meant to embarrass people; rather, it is raised to show how people may not be aware of their own bodies. It is said that Adler, the famous psychologist, believed that he only had to look at the body to understand the person; before him, Freud believed that body movements told stories when words did not (Bull,1987). It is interesting, in this context, that children, sightless from birth, visually unaware of their bodies, use gestures, suggesting perhaps, that gestural use is not strictly a learned activity (Iverson & Susan Goldin-Meadow, 1998). Even though most people have sight, they may not visualize accurately their own bodies. As mentioned, people use body adaptors(3), such as scratching themselves, or they may smile or shake their heads as they read; however, even these activities may be performed unawares, unobserved by the self. Despite this unawareness, the body is an ever-present medium of expression (Benthrall & Polhemus,1975) It is involved in the social construction of meaning (Denzin,1972). Of course, some people are keenly aware of their bodies and how they use them.
Framing Bad Hair Days
According to a Yale study, men take a psychological beating when their hair goes awry, contrary to the myth that this is a woman's problem, if the research of psychologists at Yale University tells the full story. Both sexes, under bad hair conditions, felt less smart, less capable, more embarrassed and socially inept. On humid days, when the hair gets frizzled and limp, when it can't be managed, it was reported that women had to learn to live with it, negative as it was (CNN, Jan 26, 2000). Is the body the servant of the mind?
Bodies "shine", giving off cues and signals to others. The sweaty brow, the nervous hands, the compulsive behaviors are tell-tale signs to others, even though they may intrepret them stereotypically. Signals include facial expressions, gazing, the use of the limbs to gesture, postures, the use of space and time, and how people dress and vocalize. (Argyle, 1975) These signals and their display patterns vary from culture to culture; for example, the Navajo native may point with his lips rather than with his finger, a behavior that appears to be distinctive among Navajo members. In some cultures, it is considered rude to show the bottom of the foot; in others, it is considered appropriate to let others smell your breath. As noted, social codes and display rules vary from one culture to another, as do body semantics.
The SI approach to human behavior suggests that humans create their self images through interaction with others. For example, parents may unwittingly convey to their daughter that they think she is chubby, when, in fact, she is going through a pubescent period in life, where chubbiness occurs often. It is not the fact that she is chubby that matters; it is the parental suggestion that she has taken into account, internalized and made real to herself. The thought of being chubby may stick with her for the remainder of her life; on the other hand, she is free to re-symbolize herself in new ways as she matures. Through inner conversations with herself, she may decide to prove others wrong.
As shown in the chapter dealing with culture, the body is symbolized in many ways throughout the human world. Even lower order animals seem to be able to discern meanings behind body behaviors. For example, a dog, when defeated, may expose its throat to the stronger dog. Gorillas and other primates bear their teeth when they see other potentially threatening gorillas. Whereas lower order animals do not think about themselves, as least as far as can be determined, humans make a great deal of fuss over the appearance of their bodies. Psychiatrists in particular are interested in human identity as the following frame reveals.
Framing the Image of the Biblical Samson
Children are usually taught that Samson was a hero who fought the Philistines and fell victim to Delilah's wily charms, but several physicians suggest that this son of Manoah lied to his parents, stole from his neighbors, brawled with regularity and killed with abandon. Rather than being a hero, he was a classic example of someone suffering from antisocial personality disorder. Apparently Samson met six of seven criteria for diagnosis of the disorder as defined in the American Psychiatric Associations official diagnostic manual (Good, Feb 20, 2001).
From birth, children are exposed to influences that help form how they think about their bodies ( Messer, 1994). Children are very interested in people movement, in how people use their bodies. They are intrigued by cartoons and characters on television, but it is largely through the influence of the parents and others in close relationships that children develop images of their bodies. For example, at about age 2, or just before, children apparently begin to identify accurately their body parts; at about ages 3-6 children apparently can distinguish what is ugly from what is pretty. To be concerned about self-image is to be concerned about how others think.
The images and metaphors that a child attaches to her or his body are closely related to personal identity and notions about the self (Fisher,1986). Yet, curiously, children may grow up not really knowing much about their own bodies, as mentioned earlier. Perhaps this is due to early moral teachings which suggest, for example, that the body should not be touched in various places or that to expose the body in public is indecent.
Early research focused on personality correlates associated with body sizes and shapes (Sheldon, 1940). For example, a recent Australian study suggests that shorter boys tend to be held back in school (CNN Online, Jan 26, 2000). Whatever the reasons, short boys may suffer negative consequences in Australia. In America, it is clear that there are social rewards for being thin and beautiful. It would seem therefore, that the person who is thin and beautiful would tend to be more confident, outgoing and personable. Or, conversely, if a person is fat and sloppy, he or she might suffer the consequences in a society that does not reward this body behavior. Thus that person might become self-deprecating, perhaps even somewhat hostile.
It has been reported previously that shyness is a major problem in the United States, perhaps related to the constant need for individuals, not only to be on stage, but to be on stage to be on stage, in acceptable ways.
Framing Shyness
Shyness seems to be a major problem, especially for young people, the results being that they may find it hard to relate to strangers or people in authority. Seeing themselves as social objects, as self-conscious individuals, shy people are intensely concerned about what others think of them, often seeing themselves as naked, as though others could see right through them. Shy people appear to lack social skills. (Coon, 1994)
Whatever the relationship is between body appearance and behavior, the topic is increasingly researched. For example, there is a correlation between the lack of early tactile nurturing and the drive for thinness and body dissatisfaction of girls. Deprivation of hugging, cuddling and other forms of touching by mothers and caregivers, appears to affect females more than it does boy (Gupta & Schork, 1995). Shyness would seem to be connected to the level of self-esteem. As mentioned, researchers have correlated positive touch with later self-esteem.
Because body images and metaphors are socially constructed, one finds a widely varying array of thoughts about the body in various sectors of societies. For example, in religious communities in the middle ages monks wore hair shirts in an effort to demean the sinful body and to achieve spirituality. Even in present day societies, one may find flagellation used as a rite of passage. Of course, the hairshirt mentality and the religious attitudes that inspired it do not exist in mainline America. The modern media, of course, are likely to present body images that are considered beautiful, handsome or desirable, there being few ugly people on film or television. One compares himself to others to see how he is faring. Even oversize people realize that they, too, can be attractive to self and others. Humans want to present themselves to others in desirable ways whether they meet a body index standard or not.
There are an increasing number of biological and psychological disorders that are noted in the general populations. People have mood and anxiety disorders, in which despair and dread become parts of life. They have dissociative disorders, sexual and gender identity disorders. As mentioned eating disorders seem to be on the rise in the United States. Personality and schizophrenic disorders are being treated more effectively, given the rise of new therapies and pharmaceutics (Baron, 1996).
Whatever the disorder, biological, chemical, neuronal or psychological, it is associated with the uses of the body, as schizophrenic behavior illustrates. Essentially, such behavior is out of touch with normal reality. Language and thought are often distorted, depending on the nature of the problem. Sometimes hallucinations take place, and, as mentioned, people who demonstrate szhizophrenic behavior may be out of touch with their own and others emotions. Naturally, under these conditions, social relationships deteriorate.(Baron, 1996).
As people "converse" with one another through nonverbal means, they draw upon particular body actions to do so. The eyes and the face are particularly useful to people as they interact with one another. As mentioned in Chapter Two, a considerable body of research shows that the emotions are expressed most detectably in the face and eyes (Russell & Fernandez-Dols, 1997). The eyes, of course, have directive features; they can point by looking. Often, where the eyes point is where the body goes. The configuration of the muscles around the eyes tells people, with some accuracy, which kinds of emotion are being felt. To show surprise, the eyebrows come into play in a very different way from when people are showing sadness. Darwin's study of the various uses of the human body emphasized the evolutionary purpose of expressions. For example, animals can express an approach or withdrawal orientation by the way they stare or include and invite other animals using their eyes and faces. Humans and other species may fix their gaze upon an object or another creature; or, they may choose to avert their gaze inattentively. Gaze and gaze aversion have been studied quite extensively as a signalling activities.
Framing the Face
The face is a special, privileged part of the body. People are identified largely by their faces. It is a unique identifier, clearly available to sight. It can show gender, age, health, ethnic background and moods. It is the primary way that people express emotions. Because it is visible to others, but not necessarily to the actor, it can show more to others than is assumed. Not being able to see human faces, sight deprived individuals must turn to the voice and other ways of "seeing" the person (Hull, 1992). To an extent, the face is a mirror image of the self (Cole, 2000).
Darwin believed that facial muscles were developed from ancestral habits, which served to promote particular species helping them to survive. From this background, researchers have studied human eye and facial displays in an attempt to determine whether emotional displays, as shown in the face and eyes, are universal in the human family.
That people use a body idiom, or language, in their interactions is clear. How to interpret accurately the meanings of body language is not so simple. Some researchers focus on pupillometry and the eyes, as noted; other focus on the use of the entire body. It is obvious that bodies play a crucial role in everyday enactments of behavior, but how to focus on that role, or those roles, is the real problem.
Affiliative body behavior has been studied extensively. The concept of immediacy suggests that people sense moods and attitudes in others by their body presence. People who register with a high score on an immediacy scale are attractive to others; they seem to draw people toward them, to be welcomed into personal space more readily than people who score poorly on that scale. In short, they choose to affiliate with them. The immediacy factor has been called a hidden channel of communication. (Mehrabian, 1981).
In psychiatric research, it has been shown that people orient their bodies one to the other based on how they think and feel about the other person. Participants in interaction, who feel close to one another, may orient their bodies like book-ends or they may mirror one another's body orientation(Scheflen, 1965). People who are intimate try to entice each other by forming closer body relations unlike people who may be in a divorce situation, who may freeze each other out. In other words, the general body orientation may reflect how a person feels and how she thinks about the other party in the interaction. Scheflen showed that couples arrange to sit in patterned ways based on how they feel about each other. Friendly partners will orient their bodies toward each other, extending their limbs in the other's directions. They will lean toward their partners or create mirror image postures.
Intimate romantic involvements proceed in a non-linear, stage-like fashion; it is a recursive process (Knapp & Vangelisti, 1992; Duck, 1992). Before becoming intimately involved, a couple will share a normal space. In a series of steps, as intimacy is created, they move closer and closer, in a spiral of intimacy. Humans in love enact their body movements contingently. That is, they respond one to the other in ever deepening ways. The voice, the body, the eyes and the emotions are intertwined in a romantic, evolving relationship.
Researchers point out that even though people in different cultures may use the same gestures, there are display rules that determine the meanings of those gestures. Even within a culture there is variation in the use of gestures. (Morris, 1994).
Framing Gestures
Mead believed that gestures were significant symbols because they contain meanings shared by members of the same culture. He thought that humans organize their attitudes by using gestures. He believed that the body play of children leads to role development in later life. Complex body play, or games, for Mead, were microcosms of social systems. The "I" part of the self performs social acts based on the meaning of gestures (Mead, 1934, 1938). Actions, of course, are always influenced by the environment (Alexander, 1988).
When gestures can provide meaning without the use of words, they are referred to as emblems. By shaking one's head side to side, an American can say "no" without using words. Emblematic communication is a major part of daily nonverbal expression. Specialized uses of emblems have been created, as in the use of sign language, in the use of semaphores and other signalling devices, as in the signals used in baseball or football games. The professional mimist is a master of the use of emblematic communication. In everyday life people may plug their nose when something smells, or cup their hands to their ears when they cannot hear or give the thumbs up signal when they like something. Emblematic communication is common and complex. The understanding of the symbolic meaning of a gesture depends on a kind of informed intersubjectivity. One must learn the meaning behind any particular emblematic display and, of course, the context of the display is a key part of the interpretation.
Humans are fond of watching themselves and others perform on the stage of life. Art and culture are based on this premise. Television and radio thrive on this fact. People watch others watching themselves! Some people say that this is a nation of voyeurs; if people can't peer into their neighbor's bedroom, they can peer into a bedroom on film or television (Denzin, 1997). People are intrigued by the fuzzy mystery that seems to surround other people. Famous people must protect themselves from the ever curious onlooker. Inveterate people watchers, humans are constantly monitoring themselves and monitoring others. People in everyday life draw upon a type of folk-culture to make sense of what they observe. Scientists, such as psychologists and others, on the other hand, use fairly refined theories and methods to try to understand human behavior.
Framing Self-Presentation
The presenting of the self is a complex process having an evolutionary basis. Interacting with others was a way for groups to survive the vicissitudes and difficulties of everyday life. In short the survival of the fittest was aided by group cohesiveness. Today, people present themselves to influence others, to construct new relationships, and to reinforce the emotional self.
Self esteem may be enhanced in self-presentation; of course, the opposite may be the case as well, as when people are rejected by others. Clearly, humans face dilemmas in presentation; for example, people are not always authentic in their presentations and they may lie, deceive, or feign appearances, such as weakness or braggadocio. They even choke under pressure and create self-handicaps. Aggressive behaviors, even retaliation may be displayed, as it is in bullying behaviors. (Leary, 1996).
In earlier times when people lived far from their neighbors, people watching was occasional, at fairs, at church socials or other public happenings. Today, television, film, the print media, and the internet provide unparalleled opportunities for people to watch people every day. It does not matter that the people who are being watched are not real; what they are doing is familiar, full of meaning. Humans clearly are deeply intrigued by human behaviors as they are by the behavior of chimps and other animals that seem to exhibit human behaviors.
Humans are goal oriented, working out lines of action, expressing themselves socially, interactively. Giving each act a personal touch, they display their personality, their unique identities (Aronoff & Wilson, l985). Others watch them perform and display their personalities. Considerable research has focused on how to interpret body and social behaviors, often using concepts like motives, traits, beliefs, values, cognitive structures or mood states to explain why certain behaviors occur. Symbolic interactionists, however, do not attribute behaviors to static inner traits or characteristics (Blumer, 1969). Concepts like self-esteem, ego, self-concept and other ways of thinking about the inner self, are dynamic concepts, in flux, changeable and situationally produced (Carbaugh, 1996). People recognize themselves in the behaviors of others; they understand similarities and they are intrigued by differences.
Discussed in Chapter Two, the concept of self presentation is a dramaturgical concept, stemming from symbolic interactionism. In this approach, people try to make sense of their own and others' behaviors. People identify themselves both to self and to others and act out their identities as self becomes social. People learn to manage multiple identities, performing multiple roles in daily life. The dynamic self is tied to performative mode in scenes of action (Carbaugh,1996) People are their own subjects in social presentation (Goffman, 1967). In short, self presentation is fundamental to social interaction, the very expression of meaning associated with the self, with identity. Skill in presentation has been the subject of much research (Hargie, 1986; Riggio, 1986).
In the management of impression(4), humans attempt to create favorable images of themselves. They try to do things that are successful and acceptable to others to avoid embarrassment. True, people may try to undermine others by acting deceptively, or by acting in some rebellious way (Jones, 1964), but a main goal in interaction is to make a favorable impression. People try to avoid the loss of face. An implicit, sometimes explicit, logic-in-use guides everyday behaviors (Gahagan & Herriot, 1984). People try to maximize their appearance to gain maximal benefit or satisfaction. People learn to manage the impressions that they make, hoping that others will interpret them favorably (Leary, 1996). Many people, of course, shy away from interactions.
Most professions train or educate their members so that they will become skilled in their profession. There are a number of approaches in the study of skilled behaviors including reward seeking, transactional aalysis, dramatic performances, motor skill proficiency, innate process analysis and goal-seeking. From an SI point of view, humans must be able to identity both the emotions and the intent of others and make judgements about appropriateness. These are learned skills and people vary considerably in their skill levels. They are not always able to produce desired effects in others. Certainly a key ingredient in the development of skill is mindful attention, learning what skills are important and how to employ them. Highly skilled people have learned facial and body configuration control, using their bodies skillfully. Good actors are adept at body control. Skillful actors draw upon various scripts as they enact their lines. Highly skilled people have learned dozens of scripts which they can call upon as they need them.
The ways that humans think about their bodies, the ways they construe their identities, the ways they enact social behaviors and the way in which they interpret the actions of others suggests that there is a keen relationship between reflexivity and action. Body action is meaningful and symbolic. From the simple stare to the most complex bodily interaction, one action contingent upon another, it seems clear that there is a reportoire of skills that work together interactively. People have differential self presentation skills. For example, it has been said that people are sometimes blind to themselves, a condition that would make them blind to others as well. Nonverbal communication is gendered; it is influenced by the aging process and by ethnicity. It is also influenced by mediated experiences, such as television and the internet provide. The voice, but one piece of the total reportoire, yields tell-tale signs of fatigue, of pathologies, of gender and age, and of ethnicity (Pittam,1994). Human identity (Abrams & Hogg, 1990) is wound into the package of presentational skills. The nonverbal reportoire includes all aspects of nonverbal communication. Autistics and people with other pathologies struggle to master simple body behaviors. Consider the complications involved in merely shaking hands. One must know the social codes involved; one must have motor development and skill; one must want to shake hands. People read meaning into simple activities like handshakes, attributing character to the interactant. Autistic and schizophrenic children cannot master things that seem simple to others. That which seems so easy to do is not so simple. Routines are achieved; they are not naturally displayed (Schegloff, 1986). The simple body interaction, the handshake, and other gestures like it were, for Mead, ways of evoking meaning in others. The meaning of any gesture was in the way that people responded to it. If a person will not shake my hand, what does it mean to me?
The body and the mind work together in social interaction. One does not work without the other. Symbolic interactionism suggests that humans create meanings for their bodies; they construct body images and self-identities though interaction with others. As agents, acting on their own behalf, mindfully, goal-oriented people can create skill in interaction, learning to manage impressions and to present themselves for beneficial results. The body displays emotions, largely in the face, but body orientations and gestures convey emotions as well.
Psychological processes such as perception, attribution and sensemaking are basic parts of the construction of meaning relating to nonverbal communication. People plan to do things and they interpret what others do. Age, ethnicity, gender and mediated experiences influence human behaviors, as do pathologies, illnesses and social inexperience. In pathological situation, the nonverbal repertoire becomes distorted, by contrast, revealing the essence of normal nonverbal behaviors. Simple nonverbal acts turn out to be very complex upon analysis. One must understand social codes and be reflective to adequately interpret the actions of others. Beginning with the next chapter the processes discussed in Chapters Two, Three and Four will be applied in various ways to the topics in chapters Five, Six, Seven and Eight.
Questions for Thought and Discussion
Davis, J. (1997). Mapping the Mind: The Secrets of the Human Brain and How it Works. Secaucus, NJ: Birch Lane Press.
LeDoux, J. (1996). The Emotional Brain: The Mysterious Under-Pinnings of Emotional Life. New York, NY: Touchstone Books.
Hewitt, J. P. (1999). Self and Society: A Symbolic Interactionist Social Psychology. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Leary, M. R. (1996). Self-Presentation: Impression Management and Interpersonal Behavior. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Mead, G. H. (1934). Mind, Self and Society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Stevens, A. (1995) Private Myths: Dreams and Dreaming. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
| Previous: Chapter 3 | Table of Contents | Next: Chapter 5 |