THE ABILITY TO NONVERBALLY COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY

IDEAL CONDITIONS FOR IMPROVING NONVERBAL SENDING AND RECEIVING SKILLS u DESIRE TO IMPROVE u POSITIVE & PRODUCTIVE ATTITUDES u KNOWLEDGE OF NONVERBAL BEHAVIOR u OBTAIN GUIDED EXPERIENCE & PRACTICE IN A VARIETY OF SITUATIONS

ABILITY TO ENCODE NONVERBAL MESSAGES u AS A GROUP, FEMALES TEND TO BE BETTER ENCODERS THAN MALES

CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE ENCODERS u EXTROVERTED OR DRAMATIC STYLE u POPULAR u OCCUPATION INVOLVING SOCIAL SKILLS u MONITOR OWN BEHAVIOR CAREFULLY u DO NOT OFTEN INTERNALIZE EMOTIONS u EXPERIENCE LESS PHYSIOLOGICAL AROUSAL WHEN SENDING MESSAGES OF EMOTION

ABILITY TO DECODE NONVERBAL MESSAGES u AS A GROUP, FEMALES TEND TO BE BETTER DECODERS THAN MALES u MINIMAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INTELLIGENCE & DECODING SKILL u WHEN HUSBAND’S DECODING ABILITY IS LOW, COUPLE HAPPINESS IS LOW (SEE NOLLER STUDY, p )

CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE DECODERS u EXTROVERT u POPULAR u JUDGED INTERPERSONALLY EFFECTIVE BY OTHERS

GROUPS THAT DO WELL AT DECODING uAuACTORS uSuSTUDENTS OF NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION AND VISUAL ARTS uAuANYONE RATED EXCELLENT IN HIS/HER JOB

WEAK EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT: u IF YOU’RE GOOD AT ENCODING AND/OR DECODING POSED EXPRESSIONS, YOU’LL BE GOOD AT ENCODING AND/OR DECODING SPONTANEOUS EXPRESSIONS u IF YOU DECODE ONE CHANNEL WELL (E.G., VOICE), YOU WILL DECODE OTHER CHANNELS WELL (E.G., FACE, BODY).

u IF YOU’RE A GOOD ENCODER, YOU’LL BE GOOD DECODER OR VICE VERSA (ABILITY MAY VARY A LOT DEPENDING ON THE TYPE OF MESSAGE OR EMOTION)