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Expectancy Violations Theory
Judee Burgoon
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Nutshell Description Individuals develop expectations of other people’s behavior Expectations can be fulfilled (normative, expected communication behaviors) or violated EVT is interested in what happens when expectancies are violated Variables of interest: attitude (liking, satisfaction), behavior (compliance)
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Key Ideas An expectancy is something that is predicted to occur.
Expectancies are based on context/cultural norms, relationship factors, and communicator characteristics All cultures have a structure of expected communication behaviors, but the content can differ significantly
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Communicators and expectancy violations both have reward valence
Positive valence: Good Negative valence: Bad
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Communicator reward valence: sum of the positive and negative attributes that the person brings to the encounter plus the potential she/he has to reward or punish in the future Spouse, boss, bratty kid brother, physician, etc.
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Violation valence: perceived value of a breach of expectations
Some violations are clearly negative or positive (although dependent on context and culture!); first date: flowers/candy versus being late Some violations are equivocal; touch
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Guidelines When a behavior has “socially recognized” and agreed upon meaning: If valence is negative, do less than expected If valence is positive, do more than expected If behavior is ambiguous, communicator valence is particularly important
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