Page 122 - Essentials of Human Communication

The Channels of Nonverbal Communication 101

eye cOMMuNIcatION
Research on communication via the eyes (a study known technically as oculesics) shows that
the duration, direction, and quality of the eye movements communicate different messages.
For example, in every culture there are strict, though unstated, rules for the proper duration
for eye contact. In our culture, the average length of gaze is 2.95 seconds. The average length
of mutual gaze (two persons gazing at each other) is 1.18 seconds (Argyle & Ingham, 1972;
Argyle, 1988). When eye contact falls short of this duration, you may think the person is Another type of eye movement is
uninterested, shy, or preoccupied. When the appropriate amount of time is exceeded, you the eye roll. Take a look at “The Eye
may perceive the person as showing unusually high interest. Roll” at tcbdevito.blogspot.com.
The direction of the eye glance also communicates. In much of the United States, you’re Do you use the eye roll? What
expected to glance alternately at the other person’s face, then away, then again at the face, and messages would you be most
so on. The rule for the public speaker is to scan the entire audience, not focusing for too long likely to communicate with the
eye roll?
on or ignoring any one area of the audience. When you break these directional rules, you
communicate different meanings—abnormally high or low interest, self-consciousness,
nervousness over the interaction, and so on. The quality of eye behavior—how wide or how
narrow your eyes get during interaction—also communicates meaning, especially interest Explore the Exercise
level and emotions such as surprise, fear, and disgust. “Eye Contact” at
MyCommunicationLab
eye avoidance The eyes are “great intruders,” observed sociologist Erving Goffman
(1967). When you avoid eye contact or avert your glance, you help others to maintain their
privacy. You may do this when you see a couple arguing in public: You turn your eyes away
(though your eyes may be wide open) as if to say, “I don’t mean to intrude; I respect your
privacy.” Goffman refers to this behavior as civil inattention.
Eye avoidance can also signal lack of interest—in a person, a conversation, or some visual
stimulus. At times you may hide your eyes to block off unpleasant stimuli (a particularly gory or
violent scene in a movie, for example) or close your eyes to block out visual stimuli and thus
heighten other senses. For example, you may listen to music with your eyes closed. Lovers often For a brief note on something you
close their eyes while kissing, and many prefer to make love in a dark or dimly lit room. may have encountered in a restau-
rant or similar place, take a look at
culture, gender, and eye Messages Not surprisingly, eye messages vary with both “Eye Contact” at tcbdevito
.blogspot.com. What’s been your
culture and gender. Americans, for example, consider direct eye contact an expression of hon- experience in situations like this?
esty and forthrightness, but the Japanese often view this as a lack of respect. A Japanese person
will glance at the other person’s face rarely, and then only for very short periods (Axtell, 1990).
Interpreting another’s eye contact messages with your own cultural rules is a risky undertaking;
eye movements that you may interpret as insulting may have been intended to show respect.
Women make eye contact more and maintain it longer (both in speaking and in listen-
ing) than men. This holds true whether women are interacting with other women or with
men. This difference in eye behavior may result from women’s greater tendency to display
their emotions (Wood, 1994). When women interact with other women, they display affilia-
tive and supportive eye contact, whereas when men interact with other men, they avert their
gaze (Gamble & Gamble, 2003).
In some cases, the visual channel may be damaged and adjustments have to be made.
Table 5.4 (p. 102) gives you an idea of how such adjustments between people with visual
impairments and those without such impairments can make communication more effective.

spatIal cOMMuNIcatION
Space is an especially important factor in nonverbal communication, although we seldom Explore the Exercise
think about it. Edward T. Hall (1959, 1963, 1966), who pioneered the study of spatial “Interpersonal Interactions
communication, called this study proxemics. We can sample this broad area by looking at and Space” at
proxemic distances and territoriality. MyCommunicationLab

proxemic Distances Hall (1959, 1966) distinguishes four types of proxemic distances
that define types of relationships between people: (1) intimate distance, (2) personal distance,
(3) social distance, and (4) public distance. Each distance communicates specific kinds of
messages.