Concept Application Paper: Nonverbal Assignment

Interpersonal Interactions

When two or more individuals communicate, a large portion of their interaction involves non-verbal communication (Manusov, 2005). Non-verbal communication is interaction without the involvement of linguistic content. We communicate when we smile, frown, raise our voice, sit near someone, or make movements. Sometimes, non-verbal communication might contradict the verbal communication, and the identification of such actions might help in ascertaining the person's honesty or other factors (Hall and Bernieri, 2001).

In this paper, I will analyze two different situations where verbal, as well as, non-verbal communication took place. My main focus was on non-verbal communication; therefore, for the first situation, observation made from some distance, where I could observe the nonverbal interactions only.

In the first situation, I observed two persons at a restaurant. One of the individuals was wearing a black suit while the other was wearing jeans and T-shirt. There was a colorful and graphical image on the t-shirt. Messages on the t-shirt are also strong indicators of the personality of the person. The information conveyed by the shirt is helpful is gauging some of the personality traits, but this topic requires further research.

The person in a black suit was tall, short hair and had fair complexion. Tall people portray more confident and strong appearance. In a presidential campaign, it is more likely that the taller candidate will win more votes than the short one. According to some research, tall people are more likely to get job offers, and paid more than shorter candidates.

The other person had an average height, medium hair, and white skin color. Skin color and race might impact the cognitive response in some cases. In a racist environment, white color might produce favorable response as compared to black color. In this case, both the individuals belonged from the same race, and no effects related to race difference could be observed.

The person in the suit had an average built and brown hair. The movements of the person in white hair were slow and deliberate. Slow movement is an indication of power, whereas, hurried movements show that you want to qualify the expectations of a more powerful person (Knapp and Hall, 2005). When the meeting between the two finished, the person in the black suit walked slowly and had an air of confidence. Both of them were sitting at a distance, and it seemed as if they were not closely acquainted. If two persons have a good friendship or are close, it is more likely that they will sit more closely to each other. Sitting far apart shows hostility in some cases, but the facial expressions of the two individuals did not show any hostility.

The movements of the person in jeans and T-shirt were quick, with a lot of hand movements. During the discussion, the face expressions of the person in jeans displayed slight nervousness, and he nodded his head several times. The other individual seemed concerned but relaxed halfway through the ...