Interpreting Nonverbal Communication

Body language plays a significant role in the way one communicates. Scientists used the word kinesics to refer to the various forms of body language that can be used in communication or as part of nonverbal communication. Sometimes kinesics can be complicated to interpret, as I learned from my experience. To elaborate, I remember when my family and I decided to throw a surprise birthday party for one of my aunts. I came up with the idea and got everyone else involved, so we arranged everything in secret and got her all her favorite things that we knew she would love. It was an awesome party, and I believed she would be ecstatic about it. When the day came, we all hid in the house as we waited for her to come in so that we could all jump out at once and surprise her, just like any other surprise celebration. However, when the moment came, we all jumped out, yelling, “Surprise!” I looked at her and thought she was angry and disgusted. This really broke my heart because it had been my idea, and I had put a lot of work into it, hoping she would love it, but I might have just ruined her birthday. I ended up leaving early and went home. The next day my aunt visited, and she was concerned about why I left the party early. At first, I thought she was just being polite, thanking me for the surprise, but later I realized that she really loved it and that I had just misinterpreted her facial expressions.

This experience taught me that reading facial expressions is not as simple as I thought. To help me avoid making the same mistake, I studied more about nonverbal communication, which included facial expressions. I learned that the same facial muscles are used to express different emotions, which can then lead to misinterpretation, as in my case (Hamilton, 2016). I also learned that culture plays a significant role in people’s facial expressions (Mandal & Ambady, 2004), meaning that people from different cultures will have differing facial expressions for the same message. As such, when communicating, I tend to keep these facts in my mind so I do not take a message wrongly.

References

Hamilton, C. M. (2016). Communicating for success. Routledge.

Mandal, M. K., & Ambady, N. (2004). Laterality of facial expressions of emotion: Universal and culture-specific influences. Behavioural Neurology, 15(1-2), 23-34.

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Interpreting Nonverbal Communication

Nonverbal communication replaces, reinforces, and can contradict verbal communication. Nonverbal communication may also regulate interactions and express cultural values.

For this discussion, please respond to the following:

Describe a time when one of the six categories of nonverbal cues (kinesics, proxemics, haptics, chronemics, artifacts and paralanguage) caused you to misinterpret a message in a personal or professional setting. Be sure to highlight which category is represented in your example.
Explain the steps you would take to avoid misinterpreting a message the next time you are in a similar situation.