Teacher credibility as a function of verbal content and paralinguistic cues

Considerable attention has been focused on the relationship between nonverbal communication behavior and student perceptions of the teacher. One important observation is that teachers frequently emit nonverbal messages that contradict their verbal ones, but the effects of this modal discrepancy are not well understood. In the present study, vocal cues are isolated as the nonverbal behavior for study. The interaction of vocal cues and verbal messages is examined with respect to its impact on teacher credibility. The results indicate that the students’ perceptions of sociability are influenced by perceived discrepancy between words and attitudes. Perception of competence, on the other hand, appears to be dependent on positive vocal cues.