Head movement, gender, and deceptive communication

A multiple univariate repeated measures design was utilized to examine male and female head movement during deceptive and truthful communication. Motivated subjects attempted to deceive one another during a sanctioned, prepared interview. Time Series Notation was utilized to code all sagittal, rotational, and lateral head movement and calculate both movement mobility and complexity. Significantly increased levels of head movement mobility, especially in the sagittal dimension, and complexity were found during deception. Subject gender did not account for any head movement differences. This study raises questions about the generalizability and quality of various nonverbal behavior coding strategies.

Notes

William C. Donaghy, (Ph.D., Northwestern University, 1969) is a Professor in the Department of Communication and Mass Media, at the University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071. Becky Faure Dooley, (M.A.., University of Wyoming, 1985) is an Instructor at Northwest Community College, Powell, WY.