Nonverbal Expressions of Liking and Disliking in Initial Interaction: Encoding and Decoding Perspectives

This experiment investigated nonverbal behaviors associated with the encoding and decoding of liking and disliking in initial interaction. Forty-eight adults interacted with participant confederates in an 8-minute problem-solving activity. Beginning at the midpoint of the activity, confederates were instructed to communicate, through nonverbal channels, that they either really liked or really disliked their partners. Kinesic and vocalic behaviors were measured to allow for examination of the encoding patterns chosen to communicate these messages. Participants and third-party observers provided their perceptions of confederates and their behaviors, to allow for examination of the behaviors that were decoded as expressions of liking and disliking. Results of this study allowed the examination of the simultaneous encoding and decoding of nonverbal behaviors, the precise measurement of vocalic behaviors, and a clarification of nonverbal behaviors most influential in reaching judgments of liking and disliking.

The authors are grateful for the assistance of Diane Doskoch, Matt Hurd, Kristopher Lucskay, Claudia Owens, Dan Smedley, Bernie Strong, Keri Vandeusen, and Ryan Weyls. This research was supported by a Cleveland State University New Faculty Research Award to the second author.

Notes

Notes: Interitem reliabilities are based on Cronbach's alpha. Intercoder reliabilities are based on Ebel's intraclass correlation.

Note: Means in the same line with the same subscript differ significantly from each other, per planned contrast.

Notes: ; . “P Like” & “O Like” = participants' and observers' liking of confederates; “P Eval” & “O Eval” = participants' and observers' evaluation of confederates; “P Att” & “O Att” = participants' and observers' social attraction to confederates. Probability values are one-tailed for variables included in H2 and two-tailed for variables included in RQ2.

∗p < .05

∗∗p < .01

1. RBT items were: “I tried to do things that he or she would like,” “I ignored my partner's feelings and showed that I didn't like him or her” (reverse scored), “I showed trust in my partner,” and “I tried to let my partner know I can't stand him or her” (reverse scored). Additional items from Floyd and Burgoon (1999) were: “I acted as if I liked my partner,” “I made it clear that I was not interested in my partner” (reverse scored), and “I seemed to get along well with my partner.”

2. The IBM Speechviewer II program measures vocal pitch in Herz and loudness in percentage of sound wave amplitude.

3. Results of the planned contrasts are available on request from the authors.