Building relationships in initial interactions: Investigating the tie between similarity and nonverbal congruency

This study tested a correspondence model hypothesizing that clusters of nonverbal behaviors scaled for their degree of congruency are likely to correlate with measures of actual and assumed personality similarity. Ratings of previously unacquainted pairs (N = 66) showed that both actual and perceived personality similarity were generally associated with nonverbal cues rated as congruent. During certain interaction periods, actual warmth and humility similarity correlated positively with congruence of body cues; actual warmth similarity also related positively to congruent vocal cues, but actual creativity similarity correlated negatively with facial congruence. Vocal congruence correlated positively with perceptions of similarity in warmth, and congruent face and language cues were positively associated with judgments of humility similarity. Importantly, only congruent vocal cues were associated as expected with both actual and perceived similarity, and this link only occurred for similarity in warmth.

Notes

Valerie Manusov (Ph. D., University of Southern California) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Speech Communication at the University of Washington, Box 353415, Seattle, WA 98195. Her general interests are in interpersonal communication, with a focus on the interpretations and patterns of nonverbal communication. She also studies the effects of stereotypes in intercultural communication and the ways in which people offer accounts to others. Carolyn Chow (M.A., University of Washington) is Coordinator of Recruitment and Admissions in the School of Nursing at the University of Washington. She is interested in the minority issues in interpersonal and nonverbal communication, education, and diversity. This paper was presented to the Interpersonal and Small Group Interaction Division of the Speech Communication Association, San Antonio, November 1995.