When nonverbal behaviour varies across cultures, it’s easy to misunderstand someone from a different culture to your own.
When nonverbal behaviour varies across cultures, it’s easy to misunderstand someone from a different culture to your own. Despite this, when learning a foreign language, there’s not much focus on nonverbal behaviour. Perhaps there should be. I came across a nice example of a cross-cultural misunderstanding from Will Baker writing in the EFL Professional’s Written Forum:
Continue reading “Education Reduces Cross-Cultural Misunderstanding of Nonverbal Behaviour”
While smileys had no effect on the way a message was interpreted, frowns did reduce the positivity of positive messages.
That’s according to a study which assessed the effects of smileys :) and frownies :( as I’m now calling them. Walther and D’Addario (2001) found that while smileys had no effect on the way a message was interpreted, frowns did reduce the positivity of positive messages. Overall, though, the effect of emoticons was relatively small.
Continue reading “Frown and the Net Frowns With You, But Smile and You Smile Alone”
According to some research it’s Russians!
According to some research it’s Russians! And the least control over facial emotions? Americans. These are just two relatively new findings to emerge from studying cultural differences in nonverbal behaviour. Perhaps the best known findings about differences between cultures relate to interpersonal space. Arab males sit closer than American males. Indonesians interact more closely than Australians. Italians more closely than Americans or Germans, Columbians closer than Puerto Ricans. Despite these differences, there are also surprising commonalities.
Continue reading “Which Culture Most Controls Their Facial Emotions?”
Lies are extremely difficult to detect. Research shows the average person barely does any better than chance.
Lies are extremely difficult to detect. Research shows the average person barely does any better than chance. Part of the reason may be there’s so much misinformation about how to detect lies floating around. Years of work in psychology, including research from real police interviews conducted by Aldert Vrij and colleagues, provides guidance on which nonverbal signals do and which don’t signal lying (Vrij, 2006).
Continue reading “Detecting Lies: Top 3 Myths, Top 5 Proven Factors”
Compared with face-to-face communication, nonverbal cues in email are lacking. But humans are fabulous at generating meaning even when cues are sparse.
Compared with face-to-face communication, nonverbal cues in email are lacking. But humans are fabulous at generating meaning even when cues are sparse. Psychologists have theorised our motivation for generating meaning is reducing levels of uncertainty and helping predict other people’s behaviour. This might explain how, in emails, even two simple things like capitalisation and emoticons can have important effects on reader’s perceptions. People want to predict our behaviour, and we theirs.
Continue reading “How do Emoticons and Capitalisation Affect Perception of Email?”
In testing understanding of nonverbal behaviour, research has found that women fare better than men.
Here’s a simple exercise to test your skill at reading nonverbal behaviour: watch some ‘reality’ TV with the sound turned off and try to work out the subtext of what’s going on. Who likes who? Who has something to hide? Who is everyone afraid of? Some psychologists, in testing understanding of nonverbal behaviour, have found that women fare better than men. While this might be explained by some experiential, or even intrinsic, failing in men, new research suggests it might have more to do with interpersonal goals.
Continue reading “Gender Differences in Reading Nonverbal Behaviour”
Ironically, fear of Friday the 13th, along with the number 13 and bad things happening in threes, comes third in the list of superstitions Americans are most likely to endorse.
Ironically, fear of Friday the 13th, along with the number 13 and bad things happening in threes, comes third in the list of superstitions Americans are most likely to endorse (9%; Vyse, 1997). It is only beaten by black cats crossing your path (endorsed by 14%) and walking under ladders (endorsed by 12%). But, where does this fear of Friday the 13th come from and is it justified?
Thanks to everyone who has voted so far in the Top Ten Psychology studies.
Thanks to everyone who has voted so far in the Top Ten Psychology studies. As I write it’s up to 270 votes. All the early action was on Stanley Milgram, but Aaron T. Beck has come from way down the field and is now edging it by 4%. Are you really going to let a psychiatrist win this? Freud was a solid runner out of the gates, but he’s fading fast – looks like he doesn’t have the legs for this distance. Miller, Loftus, Kahneman & Tversky are in the central bunch. Solid runners but they’ll need to move right now…
Continue reading “Top Ten Studies, Encephalon #19, 1,000+ Subscribers”
‘The Trap – What Happened To Our Dream Of Freedom?’ is a new documentary by the BAFTA-winning producer Adam Curtis.
‘The Trap – What Happened To Our Dream Of Freedom?’ is a new documentary by the BAFTA-winning producer Adam Curtis. It looks at how models of human behaviour shaped by Cold War logic have come to control our lives. The first episode in the three-part series was shown on BBC TV here in the UK last Sunday. If you’re curious about the intersection of psychology and politics, and how we got where we are today, then you must see this documentary. It’s on BBC2 this Sunday and next Sunday at 9pm.
Continue reading “The Trap – What Happened To Our Dream Of Freedom?”
In a revelation that has shocked the world, PsyBlog reveals mainstream media reporting of psychology studies has been grossly distorted for decades.
In a revelation that has shocked the world, PsyBlog reveals mainstream media reporting of psychology studies has been grossly distorted for decades. PsyBlog can now exclusively expose the eight ‘specialist’ techniques journalists use to misrepresent psychology studies.
Continue reading “Revealed: Eight Ways The Media Distorts Psychology”
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