COM 200: Interpersonal Communication-Self-Disclosure, Gender, and Communication

NonverbalMiscommunication. Nonverbal communication is one of the most powerful ways thatwe communicate in our interpersonal relationships. Sometimes, however, we mayfind ourselves unintentionally communicating the wrong message. This happensoften in intercultural communication situations (when we are communicatingacross different cultures). Provide an example of a time when you nonverballycommunicated something other than what you meant. Or, use an example of whensomeone else communicated something to you nonverbally that was not what theymeant. What happened in this situation? Be specific in your example and alsodiscuss what you will do in the future to avoid this type of miscommunicationActionssometimes speak louder than words. According to J Gen Intern Med, “we definenonverbal behavior to include a variety of communicative behaviors that do notcarry linguistic content and these may include but are not limited to, facialexpressivity, smiling, eye contact, head nodding, hand gestures, posturalpositions (open or closed body posture and forward to backward body lean);paralinguistic speech characteristics such as speech rate, loudness, pitch,pauses, and speech dysfluencies; and dialogic behaviors such as interruptions.”(Intern Med, 2006) An individual’s nonverbal actions may cause the perceiver tobecome confused or irritated. If an individual was crying and then anotherindividuals asked that individual if he/she is fine and that individual tellthe asker yes then this itself can cause mixed communication and it clearlyshows that there is something wrong but the individual does not want to talkabout it. People can talk all day longabout doing something and not get too much of a response from the receiver butwhen the individual turns around and starts giving mean looks, and shakinghis/her head then chances are the receiver is going to respond in order to keeptension from remaining between the two.According to David Matsumoto, “despite the existence of a universalfacial expression based on emotions; people around the world do expressemotions differently” (Matsumoto, 2006). Each culture may express theiremotions differently than other cultures because some culture believes differentlywhen communicating. Some cultures feels that they are threatening someone ifthey look that individual in they ye. Therefore, if an individual from myculture were to talk to an individual from that type of culture we would getoffended simply because we learned that when you talk to someone you give themeye contact. Since there is culture differences, nonverbal communication can bemisinterpreted.ReferenceJ Gen Intern Med. (2006) Mechanisms and Outcomes:The Expression of Emotion ThroughNonverbal Behavior in Medical Visits. Retrieved fromhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1484830/Matsumoto, David (2006) Culture and NonverbalBehavior. Retrieved fromhttp://www.davidmatsumoto.com/content/Matsumoto%20Chapter%2012%20Pages%20from%20Manusov%20II%20Proff-14.pdf