The more we search out and discover what is uniform in human nature, all the more we want to discover the uniqueness (Allport, 1961). The discovery of the importance of NVC has transformed the study of social behavior. A speaker accompanies his utterances with appropriate facial expressions, which 'frame' what is being said; NVC shows whether what is said to supposed to be important or funny or serious says Vine, 1971 (Argyle, 1972).
There are three functions of NVC, says Argyle (1972). The first is to manage the immediate social situation, the second is to support verbal communication, and the third is to replace verbal communication.
Knapp (1980) indicates that nonverbal skills can be cultivated, that with practice one can improve nonverbal abilities. In order to do this one has to be motivated, convinced that such a skill will help improve the nature of a career or one's personal life. One must have the attitude that one can, indeed, accomplish such a task. One needs knowledge of the nature of the skill. One must gain experience. In the attempt to improve NVC, every experience may provide useful information even if one is ineffective in that particular situation.
According to Buck (1975) there is evidence that nonverbal behavior may be a particularly important factor in the development of emotional expression and social behavior. Buck (1977) did a study of preschool children in which he compared the amount of skin conduction with the tendency to communicate accurate nonverbal messages via spontaneous expressions and gestures. It seems that extraverts have relatively low activity in the central nervous system feedback loop. The relatively low activity in extraverts make them less arousable (hence low skin conductance responding), and also less susceptible to punishment.The low susceptibility to punishment leads to less efficient socialization (less compliance) and therefore to more overt expression of affect.
In another study by Buck (1974) he found that social learning responses associated with learning to inhibit an overt response tends to be stressful and threatening, which leads to physiological responding. If a child is rebuked by an adult when he expresses an emotion, the rebuke might both inhibit the overt emotional response and cause an increase in physiological responding.
There are marked individual differences in expressiveness. There are politicians who inspire via their concern and passion, as well as those politicians who fail to inspire because of monotone. Professors can be wearisome or eloquent, salesmen can be dull or slick. Not all of these differences are due to verbal fluency, but rather a spirited communication which involves the use of facial expressions, voice, gestures, and body movements to transmit emotions. Nonverbal communication modifies and extends verbal messages (Friedman, 1990).
It is difficult to discern what another is saying without taking into account the aspect of NVC. Communication competence is different from linguistic competence, and is tied to the actual language performance in a social situation (Larson, et al, 1978). More needs to be known about how facial expressions of emotion modify the meaning of words. The web of interlocking cues which allows quick communication of complex meaning has begun to be unraveled. Nonverbal cues help establish the appropriate word meanings in any given circumstance (Friedman, 1979).
Some observers of social behavior believe that the ability to manage and control expressive presentation is a prerequisite to effective social and interpersonal functioning (Snyder, 1974).
Expressive people are easy to recognize but difficult to describe (Friedman, et al, 1990). Bull (1983) has hypothesized that extraverts prefer closer interpersonal distance, for instance, Canadian male student extraverts preferred dancing cheek to cheek significantly more than introverts.
Research continues in the area of nonverbal communication. Only when NVC is understood, can nonverbal expressiveness be analized.
Friedman, (1990) developed a brief paper-and-pencil measure of individual differences in nonverbal expressiveness. The concept of expressiveness and its psychological implications were addressed, including the social characteristics and personality of expressive people, as well as the relationship between expressiveness and laboratory research on individual differences in nonverbal communication skills.
Since it is believed generally that nonverbal cues function mainly outside awareness, there is a possibility that one is not aware of one's own expressiveness. Most people, however, receive feedback from friends and peers which give them a pretty good idea of themselves.
The subjects in this study were students, some of whom held down part-time jobs. It was thought that expressive people might select and be selected for employment that involved working with and influencing people. Subjects were questioned about the type of job they presently held, and what they planned to do after college.
Four independent judges rated occupations, assessing the degree to which an occupation required social skills. Counselors, ministers, diplomats, and insurance salesmen received a high rating. Others such as geologists,cooks, and forklift operators got a low rating.
Rosenthal (1979) says that researchers have reported that there are tendencies for artists to be superior judges of others, along with dancers, those interested in speech and drama, and students majoring in business. It was found that psychotherapists were not particularly better judges than non-therapists, and that counselors were not much better than non-counselors.
Friedman (1990) reports that Murray (1938) determined that exhibition was a basic need to excite, amuse, stir, shock, or thrill others. Jackson's (1974) Personality Research Form, developed from Murray's system of needs, also included exhibition as a basic element of personality, but it was seen as a trait. People high on exhibition are colorful, spellbinding, noticeable, expressive, dramatic, and showy. Friedman (1990) views exhibition not as a need or a trait but as a nonverbal communication of emotion. In this way it is shown how one person may stir or excite others.
Based on the Murray (1938) and Jackson (1974) formulations, expressive people were expected to be colorful and dramatic, but not emotional, touchy, or moody. Expressive people are believed to be outgoing and sociable rather than thoughtful and controlled. They would also be active and impulsive rather than anxious and sober. According to Friedman (1990) the Affective Communication Test (ACT) was expected to be positively correlated with extraversion.
The hypothesis of my experiment is that I will find a correlation between expressiveness as determined by the ACT, and satisfaction with a chosen major, possibly depending upon what their chosen major is. Will an art major show more expressiveness than a business major? The IV's are the element of nonverbal expressiveness as measured by the ACT, and whether the student has chosen a major. The DV is their satisfaction with the chosen major.
Considerable research has been done in the field of nonverbal communication, starting with Darwin and the observation he made on his five year voyage aboard the HMS Beagle. In Friedman's research of 1990 a panel of judges assessed there were certain occupations which would require more social skills than others. It was thought that diplomats would require more social skills than a forklift operator. Those social skills quite possibly include NVE.
A more complete study could be done using existing classes of a more advanced nature which would include more students in a given major. Instead of using a cross section of students taking a required core course, it might be enlightening to give the 13-item ACT to a class of art majors, or to a class of English majors. More ACT's would need to be administered to get even more conclusive results.