The Social Context of Nonverbal Behaviour
Abstract
Although nonverbal behaviour has long been a topic of research, it is often studied in isolation from social partners and the social environment. This work presents three empirical chapters that reintroduce the social environment to the investigation of nonverbal cue exchange, focusing on the value of social rewards and the perceptive and affiliative functions of nonverbal communication. Findings reported in Chapter 2 indicate that the subjective value of social rewards changes as a function of social media use saliency. Specifically, thinking about a recent social media post, but not a synchronous conversation, increases the value of social rewards, such that people are willing to forego monetary gain to see a genuine smile. In Chapter 3, I show that although the amount of nonverbal behaviour does not necessarily enhance interpersonal judgement accuracy, accuracy does increase with familiarity, suggesting that people retain and update models of specific social partners. In Chapter 4, I demonstrate that social interactions on video-chat platforms, compared to face-to-face settings, are characterized by reduced interpersonal coordination and increased self-coordination, both of which have negative downstream effects for interaction outcomes (e.g., lower liking and worse interaction quality). Together, these findings indicate that the functions of nonverbal social cues and the subsequent judgments receivers make are strongly affected by the presence of social partners and the interaction environment. Thus, because nonverbal communication contingencies change as a function of individuals, situations, and interaction modalities, investigations of nonverbal cues should prioritize diverse social contexts to foster a well-rounded understanding of nonverbal behaviour.