Verbal and nonverbal communication of facilitative conditions.

Studied 1 verbal and 5 nonverbal cues in a multichannel communication paradigm to assess their effect on the communication of the facilitative conditions of empathy, respect, and genuineness. 15 trained counselors and 15 clients rated 32 videotaped interactions between counselor and client, each interaction portraying a different combination of verbal message, trunk lean, eye contact, vocal intonation, and facial expression. Results of empathy, respect, and genuineness ratings reveal that (a) nonverbal cues in the paradigm accounted for significantly greater message variance than did the verbal message; (b) counselors and clients differed significantly in their perceptions of the cues, and these differences (reflected in interactions) depended heavily upon the presence or absence of the remaining cues; (c) previously unstudied cues of vocal intonation and facial expression with these dependent variables proved to be significant contributors to the final judgments of facilitative conditions; and (d) the process of decoding the level of facilitative conditions is a factorially complex process which cannot be understood by factorially simple studies. Results are further discussed with respect to the role of nonverbal communication in the counseling process. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of inconsistency between counselor verbal and nonverbal behavior on perceptions of counselor attributes.

Investigated the effects of inconsistency between a counselor's verbal and nonverbal behaviors on perceptions of the counselor as empathic, genuine, and expert and on willingness to seek the counselor's help. 120 undergraduate women, randomly assigned to 4 groups, viewed 1 of 4 8-min videotaped role plays of a counseling session. Each videotape demonstrated a combination of the counselor's responsive and unresponsive verbal statements and nonverbal behaviors. Ss rated the counselor on empathy, genuineness, expertness, and willingness to seek the counselor's help for themselves and others. Consistent with prior research, results indicate that nonverbal behavior seemed to increase the impact of a congruent verbal message and to alter an accompanying incongruent verbal message in the direction of the nonverbal cues. The significance of results for communication theory is discussed. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Counselor deliberate postural lean and communication of facilitative conditions": Correction.

Reports an error in "Counselor deliberate postural lean and communication of facilitative conditions" by Gary L. Hermansson, Alan C. Webster and Ken McFarland (Journal of Counseling Psychology, 1988[Apr], Vol 35[2], 149-153). The date of receipt indicated for the revision of this article was incorrect. The correct date of receipt is provided in the erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 1988-36435-001.) This experimental study examined the relation between counselor deliberate postural lean and the communication of intensity, empathic understanding, respect, and genuineness. Results, from 12 male counselors acting as their own controls under three postural lean conditions (forward, backward, and choice) in counseling interaction with female clients, suggested compensatory processes in operation. Making a required lean forward was associated with decreased facilitative levels and backward with increased levels. The latter effects were more marked, with significant differences in intensity and respect. The effects were also more marked with those counselors who, as revealed in their choice session, preferred to move forward rather than backward, with these counselors also being the most effective as assessed by communicated empathy levels. It was concluded that for effective counselors in particular, deliberate postural lean results in a subtle maintenance of an equilibrium of verbal–nonverbal communication behaviors judged as most appropriate to the moment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Power displays between women and men in discussions of gender-linked tasks: A multichannel study.

Conducted a multichannel investigation of how gender-based familiarity moderates verbal and nonverbal behaviors between men and women. Undergraduates in 24 mixed-sex dyads discussed masculine, feminine, and non-gender-linked topics. The primary dependent variables were verbal and nonverbal behaviors related to social power. The verbal behaviors examined were speech initiations and total amount of speech; the nonverbal behaviors studied were visual behavior (while speaking and while listening), gesturing, chin thrusts, and smiling. Systematic differences in the behaviors of men and women emerged on the gender-linked tasks. On the masculine task men displayed more verbal and nonverbal power-related behavior than did women. On the feminine task women exhibited more power than men on most of the verbal and nonverbal measures. On the non-gender-linked task men displayed greater power both verbally and nonverbally than did women. There were 2 exceptions to this overall pattern. Across all conditions, women smiled more often than did men, and men had a higher frequency of chin thrusts than did women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counselor deliberate postural lean and communication of facilitative conditions.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 35(4) of Journal of Counseling Psychology (see record 2008-10690-002). The date of receipt indicated for this article was incorrect. The correct date of receipt is provided in the erratum.] This experimental study examined the relation between counselor deliberate postural lean and the communication of intensity, empathic understanding, respect, and genuineness. Results, from 12 male counselors acting as their own controls under three postural lean conditions (forward, backward, and choice) in counseling interaction with female clients, suggested compensatory processes in operation. Making a required lean forward was associated with decreased facilitative levels and backward with increased levels. The latter effects were more marked, with significant differences in intensity and respect. The effects were also more marked with those counselors who, as revealed in their choice session, preferred to move forward rather than backward, with these counselors also being the most effective as assessed by communicated empathy levels. It was concluded that for effective counselors in particular, deliberate postural lean results in a subtle maintenance of an equilibrium of verbal–nonverbal communication behaviors judged as most appropriate to the moment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nonverbal and verbal content behaviors in the prediction of interviewer effectiveness.

Assessed the ecological validity of previous research (e.g., M. B. LaCrosse, 1975; J. R. Graves and J. D. Robinson, 1976) that has suggested that an interviewer's nonverbal behaviors predominate over verbal content in the prediction of interviewer effectiveness ratings. In contrast to earlier investigations, the current study assessed naturally occurring rather than manipulated interviewer behavior and used "client" ratings of effectiveness rather than observer ratings. Data were collected from analog interviews conducted by 40 counseling students with 80 undergraduates. Results indicate that nonverbal interviewer behaviors do not clearly predominate over verbal content behaviors in the prediction of effectiveness ratings. It is suggested that earlier findings of nonverbal superiority are not generalizable to more ecologically valid interview settings. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of nonprofessional counselors' physical attractiveness and sex on perceptions of counselor behavior.

Previous research has suggested that the physical attractiveness of male counselors differentially affects observers' reactions to brief counselor self-introductions. 96 female undergraduates were exposed to audiotaped counseling interviews conducted by nonprofessional counselors of both sexes who were physically anonymous or were identified photographically as physically attractive or unattractive. Dependent measures including the Relationship Inventory were selected on the basis of their relevance to current counseling theory and research and included counselor trait attributions, perceived facilitative conditions, motivations for continuing counseling, and counseling outcome expectations for a variety of presenting problems. Multivariate analysis of the data produced consistent findings which were unmitigated by counselor sex. The counseling behaviors of unattractive counselors were judged to reflect less desirable traits and conditions and engendered weaker commitment and less optimistic expectations than did identical behaviors attributed to physically attractive or anonymous counselors. Conclusions are discussed in terms of counseling conditions which might potentiate or eliminate these initial effects of counselor physical attractiveness. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of objective evidence of expertness, nonverbal behavior, and subject sex on client-perceived expertness.

The effects of objective evidence of specialized training, expert nonverbal behaviors, and S sex were studied in a counseling analog setting. 80 undergraduates viewed videotapes of a standardized counseling interaction between a confederate counselor and client. Ss then rated the counselor on a credibility checklist. The results of a 2?×?2?×?2 ANOVA indicate that both objective evidence and nonverbal behaviors significantly affected perceived expertness and that there was no difference in the credibility ratings of the counselor between male and female Ss. There were mixed interactions from the data. Objective evidence and sex did interact significantly, as did objective evidence and nonverbal behavior. The interaction of sex and nonverbal behavior and of sex, objective evidence, and nonverbal behavior did not achieve significance. Implications for practice and research are discussed. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of objective evidence of expertness and nonverbal behavior on client-perceived expertness.

Studied the effects of objective evidence of specialized training and expert nonverbal behaviors in a videotaped counseling analog setting. 80 female undergraduates viewed videotapes of a standardized counseling interaction between a professional counselor and a confederate client and then rated the counselor on a credibility checklist. Results of the 2-factor ANOVA indicate that each manipulation significantly affected perceived expertness. The expert nonverbal behavior had the greater effect on Ss' perceptions, and there was no interaction on effects. Implications for counseling practice and research are discussed. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of inconsistent verbal–nonverbal communication and counselor response mode on client estimate of counselor regard and effectiveness.

The relative impact of the nonverbal channel during inconsistent verbal–nonverbal communication of counselor regard to client was investigated. 120 undergraduates, assigned to 12 independent groups, viewed videotapes of an analog counseling session that portrayed the various counselor message–response orientation conditions. After viewing the tapes, the Ss rated the counselor on level of counselor regard for client and on counselor effectiveness. Although previous research indicated the dominance of the nonverbal (NV) component of an inconsistent message, the results do not confirm the overall functional superordinancy of the NV channel across all levels of response orientation. An interactive relationship was found, with the NV channel functioning with relatively more impact on the confrontive level of orientation. This finding is considered in terms of the differential communication decoding process and is explained on the basis of stress-induced reduction of cue utilization. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nonverbal communication and counseling outcome.

Nonverbal abilities and behaviors and verbal–nonverbal (VB–NVB) congruence of both counselor and client were studied in relation to judgments by counselors and clients of counseling outcome. 40 university students were clients; 20 counseling or clinical psychology graduate students were counselors. 40 counseling dyads were videotaped during 30-min counseling sessions. NVB abilities were assessed by the Profile of Nonverbal Sensitivity and an encoding task. Raters judged the presence of 7 NVB behaviors for each 5-sec segment of the videotaped session. Congruence was measured through postsession recall by counselor and client of consistency of feelings expressed through VB and NVB channels of communication. Only VB–NVB congruence was significantly related to outcome, suggesting that the NVB dimension is important primarily as it interacts with the VB dimension. Recommendations are made for use of new methodologies in future research to examine the complex interactions involving NVB communication. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Proxemic behavior as a function of inconsistent verbal and nonverbal messages.

An analog study with 40 male and 40 female undergraduates examined the effects of inconsistencies between a counselor's verbal and nonverbal behaviors on client proxemic behavior and ratings of counselor genuineness. Nonverbal behaviors included eye contact, trunk lean, body orientation, and leg positioning. Verbal content reflected either high or low levels of empathic understanding. Ss role-played a standard complaint with a confederate male counselor who communicated either contradictory or consistent verbal and nonverbal messages. Results indicate that inconsistent messages were associated with greater interpersonal distances, especially when the nonverbal messages were negative and the verbal messages were positive. Inconsistent messages also resulted in lower ratings of counselor genuineness. Results support the client-centered definition of congruence and further add to the evidence that spacing behavior is a direct reflection of one's interpersonal attraction. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Body position, facial expression, and verbal behavior during interviews.

The communicative value of body position and facial expression was evaluated by measuring an O's ability to detect a relationship between nonverbal and verbal behavior which had been simultaneously emitted. The verbal and nonverbal stimuli were collected during 2 different standardized stress interviews. Judges (Js) were shown pairs of photographs together with short written speech samples and required on each trial to pick the photograph which matched the verbal behavior. In 4 separate experiments with different groups of Js, accurate judgments were obtained. Evidence for a relationship between nonverbal and verbal behavior simultaneously emitted was replicated across 2 different samples of interview behavior and under 3 cue conditions—seeing the head, body, or whole person. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Decoding skills in nonverbal communication and perceived interviewer effectiveness.

Examined the relationship between decoding ability in nonverbal communication and characteristic verbal and nonverbal behavior of beginning counselors during interviews. There were 17 "good" decoders and 17 "poor" decoders who conducted short interviews with a client; the decoders were assessed by the Profile of Nonverbal Sensitivity. Interviewer behavior was rated subjectively by the client as well as objectively by 2 trained observers who counted the occurrences of certain verbal and nonverbal behaviors. Comparison of good and poor decoders revealed no significant differences between groups on the 2 multivariate sets of ratings for clients and observers. (7 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Race differences, strategy training, and improper inference.

Criticizes B. Bridgeman and J. Buttram's (see record 1975-30982-001) article on the facilitative effects of verbal strategy training or race differences in nonverbal reasoning. It is argued that an experiment involving a Group * Training or No-training design does not logically permit conclusions concerning the genetic or nongenetic causes of the main effect of the group differences or their interaction with treatments; nor can such a design reflect on the culture-fairness of the measuring instrument. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Power of nonverbal cues in counseling interactions: Availability, vividness, or salience?

Tested 3 explanations for the differential impact of verbal and nonverbal cues on perceptions of counselor expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness. These explanations involved cue availability (abundance of nonverbal over verbal cues), vividness (concreteness and imagery-provoking nature of nonverbal cues), and salience—vividness (an interaction between the vividness of the cues and the level of arousal of the perceiver). 45 male and 45 female undergraduates were divided into 6 experimental groups to view tapes of counseling interactions. The tapes included 3 expertness tapes representing 3 levels of verbal/nonverbal cues and 3 attractiveness tapes representing the same 3 levels. The independent variables studied were arousal and number of verbal and nonverbal cues. After viewing both an expertness tape and an attractiveness tape, Ss completed an adjective checklist and an instrument designed to measure dimensions of perceived expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness. Findings suggest that cue availability is not a compelling explanation for the power of nonverbal communications, that vividness accounts for differential cue effectiveness with certain dependent variables, and that salience is not a prerequisite for the vividness effect to occur. (49 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)