Reported Attitude Scores Based On Positive versus Negative

Nonverbal Cues

Alexandra Fischbach, Christina Lin, Kristyn Shea, Victoria Timmel

Providence College, Providence, RI

Acknowledgements: We would like to thank Victoria Templer Ph.D, Mrs. Mullen the Providence College Psychology Department Secretary, Psi Chi and all of our participants for making this experiment possible.

Aspects of communicating that excludes spoken language, i.e. gestures, facial expressions, body

language, tone, eye contact

Defining Nonverbal Communication

We investigated the effect of different forms of nonverbal communication on a participant’s

reported attitude.

Example Follow-Up Attitude Survey Questions.

Negative nonverbal cues resulted in lower reported attitude scores when compared to positive nonverbal cues.

*p=.027

N=26All female participants

*Q12. I am in a better mood leaving this experience than I was before

1 2 3 4 5Strongly disagree Neutral Strongly agree

Q6. I felt happy during this experience 1 2 3 4 5

Strongly disagree Neutral Strongly agree

Previous Research

Q4. I did not feel at ease during this experience 1 2 3 4 5

Strongly disagree Neutral Strongly agree

We found that participants’ reported attitude scores were higher in response to positive nonverbal cues and lower in response to negative nonverbal cues

Mean Variance Std. Deviation N of items50.3077 23.231 4.81983 11

Mean Variance Std. Deviation N of items34.0000 61.333 7.83156 11

Scale Statistics

Q: Were participants’ attitudes on the follow-up survey affected by which nonverbal cue

was presented to them?Hypothesis: When using an identical

script, participants experiencing positive nonverbal cues will self-report a higher

attitude survey score when compared to participants who receive negative

nonverbal cues.

Results

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*p=.006

Question 12 assessed general mood of participant after the experiment so we isolated the results for just that question to evaluate participants’ overall general attitude after taking part

in our experiment

Heisel, M. J., & Mongrain, M. (2004). Facial Expressions and Ambivalence: Looking for Conflict in All the Right Faces. Journal Of Nonverbal Behavior, 28(1), 35-52.

Negative Cues

Positive Cues

Cronbach’s Alpha Score for Positive Cues: α = .832

Cronbach’s Alpha Score for Negative Cues: α = .865

Negative Cues

Positive Cues

Various forms of nonverbal expressions displayed by women have an effect on their husbands’ moods and reactions (Heisel & Mongrain, 2004). A higher frequency of women’s negative expressions predicted significant increases in men’s uneasiness and anxiety (Heisel & Mongrain, 2004). Here we examined positive and negative

nonverbal cues of women on women’s attitudes. We hypothesize that though identical scripts will be used in which students are asked about their experience at

Providence College, negative nonverbal cues will decrease participants’ overall mood, but positive nonverbal cues will not.

Main Research Question and Hypothesis