One concept I thought to be interesting from chapter five was how we pick up on someone’s nonverbal cues to make initial judgments about them. As we discussed in last weeks posts, we take in as much information about someone as we can when we first meet them in order to make judgments about them or put them into a category. But who knew we can make these judgments based off of a person’s nonverbal messages? It makes sense, when you think about it. If someone is not making eye contact with you, twirling her hair and checking her cell phone you might assume she is not interested in talking to you and in this case her appearance is irrelevant because her nonverbal actions send the message. What I personally look for when first meeting someone is if they generally present themselves well by standing still and confident, making eye contact actually listening to whatever I’m saying – nonverbal actions like these can say a lot about someone.
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I actually experienced this last night. My boyfriend got home very late from work after his game and he went strait onto his Blackberry and started writing a very long email. Then, did not say anything and turned over and fell asleep. I took this gesture as being very rude and inconsiderate. But when I confronted him about his odd behavior he had just had a very long day at work and was not in the mood to talk. Many nonverbal cues can be perceived in the wrong way. And in some instances like mine verbal communication is need to clarify a situation.
ReplyDeleteI as well think nonverbal cues and initial judgments in very interesting. I think its interesting because it happens all the time. We've all done it and all been apart of it. We hate it when people do it to us, yet we do it to others as well. I feel as though it is an on going never ending process. I think people need to take a step back before they judge. However, often times its difficult to do that because judging has begun to come out so natural. Which, to me is sad. Right off the bat my very best friends will start to judge someone as they walk by, a couple of times I've asked them if they realize what they are saying. Their answer was no, and start to laugh. I thought it was rude and uncalled for, but at the same time I've done it as well. I just hope through this class, reading and learning about this topic will help me judge less, or realize that I can change my first judgment. I do however agree with you that nonverbal messages can say a great deal about a person. If you look closely you can notice the people who don't like to be bothered, or the ones that are open for conversation. I think nonverbal messages and cues are extremely interesting.
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