Abstract
The current paper addresses two methodological problems pertinent to the analysis of observer studies in nonverbal rapport and beyond. These problems concern: (1) the production of standardized stimulus materials that allow for unbiased observer ratings and (2) the objective measurement of nonverbal behaviors to identify the dyadic patterns underlying the observer impressions. We suggest motion capture and character animation as possible solutions to these problems and exemplarily apply the novel methodology to the study of gender and cultural differences in nonverbal rapport. We compared a Western, individualistic culture with an egalitarian gender-role conception (Germany) and a collectivistic culture with a more traditional gender role conceptions (Middle East, Gulf States). Motion capture data were collected for five male and five female dyadic interactions in each culture. Character animations based on the motion capture data served as stimuli in the observation study. Female and male observers from both cultures rated the perceived rapport continuously while watching the 1 min sequences and guessed gender and cultural background of the dyads after each clip. Results show that masking of gender and culture in the stimuli was successful, as hit rates for both aspects remained at chance level. Further the results revealed high levels of agreement in the rapport ratings across gender and culture, pointing to universal judgment policies. A 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 ANOVA for gender and culture of stimuli and observers showed that female dyads were rated significantly higher on rapport across the board and that the contrast between female and male dyads was more pronounced in the Arab sample as compared to the German sample. nonverbal parameters extracted from the motion capture protocols were submitted to a series of algorithms to identify dyadic activity levels and coordination patterns relevant to the perception of rapport. The results are critically discussed with regard to the role of nonverbal coordination as a constituent of rapport.
Highlights
Communication is a complex and highly demanding task
We chose gender and cultural differences for this study for two reasons: first, because both factors are under-investigated with regard to nonverbal rapport; second, because both variables are relevant to stereotype activation and judgment bias (Cuddy et al, 2015; Ellemers, 2018) and are ideal candidates to demonstrate the advantages of the novel methodology
Mean hit rates were M = 10.30, SD = 2.64, t(87) = 1.05, p = 0.30 for gender, and M = 9.97, SD = 2.27, t(87) = −0.14, p = 0.89, for culture. This indicated that the participants were not able to identify reliably the gender or culture of the avatar dyads from their appearance nor from their nonverbal behavior
Summary
Communication is a complex and highly demanding task. It can unfold in a harmonious and effortless way, yet sometimes fail catastrophically. Rapport has been shown to rely on a dyad’s nonverbal expressiveness (Tickle-Degnen, 2006), comprising signals of mutual attentiveness, the reciprocal exchange of positivity cues, and most importantly, the coordination of nonverbal behaviors (Tickle-Degnen and Rosenthal, 1987, 1990; Bernieri, 1988; Bernieri et al, 1996; Grahe and Bernieri, 1999) These coordination patterns include both temporal entrainment (synchrony; Lakin and Chartrand, 2003; Lakens and Stel, 2011; Ramseyer and Tschacher, 2011; Fujiwara and Daibo, 2016) and similarities in form (motor and postural mimicry; Bernieri et al, 1994; Lakin and Chartrand, 2003; Miles et al, 2009). This interpretation remains speculative as the stimulus materials showed numerous confounds between physical appearance cues of the interactors as well as different nonverbal channels such as facial expressions, gestures, body movements and postures
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