Perceiving nonverbal messages: Effects of immediacy and encoded intent on receiver judgments

Abstract

This study deals with whether a perceiver will distinguish between nonverbal messages sent with specific intent versus those representing a more spontaneous “gestalt” and the extent to which these diverse behavioral modes correlate with the degree of immediacy reflected in the nonverbal behaviors. Despite evidence that largely purposeful nonverbal behaviors are physically different from those encoded with less clear intent, participants (N = 62) saw most nonimmediate behaviors as intentionally sent while immediate behaviors were seen as more unintentional. Behaviors indicative of immediacy were also viewed as directed toward the perceiver and resulted in more favorable evaluations of the message sender. Individuals behaving with greater immediacy were interpreted as being more competent and evaluated more favorably than those using low immediacy. Type of intent had little impact on social perceptions.