CONVERSATIONAL CUES, INTERPERSONAL JUDGEMENTS, AND THE DECISION TO SPEAK

Abstract

What matters more: what a person says, or how they say it? Words (verbal content) are the carriers of meaning and define conversations. But how someone says something, including facial expressions and body language (nonverbal content) and tone of voice (paralinguistic content) shape how this meaning is interpreted. My work suggests that “What matters more?” may not be the right question: it is the interplay of what people say and how they say it that defines the social world. This dissertation aims to explore the critical role of nonverbal and paralinguistic content—alongside verbal content—in shaping how we create interpersonal perceptions about others. This work begins to uncover how perceptions of others’ nonverbal and paralinguistic cues shape decisions to speak up, or not, in dyadic conversations, group meetings, and classrooms.