Conflict and nonverbal communication are two of the most important subject matters in interpersonal communication. From this, one would assume that there would be lots of studies done to see the relation between these two important concepts. Fortunately there was some studies done to examine these relations, while most were not solely focused on this, they did discuss these ideas. But when it came to examining the relation of conflict to tone of voice, movement and gestures it was lacking in studies. In this paper I plan to explain the concepts of conflict and nonverbal communication, I will also make and argument for why it is important to continue to research the relation between conflict and nonverbal communication, specially tone of voice, …show more content…
Conflict has long held a negative association, because we “learn that conflict doesn’t usually feel good” (Floyd, 2011, pg. 355). We also tend to assume conflict can and frequently does ascend to aggression and physical violence (Floyd, 2011). A “study found that 12 percent of women and 11 percent of men had committed at least one violent act…during a conflict episode within the previous year” (Floyd, 2011, pg. 355). These harmful actions are what help to reiterate the negative of conflict, and is a con to conflict.
Another con of conflict is the fact that it can be either direct or indirect. When dealt with in a direct way, conflict is not so bad. It allows the parties to work through the conflict and resolve the issue faster. A con to the direct approach is it may cause emotions to run high and make the situation worse (Floyd, 2011). When conflict is indirect this where conflict goes bad. When it is dealt with in an indirect way the conflict festers and is not discussed and worked through for quite a while (Floyd, 2011). This intrinsic part of conflict tends to increase the issues within the
…show more content…
Nonverbal communication is defined by Floyd as “behaviors and characteristics that convey meaning without the use of words” (2011, pg. 179). From when we were young we have been taught to read the nonverbal cues that others give to us. When we are getting differing messages from someone’s verbal and nonverbal communication we tend to believe what people show us with their bodies compared to their verbal message (Floyd, 2011). The reason we tend to believe nonverbal signals over verbal messages is because “people have a harder time controlling nonverbal signals than verbal ones” (Floyd, 2011, pg. 182). A person’s nonverbal actions tend to “more accurately reflect what a person is really thinking or feeling” (Floyd, 2011, pg. 182). Nonverbal communication signals are more truthful and accurate to what the sender is feeling
Nonverbal communication surrounds us all the time. “Nonverbal communication is all aspects of communication other than words” (Wood, 2016, p. 135). It is not communication with words, but we use nonverbal communication when we talk. We use nonverbal communication without even realizing it in every facet of our lives. This type of communication can be challenging depending on someone’s culture. Something that means one thing in America, can mean something totally different in another country. It is important to know this so that you don’t offend someone from another culture (Wood, 2016, p. 149).
Sreenivas, I. (1997) The positive aspects of conflict. Source: Business Journal Serving San Jose & Silicon Valley, 07/07/97, Vol. 15 Issue 10, p21, 2p, 1bw. Available: www.wls.lib.ny.us/databases/ebsco.com 06/11/99
In every society nonverbal communication is one of the most powerful tools that a person can use to interpret the message that is being delivered. Even though verbal communication is fairly straightforward, nonverbal communication allows others to sense the true emotions of the person that is expressing them. For example even though a person may say that they are not irritated, their usage of voice may display otherwise. Nonverbal communication not only reveals hidden messages, but it also complements, substitutes, and exaggerates verbal communication.
In this assignment, we made observations of nonverbal behaviors which are utilized in everyday life as a form of communication whether we know it or not. There are many ways that individuals’ are capable of communicating without even saying anything, such as, an individual rolling their eyes can display they’re annoyed, smiling at someone can portray that the individual is happy, and so on. Nonverbal communication uses many different aspects of life to portray meaning, such as, behaviors, attributes, symbols, or objects (Seiler, Beall, & Mazer, 2015, p. 109). When partaking in this assignment, I found that utilizing nonverbal communication was much easier than verbal, but I did feel peculiar when participating in these acts. The goal for the assignment was to find a nonverbal norm that we wanted to violate, and then we needed to violate this norm three different times. Once we had violated the norm we needed to observe and analyze the reactions we received. The norms that we had the option to violate were kinesics, oculesics, haptics, etc. I just so happen to pick kinesics, which is using movements or gestures to portray nonverbal communication.
Nonverbal communication is rich in meaning. Everyone communicates through nonverbal gestures and motions. I realized that you can decipher a lot from an individual or individuals by just paying close attention to what they do, and that words are not really necessary. Watching two people interacting, I figured that they are really close by their space communication, eye language, and body movements.
Every communication interaction involves two parts: the verbal and the nonverbal. Furthermore, every person is always communicating even when they are not saying a word, thus, it is possible to send an exclusively nonverbal message but it is not possible to send an exclusively verbal message. Nonverbal cues in the interaction are always more powerful indicators of what a speaker means and what the speaker feels. Consider a very simple example: a mother tells her two-year old to stop running around the house but as she makes her direction, she is smiling. The toddler gets two messages: verbally to stop running; nonverbally the smile means mom is pleased with what he is doing. Which direction will the child follow; probably, the second one - mom is pleased regardless of her words so he will continue doing what he was doing.
Good communication is an essentialvalue for successful relationships, whether personal or professional. Many researchers have stated that most of our communication is non-verbal. Non-verbal communication includes body language, facial expressions, gestures, eye contact, posture, and the tone of our voice. The ability to understand and use non-verbal communication is great skills that will help individualsconnect with others, when trying express feelings, handlingdifficultsituations and creating relationships with other in various places.Non-verbal communication is the body way of sending messages between people. These messages can be sent through emotions, gestures, engagement, voice tone, posture, and clothing.
Our behavior or conflict style tells a lot about us as humans. It is an important piece of life’s puzzles, and how we go about living a healthy life. Our particular path decides where conflict will lead to, or if it could be resolved quickly with everyone feeling content. However, our non-verbal behavior could indicate when a person is upset or anoid.This is usually related to unmet needs or goals (Steve A. Beebe, 2008, p. 191).
It’s amazing how much simple supportive gestures can affect us. Based on findings from this experiment, I learned that words can literally hurt you, in a sense. I also learned that nonverbal communication can be more than just gestures and eye contact. Now, I know that even the tone of voice you use when talking is a form of nonverbal communication.
Nonverbal communication does not rely on the use of words to convey its meaning. “Nonverbal communication is usually understood as the process of communication through sending and receiving wordless messages. These nonverbal messages can be transmitted by bodily gestures, posture, facial expressions, and eye contact” (Subramani 2010). Nonverbal communication is simply that, communication without words. Nonverbal communication is present everday in our society. It goes hand in hand with verbal communication. It complements and enhances spoken words. According to David McNeill, gestures have two core features: they carry meaning, and are synchronous with speech. He goes on to say, “gesture and speech express the same underlying idea unit but express it in their own ways.”
Conflict is unavoidable and connected to a world where different ideas and opinions are challenged. Negative conflict occurs when voices are not expressed appropriately, discussions are not in control or different parties reject moving forward with a solution. There is difficulty resolving disagreements because there are multiple reactions to disputes. However, a positive conflict supports debates without a destructive outcome. They improve communication, introduce principles that are important to others, and reduce chaos. On the other hand, the approach that a person uses to address conflict dictates the outcome they receive. Methods for resolving conflict include avoiding the problem, smoothing out a situation, competing against the ideas
When we communicate, we can say a lot without speaking, through our body, our posture, tone of voice and the expression on our face all display a message. If our feelings don’t fit with our words, it is often the body language that gets heard and believed. Nonverbal communication is a rapidly flowing interactive process. Being aware and understanding the cues you may be sending along with the cues others send and pick up from your body language, may not be showing what you are really trying to communicate to others at that moment.
We each possess unique ideas, opinions, beliefs, and feelings about specific situations in life. This uniqueness is a large part of what makes us human. Because we all have our own individual way of looking at things, we each have a different viewpoint on what is proper or improper. With all that variation in society conflict is inevitable! Conflict is antagonistic in nature and we all must find ways to work through conflict issues both at work and at home. This paper describes different types of conflict, the influences I personally had in learning to deal with those conflicts, some of the conflicts that I commonly experience, how I go about dealing with those conflicts, and how conflict affects me on a personal level.
In American colloquial English, the word “conflict” has come to be used almost exclusively to convey a negative experience or encounter such as a war, battle, fight, or other dispute. Current conflicts in 2016 include the United States’ wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the presidential election, and Black Lives Matter vs. municipal police departments. However, one of the definitions of the word “conflict” includes a “mental struggle resulting from incompatible or opposing needs, drives, wishes, or external or internal demands” (Full definition of conflict, n.d.). The important part to note in this definition is that while the existing “opposing needs, drives, wishes, or external or internal demands,” may be incompatible, the use of the word,
...tention to how people react to one another’s comments, guessing the relationship between the people and guessing how each feels about what is being said. This can inform individuals to better understand the use of body language when conversing with other people. It is also important to take into account individual differences. Different cultures use different non-verbal gestures. Frequently, when observing these gestures alone the observer can get the wrong impression, for instance, the listener can subconsciously cross their arms. This does not mean that they are bored or annoyed with the speaker; it can be a gesture that they are comfortable with. Viewing gestures as a whole will prevent these misunderstandings. Non-verbal gestures are not only physical, for example; the tone of voice addressing a child will be different from the way it is addressed to an adult.