Verbal Appeal and Body Language

Verbal Appeal and Body Language

Kerwin Misael B. Hipolito

Our Lady of Fatima University

Verbal Appeal and Body Language

Abstract

Non-verbal communication plays a significant role in communicating towards other people. The

experiment conducted involves how verbal appeal and body language affects social impression

with other people wherein the participants were instructed to collect one (1) peso coin from each

random person they could approach. The results were compared in terms of the participant’s

gender wherein females scored a higher average compared to males, this could be attributed to

women’s delicate tone of voice and body language as well as their level of proximity towards the

people they interact with.

Verbal Appeal and Body Language

Verbal Appeal and Body Language

Back in the 1970’s, psychologist Albert Mehrabian (1971) established the rule “7/38/55”

stating that the way we communicate is a combination of the words we say which is 7%, the tone

of our voice about 38%, and the majority of it comes from our body language which is 55% (as

cited in Hale, Freed, Ricotta, Farris, & Smith, 2017). It is not surprising that the involvement of

nonverbal communication towards socializing is of great importance. As stated by Jandt (2001),

any form of communication without the use of language plays a vital role in completing verbal

messages (as cited in Bellou & Gkorezis, 2016). In general, people have the capability of forming

great social impressions by interacting through various communication channels such as

appearance features, facial expressions, gestures, and verbal content (Koppensteiner & Siegle,

2017).

The present study conducted aims to know how verbal expressions and gestures as well as

body language and physical contact affect social impressions.

Methods

Participants

Ten (10) 3rd year psychology students (3 male and 7 female) were chosen to be the

participants of the experiment.

Materials

No materials were needed to conduct the experiment.

Verbal Appeal and Body Language

Procedure

Participants were instructed to collect one (1) peso coin from other people within one (1)

hour without giving any reason or purpose to where the coin is going to be used as well as to

observe how different approaches to people such as verbal appeal or tone of voice and body

language differ in terms of receiving a higher chance of getting a coin.

Results

Table 1
Coins Coins
Male Female
Collected Collected
Kerwin 1 Luvlie 23
Jordan 14 Joicy 23
Sean 47 Princess 16
Total: 62 Anne 18
Kristina 21
Joyce 46
Angel 44
Total: 191
Table 1 shows the amount of coins that were collected by the participants and were

compared by obtaining the average coins that were collected by the participants in terms of gender.

Total number of coins divided by number of participants wherein males collected a total of 62

coins divided by 3 = 20.7 on the other hand females collected a total of 191 divided by 7 = 27.29.

Based on the calculated average between both genders, it shows that females were able to obtain

a higher average compared to males. In relation to this, a previous study that focused on how an

individual’s gender affects recognition of emotional expressions conveyed by other people’s

actions wherein females showed excellence in recognizing angry actions and on the other hand
Verbal Appeal and Body Language

males over-performed at recognizing happy actions (Sokolov, Krüger, Enck, Krägeloh-Mann, &

Pavlova, 2011).

Discussion

The study being conducted showed that females scored a higher average compared to their

male counterparts. This could be due to the fact that females are better at expressing body emotions

through their body languages as well as their tone of voice. As stated by Bader (2016), that females

are more likely to have closer proximity with each other, maintain eye contact and gesture more

frequently when talking to someone whereas males hold their distance and rarely makes direct eye

contact and express less gestures. Physical appearance might also play an important role in

establishing social impression towards other people. Appearance does not only matter when a

person’s choices are dependent on their reactions to faces but also when objective information is

part of those choices, for example facial appearances predicts criminal justice decisions

(Eberhardt, Davies, Purdie-Vaughns, & Johnson, 2006; Stewart, 1980; Zebrowitz & McDonald,

1991; Zebrowitz & Montepare, 2008).

To conclude the results of the study, an individual who aims to form great and powerful

social impressions with other people should consider wearing appropriate attire that matches the

number of people or the type of people one is going to deal with. In occasions that require a person

to initiate a private discussion, one must be able to provide appropriate body language based on

the person’s gender and engaging in a delicate tone of voice to be able to form positive social

impressions.
Verbal Appeal and Body Language

References

Bader, O., (2016). Gender Differences in Body Language Communication.

https://prezi.com/dotuyyh_dba3/gender-differences-in-body-language-communication/

Bellou, V., & Gkorezis, P. (2016). Unveiling the link between facets of positive nonverbal

communication and perceived leader effectiveness: A moderated mediation model.

Human Performance, 29(4), 310–330. https://doi.org/10.1080/08959285.2016.1157597

Hale, A. J., Freed, J., Ricotta, D., Farris, G., & Smith, C. C. (2017). Twelve tips for effective

body language for medical educators. Medical Teacher, 39(9), 914–919.

https://doi.org/10.1080/0142159X.2017.1324140

Koppensteiner, M., & Siegle, G. (2017). Speaking through the body. Politics & the Life

Sciences, 36(2), 104–113. https://doi.org/10.1017/pls.2017.23

Sokolov, A. A., Krüger, S., Enck, P., Krägeloh-Mann, I., & Pavlova, M. A. (2011). Gender

Affects Body Language Reading. Frontiers in Psychology, 2.

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00016

Zebrowitz, L. A., & Montepare, J. M. (2008). Social Psychological Face Perception: Why

Appearance Matters. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2(3), 1497–1517.

doi:10.1111/j.1751-9004.2008.00109.x
Verbal Appeal and Body Language