Describe the five functions of nonverbal behaviors and provide examples of each function

Answer:

In general, scholars have determined that nonverbal behaviors serve five functions during interaction (Patterson, 1982, 2003). Those five functions are: communicating information, regulating interaction, expressing and managing intimacy, establishing social control, and signaling service-task functions. Most fundamentally, nonverbal messages are used to communicate information. From the receiver's point of view, much of a sender's behavior is potentially informative. For example, when you meet someone for the first time you evaluate the pattern of the sender's behavior to assess a variety of factors. Nonverbal communication also is used to regulate interaction. That is, people use nonverbal behaviors to manage turn-taking during conversation. Thus, if you want to start talking, you might lean forward, look at the current speaker, and even raise one finger. A third function of nonverbal communication, and the most studied, involves expressing and managing intimacy. The degree of your nonverbal involvement with another usually reflects the level of intimacy you desire with that person. People also use nonverbal communication to exert or establish social control, or to exercise influence over other people. Individuals engage in the social control function when they smile at someone they want to do them a favor or when they glare at noisy patrons in a theater to encourage them to be quiet. Finally, nonverbal communication has a service-task function. Behaviors of this kind typically signal close involvement between people in impersonal relationships and contexts. For example, golf pros often stand with their arms around a novice golfer to help her with her golf swing, and massage therapists engage in intimate touch as part of their profession.