The Naked Power: Understanding Nonverbal Communications of Power
Because power is something we often avoid discussing openly, its nonverbal communication is fascinating to lay people and psychologists alike. When directly asked, people interpret many different nonverbal signs as indicating high or low power – unfortunately, these ideas are often exaggerated and misguided. Likewise, social psychologists still have no good understanding of the nonverbal cues to power. This article sheds more light on what is actually underlying nonverbal communication of power. We identify two new insights: First, much of the nonverbal communication of power takes places unconsciously and is hard to control. Second, people use abstract schemas to judge power, and they not only apply these schemas to understanding body talk, but also elements of art, advertisement, and architecture.
Most western societies are egalitarian societies. Because the value of equality is held in high regard, Westerners often dislike to talk about, and thereby revealing, who is in charge, who has more to say than others, and who has power (Hofstede, 2001). This makes the nonverbal communication of power and hierarchies, which is present in all societies, all the more important. Which nonverbal cues are associated with power or powerlessness, and where research on this topic is currently going, is the topic of this article.
Lay People Often Get Power Communication Wrong
Nonverbal communication of power seems fascinating to lay people and psychologists alike. For a recent survey of the literature, Judith Hall and her colleagues located 211 studies conducted between 1937 and 2002, and more have been conducted since (Hall, Coats, & Smith LeBeau, 2005). One should suppose that from that many studies, we know already a lot about power. Yet, Hall and colleagues conclude from their survey two uncomforting facts:
1. Lay people probably often see nonverbal communication of power where none is, and over-interpret cues as signalling powereven when they are not diagnostic. For instance, observers interpret smiling, gazing, touching, less pauses, and many other things as indicating power even though Hall and colleagues found little evidence that these signs reliably signal power. Actual relations between power and nonverbal behaviour only existed for more facial expressiveness, more bodily openness, smaller interpersonal distances, less vocal variability, louder voice, more interruptions, and more relaxed sounding voices. Thus, people seem to have somewhat exaggerated views of what communicates power.
2. The studies Hall et al. summarized were very heterogeneous and sometimes contradictory, and we have no good explanations for these contradictions. This indicates that we still know very little about the nonverbal communication of power.
article author(s)
Thomas Schubert
Thomas W. Schubert received his Diploma and PhD in Psychology from the University of Jena in Germany. After staying as a postdoc at the International...more
Steffen Giessner
Steffen Giessner received his MSc degree in Psychology from the University of Kent at Canterbury and his PhD in Psychology from the University of Jena in...more