Interpersonal Communication- A Mindful Approach to Relationships, 2020a

communication. Albert Mehrabian asserts that this 93% of meaning can be broken into three parts
(Figure 5.2) 4
Mehrabian’s work is widely reported and accepted. Other researchers Birdwhistell and Philpott say
that meaning attributed to nonverbal communication in interactions ranges from 60 to 70%. 5,6 Regardless
of the actual percentage, it is worth noting that the majority of meaning in interaction is deduced from
nonverbal communication.
Complementing
Contradicting
Substituting
Accenting
As we have established, nonverbal
communication plays an important
role in communicating successfully
and effectively. Because nonverbal
communication plays a significant
role in interactions, nonverbal
communication was studied
heavily in the early days of studying
communication. These studies
resulted in the discovery of multiple
utilitarian functions of nonverbal
communication (Figure 5.3)
Repeating
Complementing
Complementing is defined as
nonverbal behavior that is used in
combination with the verbal portion
of the message to emphasize the
Figure 5.3 Six Functions of Nonverbal Communication meaning of the entire message.
An excellent example of
complementing behavior is when a child is exclaiming, “I’m so excited” while jumping up and down. The
child’s body is further emphasizing the meaning of “I’m so excited.”
Regulating
At times, an individual’s nonverbal communication contradicts verbal communication. Recently, when
visiting an aunt’s house, one of the author’s folded her arms. She asked the author if she was cold and if
she needed to turn up the air conditioning. The author said no because she was trying to be polite, but
her aunt did not believe her. The author’s nonverbal communication gave away her actual discomfort! In
this case, the nonverbal communication was truly more meaningful than verbal communication.
Consider a situation where a friend says, “The concert was amazing,” but the friend’s voice is
monotone. A response might be, “oh, you sound real enthused.” Communication scholars refer to this
as “contradicting” verbal and nonverbal behavior. When contradicting occurs, the verbal and nonverbal
messages are incongruent. This incongruence heightens our awareness, and we tend to believe the
nonverbal communication over verbal communication.
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