Explain which nonverbal behaviors may be employed to exert power and control and examine the link to gender.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

ANS: Power dynamics speak to issues of dominance and subordination. Control references who is in charge—for example, who chooses the topic of conversation, who interrupts, and who defers. There are many ways in which nonverbal behaviors play into power and control; however, the text argues that three categories of nonverbal communication are particularly important to this discussion—proxemics, haptics, and paralanguage. Proxemics refers to space and our use of it. In general, masculine communicators take up more space when sitting and standing, a difference not attributable to body size alone. Also related to space, in heterosexual families, fathers are more likely to have their own room and/or sit at the head of the table than are mothers. Haptics refers to touch, and masculine communicators are more likely to use touch to direct others, assert power, and express sexual interest than are feminine communicators. Paralanguage includes the vocal cues that accompany verbal communication. Masculine communicators typically speak more loudly and for longer periods of time than do feminine communicators; they also use stronger inflection to highlight their ideas. In all of these ways, masculine communicators may use nonverbal communication to exert power and control.