NON-VERBAL CODES

Proxemics

Proxemics refers to the study of how space and distance influence communication. We only
need look at the ways in which space shows up in common metaphors to see that space,
communication, and relationships are closely related. For example, when we are content with
and attracted to someone, we say we are “close” to him or her. When we lose connection with
someone, we may say he or she is “distant.” In general, space influences how people
communicate and behave. Smaller spaces with a higher density of people often lead to
breaches of our personal space bubbles. If this is a setting in which this type of density is
expected beforehand, like at a crowded concert or on a train during rush hour, then we make
various communicative adjustments to manage the space issue. Unexpected breaches of
personal space can lead to negative reactions, especially if we feel someone has violated our
space voluntarily, meaning that a crowding situation didn’t force them into our space.
Additionally, research has shown that crowding can lead to criminal or delinquent behavior,
known as a “mob mentality” (Andersen, 1999). To better understand how proxemics
functions in nonverbal communication, we will more closely examine the proxemic distances
associated with personal space and the concept of territoriality.
  Proxemic Distances

We all have varying definitions of what our “personal space” is, and these definitions are
contextual and depend on the situation and the relationship. Although our bubbles are
invisible, people are socialized into the norms of personal space within their cultural group.
Scholars have identified four zones for US Americans, which are public, social, personal, and
intimate distance (Hall, 1968). The zones are more elliptical than circular, taking up more
space in our front, where our line of sight is, than at our side or back where we can’t monitor
what people are doing. You can see how these zones relate to each other and to the individual
in Figure 4.1 “Proxemic Zones of Personal Space”. Even within a particular zone,
interactions may differ depending on whether someone is in the outer or inner part of the
zone.

 Public Space (12 Feet or More)

Public and social zones refer to the space four or more feet away from our body, and the
communication that typically occurs in these zones is formal and not intimate. Public space
starts about twelve feet from a person and extends out from there. This is the least personal of
the four zones and would typically be used when a person is engaging in a formal speech and
is removed from the audience to allow the audience to see or when a high-profile or powerful
person like a celebrity or executive maintains such a distance as a sign of power or for safety
and security reasons. In terms of regular interaction, we are often not obligated or expected to
acknowledge or interact with people who enter our public zone. It would be difficult to have
a deep conversation with someone at this level because you have to speak louder and don’t
have the physical closeness that is often needed to promote emotional closeness and/or
establish rapport.

 Social Space (4–12 Feet)

Communication that occurs in the social zone, which is four to twelve feet away from our
body, is typically in the context of a professional or casual interaction, but not intimate or
public. This distance is preferred in many professional settings because it reduces the
suspicion of any impropriety. The expression “keep someone at an arm’s length” means that
someone is kept out of the personal space and kept in the social/professional space. If two
people held up their arms and stood so just the tips of their fingers were touching, they would
be around four feet away from each other, which is perceived as a safe distance because the
possibility for intentional or unintentional touching doesn’t exist. It is also possible to have
people in the outer portion of our social zone but not feel obligated to interact with them, but
when people come much closer than six feet to us then we often feel obligated to at least
acknowledge their presence. In many typically sized classrooms, much of your audience for a
speech will actually be in your social zone rather than your public zone, which is actually
beneficial because it helps you establish a better connection with them. Students in large
lecture classes should consider sitting within the social zone of the professor, since students
who sit within this zone are more likely to be remembered by the professor, be acknowledged
in class, and retain more information because they are close enough to take in important
nonverbal and visual cues. Students who talk to me after class typically stand about four to
five feet away when they speak to me, which keeps them in the outer part of the social zone,
typical for professional interactions. When students have more personal information to
discuss, they will come closer, which brings them into the inner part of the social zone.

 Personal Space (1.5–4 Feet)

Personal and intimate zones refer to the space that starts at our physical body and extends
four feet. These zones are reserved for friends, close acquaintances, and significant others.
Much of our communication occurs in the personal zone, which is what we typically think of
as our “personal space bubble” and extends from 1.5 feet to 4 feet away from our body. Even
though we are getting closer to the physical body of another person, we may use verbal
communication at this point to signal that our presence in this zone is friendly and not
intimate. Even people who know each other could be uncomfortable spending too much time
in this zone unnecessarily. This zone is broken up into two subzones, which helps us
negotiate close interactions with people we may not be close to interpersonally (McKay,
Davis, & Fanning, 1995). The outer-personal zone extends from 2.5 feet to 4 feet and is
useful for conversations that need to be private but that occur between people who are not
interpersonally close. This zone allows for relatively intimate communication but doesn’t
convey the intimacy that a closer distance would, which can be beneficial in professional
settings. The inner-personal zone extends from 1.5 feet to 2.5 feet and is a space reserved for
communication with people we are interpersonally close to or trying to get to know. In this
subzone, we can easily touch the other person as we talk to them, briefly placing a hand on
his or her arm or engaging in other light social touching that facilitates conversation, self-
disclosure, and feelings of closeness.
  Intimate Space

As we breach the invisible line that is 1.5 feet from our body, we enter the intimate zone,
which is reserved for only the closest friends, family, and romantic/intimate partners. It is
impossible to completely ignore people when they are in this space, even if we are trying to
pretend that we’re ignoring them. A breach of this space can be comforting in some contexts
and annoying or frightening in others. We need regular human contact that isn’t just verbal
but also physical. We have already discussed the importance of touch in nonverbal
communication, and in order for that much-needed touch to occur, people have to enter our
intimate space. Being close to someone and feeling their physical presence can be very
comforting when words fail. There are also social norms regarding the amount of this type of
closeness that can be displayed in public, as some people get uncomfortable even seeing
others interacting in the intimate zone. While some people are comfortable engaging in or
watching others engage in PDAs (public displays of affection) others are not.

So what happens when our space is violated? Although these zones are well established in
research for personal space preferences of US Americans, individuals vary in terms of their
reactions to people entering certain zones, and determining what constitutes a “violation” of
space is subjective and contextual. For example, another person’s presence in our social or
public zones doesn’t typically arouse suspicion or negative physical or communicative
reactions, but it could in some situations or with certain people. However, many situations
lead to our personal and intimate space being breached by others against our will, and these
breaches are more likely to be upsetting, even when they are expected. We’ve all had to get
into a crowded elevator or wait in a long line. In such situations, we may rely on some verbal
communication to reduce immediacy and indicate that we are not interested in closeness and
are aware that a breach has occurred. People make comments about the crowd, saying,
“We’re really packed in here like sardines,” or use humor to indicate that they are pleasant
and well adjusted and uncomfortable with the breach like any “normal” person would be.
Interestingly, as we will learn in our discussion of territoriality, we do not often use verbal
communication to defend our personal space during regular interactions. Instead, we rely on
more nonverbal communication like moving, crossing our arms, or avoiding eye contact to
deal with breaches of space.

Chronemics

Chronemics is defined as “how humans perceive, structure, and use time as communication”
(Burgoon, Guerrero & Floyd, 2016, p. 187).  Time organisation pervades the school system,
through structured class times, exam time lengths, and even the efficient use of time. As a
result, the teacher’s control of classroom timing can greatly influence the communication and
interaction that occurs in the classroom. Chronemics incorporates many features within this
non-verbal means of communication such as answer time, the allocation of time to different
topics, student’s biological clocks, and whether students are monochromic or polychromic.
Answer time is an element of chronemics that can create different effect for the classroom
based on how the teacher utilises this time. Simmonds and Cooper (2011) explain these
various outcomes of answer time, describing that enough answer time must be allowed for
students to answer questions, with teachers rarely providing adequate time for students.

Answer time is critical to student’s communication as it allows them to process the question,
formulate an answer, and think about how they are going to communicate their answer to the
teacher. Teachers often make the mistake of taking the silence of answer time as an indicator
that students don’t know the answer, and as a result give the answer away to the students to
fill the silence (Li & Arshad, 2014), when in fact students were using the time to generate an
answer. Answer time is particularly important for students where English is not their first
language. These students may struggle in the comprehension of the English language as well
as speaking it, and so longer answer time is critical to their ability to learn. A lack of answer
time, may add pressure to these students and result a lowering their self-confidence through
their inability to answer questions in the time given. This further highlights the critical
importance of the use of chronemics in the classroom, as it can be a non-verbal tool for
promoting student interaction through the provision of answers. Teachers can improve the
communication and learning of students by extending the time they give to students to answer
questions which in turn, will also let students formulate higher quality answers with the
additional time they are given.
Chronemics should also be considered when communicating content of different topics
within subjects. Since some topics are harder than others, the allocation of time spent on each
topic should appropriately reflect the difficulty and amount of content involved in each
particular topic. Simmonds and Cooper (2011) stress that the variations in time allocation for
each topic communicate to students the importance of each topic, and the effort and attention
required to learn it. Similarly, the time a teacher spends communicating to individual students
signals to the student the attitude the teacher has towards them. Teachers who constantly
interact with students communicates to those particular students that they are important, and
conversely, students who do not receive frequent individual help from the teacher may feel
inadequate in the classroom as it can be a signal that those students that they are not worth the
teachers time. Therefore, it is important to be wary that all students are receiving adequate
help and attention from the teacher. Overall, chronemics revolves around the use of time to
send non-verbal signal to students as a means of communication. These signals can help
reinforce messages that teachers convey through verbal communications, bolstering their
overall effectiveness as a communicator.

Haptic
Haptic communication is a branch of nonverbal communication that refers to the ways in
which people and animals communicate and interact via the sense of touch. Touch is the most
sophisticated and intimate of the five senses.[1] Touch or haptics, from the ancient Greek
word haptikos is extremely important for communication; it is vital for survival.[2]
Touch is the first sense to develop in the fetus.[3] The development of an infant's haptic senses
and how it relates to the development of the other senses such as vision has been the target of
much research. Human babies have been observed to have enormous difficulty surviving if
they do not possess a sense of touch, even if they retain sight and hearing.[4] Infants who can
perceive through touch, even without sight and hearing, tend to fare much better.[

Touch can come in many different forms, some can promote physical and psychological well-
being. A warm, loving touch can lead to positive outcomes while a violent touch can
ultimately lead to a negative outcome. The sense of touch allows one to experience different
sensations such as: pleasure, pain, heat, or cold. One of the most significant aspects of touch
is the ability to convey and enhance physical intimacy.[7] The sense of touch is the
fundamental component of haptic communication for interpersonal relationships. Touch can
be categorized in many terms such as positive, playful, control, ritualistic, task-related or
unintentional. It can be both sexual (kissing is one example that some perceived as sexual),
and platonic (such as hugging or a handshake). Striking, pushing, pulling,
pinching, kicking, strangling and hand-to-hand fighting are forms of touch in the context
of physical abuse.