Review of Psychology

Figure 1
A framework for reviewing recent findings pertaining to nonverbal encoding. The horizontal axis shows that encoding covers a continuum anchored by static and dynamic cues, and the vertical axis covers a continuum anchoredbynonconsciousandconsciousencodingprocesses.Staticreferstoencodedbehaviorthatisrelatively typical for a sender across different contexts. Representative examples of encoded information are shown within the resulting quadrants. The center circle depicts how proximal (e.g., situational factors) and distal (i.e., the process begins in the past; e.g., a sender’s developmental history) time factors may impact the relative location of specific cues—and thus their potential informational value to perceivers—along the two axes.
history) may impact the relative location of specific cues—and thus their potential informational value to perceivers—along the two axes. Eye-tracking technology has uncovered differences in how older and younger senders use their eyes to process emotional facial expressions, with older individualsfixatingmoreonthelowerfaceregions(Chabyetal.2017).Thisgazepatternrepresents apotentialmarkerofolderagethatunfoldsoveralongdurationoftime(i.e.,itisadistalfactor)and is not likely to be under the conscious control of senders (quadrant 1). Infants’ pupils, in contrast, automatically dilate more in response to larger versus smaller depictions of pupils (a proximal factor), suggesting a possible mechanism of arousal contagion (Fawcett et al. 2016) (quadrant 2). In theater, senders may deliberately change their voice to portray a particular character (Cartei & Reby 2012) (quadrant 3); in this case, adopting a role for a specific character would represent a proximal factor, whereas the actor’s ability to convey a character’s voice is a distal factor (practice). With respect to quadrant 4, senders in a work environment may consciously choose to don a new role-specific, company-specific uniform (a proximal time factor; e.g., a waiter at a restaurant), and others may adorn themselves in a manner that reflects longstanding, perhaps culturally specific, traditions (a distal time factor; e.g., the robe worn by leaders of different religions). Below, we are abletodescribeonlysomeofthemostrecentwork,giventhelargeliteratureoneachtopiccovered.