Clothing and Other Artifacts
Objectics, or object language, refers to the study of the human use of clothing and other artifacts as nonverbal codes. Artifacts are ornaments or adornments you display that hold communicative potential, including jewelry, hairstyles, cosmetics, automobiles, canes, watches, shoes, portfolios, hats, glasses, tattoos, body piercings, and even the fillings in teeth. Your clothing and other adornments communicate your age, gender, status, role, socioeconomic class, group memberships, personality, and relation to the opposite sex. Dresses are seldom worn by men, low-cut gowns are not the choice of shy women, bright colors are avoided by reticent people, and the most recent Paris fashions are seldom seen in the small towns of America.
These cues also indicate the time in history, the time of day, the climate, and one’s culture (Frith, Hong, & Ping Shaw, 2004). Clothing and artifacts provide physical and psychological protection, and they are used to spur sexual attraction and to indicate self-concept. Your clothing and artifacts clarify the sort of person you believe you are (Fisher, 1975). They permit personal expression (Boswell, 2006), and they satisfy your need for creative self-expression (Horn, 1975). A person who exhibits an interest in using clothing as a means of expression may be demonstrating a high level of self-actualization (Perry, Schutz, & Rucker, 1983). For example, an actress who always dresses in expensive designer dresses may be showing everyone that she is exactly what she always wanted to be.
Many studies have established a relationship between an individual’s clothing and artifacts and his or her characteristics. Conforming to current styles is correlated with an individual’s desire to be accepted and liked (Taylor & Compton, 1968). In addition, individuals feel that clothing is important in forming first impressions (Henricks, Kelley, & Eicher, 1968).
Perhaps of more importance are the studies that consider the relationship between clothing and an observer’s perception of that person. In an early study, clothing was shown to affect others’ impressions of status and personality traits (Douty, 1963). People also seem to base their acceptance of others on their clothing and artifacts. In another early study, women who were asked to describe the most popular women they knew cited clothing as the most important characteristic (Williams & Eicher, 1966).
Clothing also communicates authority and people’s roles. Physicians have historically worn a white coat to indicate their role. For many people the white coat signified healing and better health. As the white coat has begun to be phased out, however, the physician’s ability to persuade patients to follow advice may have declined as well. Thus the physician may need to learn alternative symbolic means of persuasion (Panja, 2004).
Body modifications are a type of artifact. They include tattoos and piercing, which have been popular in recent years. Although they can be removed, the procedures may be both costly and time intensive. What do tattoos signal to others? Most people probably choose to adorn themselves with tattoos and piercings because they believe it adds to their overall attractiveness. A recent study, however, showed some different findings. Men with tattoos were viewed as more dominant than nontattooed men while women with tattoos were seen as less healthy than women without tattoos. These findings hold implications for a biological signaling effect of tattoos (Wohlrab, Fink, Kappeler, & Brewer, 2009).
What Are Some Ways to Improve Nonverbal Communication?
Sensitivity to nonverbal cues is highly variable among people (Rosenthal, Hall, Matteg, Rogers, & Archer, 1979). You can improve your understanding of nonverbal communication, though, by being sensitive to context, audience, and feedback.
The context includes the physical setting, the occasion, and the situation. In conversation your vocal cues are rarely a problem unless you stutter, stammer, lisp, or suffer from some speech pathology. Paralinguistic features loom large in importance in small-group communication, in which you have to adapt to the distance and to a variety of receivers. These features are perhaps most important in public speaking because you have to adjust volume and rate, you have to enunciate more clearly, and you have to introduce more vocal variety to keep the audience’s attention. The strategic use of pauses and silence is also more apparent in public speak- ing than it is in an interpersonal context in conversations or small-group discussion.
The occasion and physical setting also affect the potential meaning of a nonverbal cue. For example, when would it be appropriate for you to wear a cap over unwashed, uncombed hair and when would it be interpreted as inappropriate? The distance at which you communicate may be different based on the setting and the occasion: You may stand farther away from people in formal situations when space allows, but closer to family members or to strangers in an elevator.
The audience makes a difference in your nonverbal communication, so you have to adapt. When speaking to children, you must use a simple vocabulary and careful enunciation, articulation, and pronunciation. With an older audience or with younger audiences whose hearing has been impaired by too much loud music, you must adapt your volume. Generally, children and older people in both interpersonal and public-speaking situations appreciate slower speech. Also, adaptation to an audience may determine your choice of clothing, hairstyle, and jewelry. For instance, a shaved head, a facial piercing, and a shirt open to the navel will not go over well in a job interview unless you are trying for a job as an entertainer.
Your attention to giving feedback can be very important in helping others interpret your nonverbal cues that might otherwise distract your listeners. For example, some pregnant women avoid questions and distraction by wearing a shirt that says, “I’m not fat, I’m pregnant”; such feedback prevents listeners from wondering instead of listening. Similarly, your listeners’ own descriptive feedback—giving quizzical looks, staring, nodding off—can signal you to talk louder, introduce variety, restate your points, or clarify your message.
If your conversational partner or audience does not provide you with feedback, what can you do? Practice asking questions and checking on the perceptions of others with whom you communicate. Silence has many meanings, and you some- times must take great effort to interpret the lack of feedback in a communicative setting. You can also consider your past experience with particular individuals or a similar audience. Do they ever provide feedback? Under what circumstances are they expressive? How can you become more accurate in your interpretation of their feedback?
PRACTICAL ASSIGNMENTS