Two things that stand out during the third and last presidential debate are the nonverbal communication between the two candidates and Joe the plumber. During the debate we noticed both the candidates’ nonverbal skills from headshakes, smirks, rolling eyes, raising eyebrows and more. Voters unfamiliar with the intricacies of political issues and unmotivated to study candidates’ policy proposals may turn to personal character as a criterion for making their choice (Kopacz, 2006).
Joe the plumber was given his fifteen minutes of fame on national television, while the two presidential candidates tried their best to relate to his needs and the future prosperity of millions of people like him. The Similarity theory proposes that individuals seek interaction and identification with similar others (Duck, 1994 as cited in Kopacz, 2006).
I notice this theory at my workplace where people with similar interests, ideas, values get together and form a group. They go out for lunch, meet-up during breaks, chat over the internet, and even plan to get together outside work to socialize. I completely agree with this theory, since I associate myself to people with similar traits.
Kopacz, M. (2006). Nonverbal communication as a persuasion tool: Current status and future directions. Rocky Mountain Communication Review, 3(1), 1-19.
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1 comment:
Raj-
Great pictures to illustrate the candidates' non-verbal comunication! There was definitely a lot of it going on during the last debate.
Liz
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