The Social Context of Nonverbal Behavior

This volume presents, in an integrated framework, the newest, most contemporary perspectives on the role of nonverbal behavior in social interaction. The book includes empirically-grounded work and theories that are central to our understanding of the reciprocal influences between nonverbal behavior and social variables. In doing so, it contributes to the on-going controversy now shaping the field regarding the degree to which nonverbal behavior represents social, as opposed to biological, forces. The volume also highlights a number of recent subareas in the domain of nonverbal behavior that hold much promise, including the role of nonverbal behavior in group membership and media influences on nonverbal behavior. The proposed volume also presents data and theories that have applied value, useful to people working in such fields as communication, psychotherapy, and counseling. Finally, the volume gathers contributors in different sub-fields that are rarely presented jointly, such family and media socialization factors.