Expectancy Violations Theory

Theory Originator: Judee Burgoon

Academic Area & Rank: Communication, Professor

Institutional Affiliation: The University of Arizona

Expectancy Violations Theory

D-Epistemology: Social Scientific/Objectivist Questions/Problems: What happens when

someone performs a nonverbal behavior that surprises you? How are perceptions of surprising and/or ambiguous nonverbal behavior related to interpersonal attraction, credibility, influence, and involvement?

D-Method: Experimental, Survey Data: Nonverbal human behaviors (e.g., physical

touch, physical space, eye gaze, facial gestures, body posture and lean)

Key Terms and Concepts

Proxemics: The study of people’s use of (interpersonal) space (an indicator or cultural norms)

Proxemic Zones (4)– Intimate Distance: 0-18 inches– Personal Distance: 18 inches to 4 feet– Social Distance: 4 to 10 feet– Public Distance: 10 feet +

Expectancy Violations Theory

Key Terms and Concepts

Expectancy: an expectation/prediction of nonverbal behavior

Violation Valence: process of assigning meaning, positive or negative, to the nonverbal behavior violation

Communication Reward Valence: outcome of the nonverbal violation. The sum of all positive and negative attributes (see conditions) that the violator brings to the table + the potential that the violator has to reward or punish us in the future

Expectancy Violations Theory

Theoretical Propositions: Nonverbal behavior is symbolic behavior whose

meanings are culturally-situated. People have expectations of and make unconscious

predictions about the nonverbal behavior that will occur in a given interpersonal situation. (expectancy)

When nonverbal expectations are violated, people search for and assign positive and/or negative meaning(s) to those violations. (violation valence)

When the meaning of a nonverbal violation is unclear, individuals will likely assign meaning that favors the violator’s influence in our lives (reward valence)

Expectancy Violations Theory

Practical Utility Increases non-verbal behavior awareness Gives practical advice on when it might be

advantageous and disadvantageous to be nonconformist wrt to nonverbal behavior– If you violate nonverbal expectations and/or use

nonverbal behaviors that are ambiguous, be sure the receiver likes you and/or that s/he believes you have something of value to offer them

– Otherwise CONFORM.

Expectancy Violations Theory

Strengths describes & explains simple, even elegant testable/falsifiable useful (practically, academically) historically-grounded and interesting

Weaknesses fails to predict reliably conclusions seem mundane

Theory Evaluation