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Lesson 6 Expectancy Violations Theory

Expectancy Violations Theory (EVT) proposes that people have expectations for behaviors in interactions, both verbal and nonverbal. When expectations are violated, it can cause arousal and impact how people evaluate the interaction. EVT examines how expectancy violations influence message interpretation and relationships. Violations are assessed based on factors like the communicator's reward value and the level of arousal and threat experienced. EVT focuses on understanding reactions to violations of behavioral expectations in conversations.

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267 views16 pages

Lesson 6 Expectancy Violations Theory

Expectancy Violations Theory (EVT) proposes that people have expectations for behaviors in interactions, both verbal and nonverbal. When expectations are violated, it can cause arousal and impact how people evaluate the interaction. EVT examines how expectancy violations influence message interpretation and relationships. Violations are assessed based on factors like the communicator's reward value and the level of arousal and threat experienced. EVT focuses on understanding reactions to violations of behavioral expectations in conversations.

Uploaded by

Thiviya Ramesh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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EXPECTANCY VIOLATIONS

THEORY
Lesson 8
Introduction

 Nonverbal communication is an important area to consider in the

What we do in a
discussion of human interactions.

conversation (or how we say something) can


be more important than what we actually say.
Introduction

 Judee Burgoon developed Nonverbal


Expectancy Violations Theory to
examine the influence of nonverbal
communication on message
production.
 "Nonverbal" was dropped from the
title so that the theory would be
inclusive of expectancy violations that
extend beyond the domain of
nonverbal communication.
 Expectancy Violations Theory (EVT)
suggests that people have
expectations about the behaviors
(both verbal and nonverbal) of others.
Space relations

 Proxemics is the study of how humans use space


to communicate.
 Burgoon (1978) points out that humans have
competing needs for space.
 Proxemic Zones - Edward Hall identified four
primary zones of personal space.
 Territoriality – a person’s ownership of an area or
object.
Space relations
Space relations
Primary zones Distance Description Voice

Touching to 18 Private situations with


Intimate inches people who are emotionally Whisper
close.

The lower end is “handshake”


Personal 18 inches to 4 feet distance. Soft voice

The lower end is the distance


between “salespeople and
Casual 4 feet to 12 feet customers” or between Full voice
“people who work together
in business”.

Public Greater than 12 “Delivering a speech.” Loud voice


feet
Territorial
 A person’s ownership of an area or object
Assumptions of EVT

Expectancies drive human


interaction.
Expectancies for human
behavior are learned.
People make predictions about
nonverbal behavior.
Communicator Reward Valence

 Burgoon states that when people deviate from


expectations for behaviour, the evaluation element
of those deviant behaviours is adjusted by the
communicator’s reward valence.
 Communicator reward valence refers to the positive or
negative characteristics that an individual brings to an
interaction.
See video

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07Ua7rWWauE
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7xGtI7kqoo
Arousal
 Arousal refers to the consequences that result from
deviations from expected behaviors.
 Research has shown that arousal causes an individual to
focus his/her attention more on the source of arousal
than on the message itself.
 The majority of research on arousal has focused on
cognitive arousal.
 See video https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD6bs7rOiMo
 LaPoire and Burgoon (1996) conducted a study on
examining physical arousal.
Treat threshold
 Threats may occur once arousal takes place as a result of
expectancy violation.
 Burgoon defines the threat threshold as "the distance at
which an interactant experiences physical and
physiological discomfort by the presence of another."
 The threat threshold typically is associated with distance
expectancy violations.
 Intensity of the threat is associated with our view of the reward
value of the communicator who violates the expectation.
 Threat threshold may change, even during interaction.
 Later refinement of the theory included the idea that the threat
threshold is not necessarily associated with the other
communicator.
Violations valence

 Violation valence refers to the positive or negative


assessment of a deviation from expected behaviors.
 The attention is on the violation rather than the source
of the violation.
 It is important to remember that a violation does not
always mean a bad thing has happened.
Critique of EVT

 Burgoon's theory of expectancy violations is one of the


few theories that focuses its attention specifically on
what people expect from and their reactions to others in
conversations.
 EVT can be evaluated on three particularly relevant
criteria:
1. It has clear scope and boundaries.
2. EVT has been criticized as lacking clarity in its
concepts, suggesting potential difficulties with testability.
3. EVT clearly has practical value.
See video

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD6bs7rOiMo

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