Persuasive Communication - How Audiences Decide. 2nd Edition

268 Understanding Intuitive Decision Making

fi ve nonverbal vocal dimensions: lower pitch, variable as opposed to monotone pitch, faster speech

rate, fewer and shorter pauses, and minimal variability in amplitude. In addition, the mid-level man-

ager’s scores on the visual dimensions were signifi cantly correlated with their scores on the vocal

dimensions. In other words, the senior managers perceived that mid-level managers who looked

like leaders also sounded like leaders.^99

Powerful language plays an important role in audience perceptions of effective leaders as well.^100

Audiences rate both male and female speakers who use a powerful speech style higher on traits

of assertiveness, politeness, and warmth than speakers who use a powerless speech style.^101 Pow-

erless speech styles are associated with the frequent use of verbal behaviors such as intensifi ers

(e.g., “really big”), and hedges (e.g., “I think”).^102 Conversely, the speech styles of powerful and

high-status individuals rarely display those verbal behaviors. Audiences are also more likely to view

others as powerful when they use abstract as opposed to concrete language. Audiences tend to

believe that abstract language refl ects not only the ability to think more abstractly but also a will-

ingness to make decisions.^103

A number of other verbal behaviors also lead audiences to view the speaker as dominant and

leader-like. In a study of dominance perception, audience members fi rst watched videos of pairs of

people engaged in conversations. Then they were asked to rate the dominance of each individual

in each pair. The audience gave higher dominance ratings to those who initiated new topics of

conversation and to those who made many forceful requests.^104

Audience leadership judgments also rely on verbal cues to emotions. For example, the

prevalence of positive emotion words is correlated with audience perceptions of leader-like

dominance.^105 In addition, audiences fi nd leaders who pepper their speeches with inclusive per-

sonal pronouns such as we, our, and us to be more charismatic, persuasive, and able to elicit more

positive emotions.^106 Note how often Lincoln used we, our, and us in the Gettysburg Address.

And to what effect.

Applicant Schemata: How Recruiters Evaluate Job Applicants

Just as employees have implicit leadership theories (ILTs) or schemata for identifying good

business leaders, corporate recruiters have implicit followership theories (IFTs) or schemata for

identifying good job applicants,^107 and they tend to agree on the personality traits and emotional

characteristics good job applicants should possess.^108 The personality traits and emotional charac-

teristics recruiters look for in job applicants include conscientiousness, achievement striving, and

self-discipline,^109 as well as industriousness, reliability, cooperativeness, and enthusiasm.^110

When making hiring decisions, experienced corporate recruiters weight applicants’ personality

traits and emotional characteristics more heavily than the applicants’ knowledge, skills, and abili-

ties.^111 Surprisingly, job applicants’ emotional characteristics turn out to be a good predictor of their

future success. One study found that 15 years after graduation, highly cheerful undergraduates from

a number of universities were averaging almost $114,000 more per year (in today’s dollars) than

their less cheerful counterparts.^112

Recruiters’ evaluations of an applicant’s personality traits and emotional characteristics are

affected by the nonverbal visual cues that job applicants display during job interviews—cues such

as eye contact, body orientation, smiling, and hand gestures.^113 High levels of eye contact, gestur-

ing, nodding, and smiling are all related to more favorable evaluations of applicants.^114 In fact,

any time applicants exhibit highly expressive nonverbal behaviors, recruiters’ ratings of them tend

to increase.^115 Physical attractiveness also impacts employment suitability ratings across positions.

However, the weight recruiters give to attractiveness is greatest for positions that require high cus-

tomer contact.^116