Persuasive Communication - How Audiences Decide. 2nd Edition

Person Perception in Audience Decision Making 271

professionals’ nonverbal behaviors in addition to the input of the verbal information they convey.

Next, the model assumes audience perceptions of professionals’ nonverbal behaviors are automatic

and occur in parallel with their perceptions of verbal information.^151

Finally, the model characterizes the verbal information conveyed by professionals as verbal

behaviors as opposed to information about a topic. To grasp this distinction, suppose a salesman at a

Toyota dealership excitedly tells a customer, “The new Toyota Prius gets 60 miles per gallon in the

city compared to 36 mpg for the Ford Hybrid Escape!” If the customer uses the salesman’s sentence

to compare the two cars, the customer would be characterizing the sentence as information about

the topic of the two cars’ fuel effi ciency. On the other hand, if the customer uses the sentence to

infer the salesman’s personality traits, emotions, and competency as a salesperson, then the customer

would be characterizing the sentence as a set of verbal behaviors (e.g., the sentence has specifi c

quantifi able facts; it uses correct grammar, and was spoken with feeling). Thus, instead of thinking

that the Prius is more economical than the Escape, the customer might infer that the salesman is

knowledgeable, articulate, and enthusiastic. Moreover, the customer may begin to believe that this

salesman is good at his job.

Perception of Professionals’ Trait-Related Behaviors

Audiences spontaneously infer a professional’s personality traits—extraversion, neuroticism, consci-

entiousness, agreeableness, openness—when they perceive the professional’s nonverbal behaviors.^152

For example, audiences spontaneously infer a person is highly extroverted if the person has a styl-

ish haircut, wears fashionable clothing, has a friendly expression, displays frequent and rapid body

movements, and walks in a relaxed manner.^153 Audiences spontaneously infer a person is intelligent

if they see them formally dressed.^154 When college students see an instructor who is dressed infor-

mally, they infer the instructor is less intelligent but more friendly than instructors who dress in

more formal attire.^155

Audiences also spontaneously infer a professional’s traits based on observations of verbal cues

such as word choice.^156 An individual’s word choice plays an especially signifi cant role in audi-

ence perceptions of traits such as dominance, competence, trustworthiness, cooperativeness,^157 and

intelligence.^158

The audience’s spontaneous inferences about others’ traits are preconscious and automatic.^159

When given a written description of another person’s verbal and nonverbal behaviors, readers

spontaneously infer the other person’s traits yet they are typically unaware they do so.^160 In fact,

most audience members are not aware of how the trait inferences they make arise. For example,

although loan offi cers’ assessments of loan applicants’ traits can be traced to specifi c observable cues

in the applicants’ behavior, most loan offi cers regard their assessments as arising from intuitions or

gut feelings.^161

Brain Regions Activated. Neuroscientists fi nd that four brain regions are activated during such

spontaneous forms of person perception. These regions include the amygdala, the ventromedial

prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), lateral regions of the temporal lobe, and the ventral striatum, a region

at the lower front of the striatum that functions as part of the reward system (see Figures 3.4 and

3.5 , p. 108).^162

The nonverbal cues that trigger spontaneous trait inferences about others are most often valid.^163

For example, the nonverbal visual cues audiences use to infer extraversion and aloofness are valid

indicators of those traits.^164 People who wear glasses do tend to be more introverted and less open

to experience just as most audiences assume.^165 “Baby-faced” men are indeed more introverted

and less assertive than those with more mature-appearing facial features.^166 People who make less

eye contact do tend to be shy and socially anxious.^167 People who maintain greater interpersonal