Gender differences of non-verbal behavior in

Japanese male - female conversations

Graduation Thesis

Presented to

the Faculty of the Department of

English Language and Literature

Notre Dame Seishin University

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirement for the Degree

Bachelor of Arts

by

Natsumi Henmi

2019

Contents

Abstract

Chapter One: Background

1.1 Introduction

1.2. Verbal and non-verbal communication

1.2.1 Definitions

1.2.2 Types of non-verbal communication

1) Gesture and bodily movements

2) Nodding

3) Eye contact

4) Touching

5) Posture

6) Paralinguistics

1.3 Features of Japanese non-verbal communication

1.4 Previous research on gender differences in non-verbal communication

1.5 Research Questions

1.6 Conclusion

Chapter Two: The Data

2.1 Introduction

2.2 Data 1. Data from the questionnaire

2.2.1 Introduction to the questionnaire

2.2.2 Method

1) Subjects

2) Test design

2

3) Procedure

2.2.3 Results

2.3 Data 2. Data for difference males and females in real conversations

2.3.1 Introduction to the questionnaire

2.3.2 Method

1) Subjects

2) Test design

3) Procedure

2.3.3 Results

2.4 Summary

Chapter Three: The Analysis

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Summary from the results Chapter Two

3.3 Comparing previous research and these data

3.4 Research questions

3.5 Implications

3.6 Limitations of the experiments

3.7 Further research

3.8 Conclusion

References

Appendices

3

Abstract

In recent years, social networking services (SNS) were developed and most

people use it. We can communicate easily on SNS, but we can’t see others’ facial

expression or gestures. We have to communicate to each other to live together to

make good relationships. Non-verbal behaviors can make our communication

smoother, so we should learn the effective use of non-verbal behaviors. Research

shows there are gender differences in non-verbal communication because males

and females are brought up in different environments. To look into this, I conducted a

questionnaire and experiment about it, and analyzed the data.

The research questions were Are there gender differences in non-verbal

communication? Are there differences between the number of gestures used by men

and women? and Are there differences in the types of gestures used? I asked 33

subjects some questions in the questionnaire, and asked 2 couples to cooperate in

an experiment in which I examined their use of gestures.

The results showed most people think that non-verbal communication is

important, and that they try to use non-verbal behaviors in the conversation to make

a good relationship with others. There were also gender differences in the

experiment showing females used a greater number and different types of gestures.

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Chapter One: Background

1.1 Introduction

In this chapter, we look at the background of non-verbal communication in human

society. Communication is important for us to live together. Communication is the

process to share and inform something. It is difficult for us to live without

communication with other people in our society. Therefore, people have a high

interest in communication. So there are so many publications or books to improve

our communication skills.

It is important to show other people what we think smoothly. We use a lot of

things to communicate. There are two kinds of communication, verbal

communication and non-verbal communication.

1.2 Verbal and non-verbal communication

We use words in verbal communication, for example, the contents of

conversation, writing, and sign language. Words are important for us.

We don’t use words in non-verbal communication. We use non-verbal behaviors

in our conversation to get easy to understand in the daily life. Gesture, posture, facial

expression, touching and nodding are examples of non-verbal behaviors.

In our communication, we can get a lot of information from non-verbal

communication. Mehrabian (1971) found that 7% of message pertaining to feelings

and attitudes is in the words that are spoken, 38% of message pertaining to feelings

and attitudes is the way the words are said, 55% of message pertaining to feelings

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and attitudes is in facial expression. We use these non-verbal behaviors consciously

or unconsciously. But actually this research has been overstated, and only refers to

very specific situations. In reality, non-verbal communication does not make up a

large part of our communication.

When we think of verbal and non-verbal communication, we have to understand

the meaning exactly. Because verbal communication don’t have to imply sounds. For

example, sign language or writing are also verbal communication. However, in case

of sign language and writing, the impression or image that comes from halting

manner or bad handwriting are non-verbal messages.

1.2.1 Definitions

People in every generation use a lot of non-verbal behavior; gesture, eye

contacts, touching, silence, time and colors and so on to send messages to other

people. However non-verbal communication can be changed by the culture, gender,

individual, and also the situation of the place.

One of the leader of the study of non-verbal communication, Birdwhistell (1970),

estimated that "no more than 30 to 35 percent of the social meaning of a

conversation or an interaction is carried by the words." Stated more broadly, he

argued that "words are not the only containers of social knowledge."

In Louder than Words: An Introduction to Nonverbal Communication, Vargas

(1986) divides non-language communication into the following nine categories.

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1. The human body, those genetically related physical characteristics of the

sender or receiver that give a message, such as sex, age, physique, or skin

color

2. Kinesics, the language of body position and movement

3. The eyes, their contact and use

4. Paralanguage, those voice qualities and characteristics that accompany

spoken words

5. Silence

6. Tacesics and stroking, the language of touch and its substitutes

7. Proxemics, the way that humans use a pace to communicate

8. Chronemics, time in both its cultural and physiological dimensions

9. Color

Color is also one of non-verbal elements to convey messages. Due to color, the

meaning of the message to be transmitted can be different. For example, a black box

seems to be heavier than the blue one. Yellow taxis stand out from other color taxis.

1.2.2 Types of non-verbal communication

There are so many types of non-verbal behavior. We looked at some of them in

this section.

1) Gesture and bodily movements

We use the movement of hands, head or other parts of body in conversations.

For example, we point at things to show direction or we may make hand movements

when speaking to emphasize our opinions. Argyle (1990) said “We have seen that

primates use gestures (1) to express attitudes to others, for instance, by banging and 7

stamping (truncated intention movements), (2) as ‘displacement activities’ such as

scratching, in states of conflict or frustration, (3) for pointing, indicating direction of

attention. Primates can also be taught gesture languages, but apparently do not use

them spontaneously.”

2) Nodding

It can show that we listen to others’ speaking. Hokkaido University shows that

nodding got more favorable impression (about 30 percent higher) than shaking one’s

head or standing still. For example, if you do not nod when you listen to your friend,

your friend may think that you are not listening properly.

3) Eye contact

Eye contact is one of the way to communicate. “Eyes say things enough to

mouth.” This proverb is known to many people from ancient times. There are many

idiom about eyes. For example, shifty eyes, steely eyes, bedroom eyes, bug eyes,

knowing eyes, piercing eyes and an evil eye are a common expressions in English.

Vargas (1986) said that “eye contact is to make eye contact with each other”, but

experts call it "mutual gaze". It means that two people who react to each other see

each other's "face including eyes" not only the eyes. This is because it is difficult to

accurately distinguish between the target parts of human gaze when the distance to

the other person becomes 1 meter or more. Also, the word "gaze" represents a

person's "seeing act of seeing" itself, not related to the fact that the point of sight is a

human.” Besides directly looking at someone’s eyes might be seen as being

threatening and can make someone feel uncomfortable. This threatening stare into

someone’s eyes is often used in combat situations like in boxing or Sumou.8

To make a good impression quickly is very important in short term human

relationships rather than long term relationships. In a long term relationship, there is

time to make the other person understand carefully about your personality.

Therefore, if you cannot speak while looking in someone’s eyes, it will be not the

problem. On the other hand, in a short term relationship, we do not have time to

judge someone thoroughly, so you are often judged by non-verbal behavior. So if

you cannot speak with eye contact, you will give a negative impression such as (1)

you cannot convey your words and feelings correctly, (2) you give an impression that

you do not have confident, (3) it seems that you have not heard the story. Especially

in short term, it is one of the important signs to express your feelings. However, there

are cultural differences of eye contact. In some countries, it is rude to use prolonged

direct eye contact to superiors as it can be seen as threatening or challenging.

Indians tend to show respect by not looking in people’s eyes and in the UK they

might be misunderstood ad being ‘shifty eyed’ meaning unreliable.

4) Touching

Touching is an obvious example of body language. We can spell more direct and

vivid message than many words by touching or placing a hand on other’s shoulder.

However we should consider to touch with proper timing, and understand the other’s

feeling certainly. If you touch other’s shoulder when you encourage someone such

as patting them on the back, it is natural. But if you touch at a strange time, someone

may suspect you of harassment.

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5) Posture

There are two types of posture. First type is called “immedicaly” that includes a

body facing forward, symmetric positioning, front bending posture. Second type is

called “relaxation” that includes a posterior posture, relaxation of limb tension,

asymmetric positioning. For example, in Japan, we should use proper posture to

superior when we are listening. But when we talk with friends, we relax to talk, so our

posture may be “relaxation” type.

People with high rank are relaxed, do not face towards the other person, are in a

posterior posture, indicating asymmetrical limb positions. People with low rank

shows a modified posture, turns towards the other person, is in a forward tilted

posture, the muscles become tense and maintain an upright spine. However people

who can be respected, even those with high rank, will face here.

Also, If the posture of two people conform, it will be a signal of consent, equality,

mutual preference.

6) Paralinguistics

Paralinguistics include factors such as tone of voice, loudness, inflection, and

pitch. When we said in a strong tone of voice, listeners might think it important

things. For example, when we say “I’m fine.” in like a disgusting tone of voice, the

listener might worry about you. Happy tone of voice reveals that you are really doing

well, or a strong tone of voice sometimes reveals that you are angry. Another

example, if you talk so fast, listener think that you are so busy in the time.

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1.3 Features of Japanese non-verbal communication

It is often said in Japanese communication there is an ambiguity of linguistic

expression. Koyama (2011) said that one of the concepts to explain this ambiguous

linguistic expression of Japanese is "refrain, observation communication". Japanese

tend to avoid direct wording.

For example, when refusing a request from another person, we hope that the

intention will be conveyed to the other person from euphemical linguistic expression

and a statement that we do not want to do. Then, if the person who made the

request can see the background, they can achieve to share the real meaning without

explicit language message exchanges.

1.4 Previous research on gender differences in non-verbal communication

Many books have been published recently about gender difference in

communication style like Why Men Don’t Listen and Women Can’t Read Maps: How

We’re Different and What to Do About it (Allan Pease, Barbara Pease, 2000) or Men

who does not know, women who does not explain (Iota, 2015). These books showed

the differences in the social role of women who have spent time in child rearing by

living together in a cave and a man who must hunt and catch prey. And then they

connect to the difference of non-verbal communication.

Gurien (2003) says that these are the effects of the brain chemical substance

bazobrecinin. Vasopressin is secreted more in men than women, thereby affecting

territorial consciousness, hierarchy, competition, stubbornness. In other words, it is

the effect of chemical substances in the brain that cause men to stress or emphasis

competition over competitors or other persons. Furthermore, the affinity of women is 11

attributed to chemical substances in the brain called oxytocin, which is related to

compassion as a mother and association of words and emotion.

Tannen (1982) said that when men speak they tend to emphasize "rank" that is

competition over mutual superiority, and when women speak they tend to emphasize

the intimacy and distance of each other. This is probably due the difference of

environment they were brought up in, in ancient times.

The reason why males and females have different communication styles is that

each has a different growing environment. Girls like playing with a small number of

people who can easily develop personal relationships. From that, girls will learn three

things: cooperativeness, do not criticize others, do not leave their friends, consider

other people's feelings and needs. So women often nod. We can say that it is one

form of non-verbal communication that takes into consider other people’s feelings

and needs. Boys like to play based on fixed rules such as playing in larger groups

(baseball and soccer etc) than girls. Boys play in a structured, personal and bigger

group and they tend to focus on results. Through this kind of play, male tend to focus

on achieving the purpose.

Umeno (2015) conducted an experiment about the relationship between

impression and non-verbal communication in 2015. She conduct a survey of 230

university students and used a four-level evaluation;

4: have a good impression,

3: have a little good impression,

2: it does not lead to good impression,

1: not at all likable.

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In this survey, she found that non-verbal communication on eye contact and gaze

leads to a good impression. Eye contact (average 2.9), eye expression (average

3.1), gaze (average 2.7), smiling (average 3.7), bodily contact (2.4), hair color (2.8),

accessories (2.6).

1.5 Research Questions

According to the previous research, we can see there are gender difference in

communication style. Males and females have differences in non-verbal

communication, too. However, do we understand about it? And are there difference

of non-verbal behaviors actually?

This thesis has three research questions.

1. Are there gender difference in non-verbal communication?

2. Are there differences between the number of gestures used by men and

women?

3. Are there differences in the types of gestures used?

1.6 Conclusion

In this chapter we looked at what non-verbal communication is. And we realized

the importance of them. Also we could know that there are gender differences in

non-verbal communication.

In Chapter Two, we will look at the data from a questionnaire and experiment

about non-verbal communication.

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Chapter Two: The Data

2.1 Introduction

In Chapter One, we looked at the background of non-verbal communication and

gender differences in communication.

This chapter presents the data for a questionnaire and an experiment about

gender differences in non-verbal communication. These two data collections are

dealt with separately below. Data 1 refers to the data from the questionnaire and

Data 2 refers to the data from the non-verbal video interactions.

2.2 Data 1. Data from the questionnaire

2.2.1 Introduction to the questionnaire.

In this section, I gave the questionnaire about non-verbal communication. Its aim

was to find out people’s consciousness of non-verbal communication, and to show

the gender differences of opinion.

2.2.2 Method for the questionnaire

1) Subjects

The subjects of this questionnaire were 33 Notre Dame Seishin University

students and Okayama University students and were ages 19-23. There were 2 who

was 20 years old, 8 who was 21 years old, 19 who was 22 years old, 4 who was 23

years old. They were not only English department. There are 20 females and 13

males. They were in contemporary sociological study department, human living 14

sciences department, child welfare department, foods and human nutrition

department in Notre Dame Seishin University, faculty of engineering department in

Okayama University.

2) Test design

This questionnaire had two sections. In the first section, the subjects were asked

about non-verbal communication, their name, and gender, and permission to use this

answer for the thesis, and general five questions. The aim of these questions is to

know about people’s consciousness of the importance of non-verbal communication,

and how they use non-verbal behavior, and what they think about non-verbal

communication. The first question uses a three point scale (Yes, No, I don’t know).

The second question uses a narrative form. The third question uses a five point

scale (Most of the time, usually, sometimes, I am not conscious, I try to avoid it). The

last two questions use narrative forms.

In the second section, I asked about gender differences in non-verbal

communication. I asked three general questions. The aim of these questions was to

know about people’s consciousness of the gender differences in non-verbal

communication, and whether males or females use more non-verbal behavior. The

first question uses a three point scale (Yes, No, I don’t know). The second question

uses a narrative form. The third question uses a two point scale (male, female).

There are both English and Japanese versions in the Appendix, but the subjects

answered the Japanese version.

15

3) Procedure

Firstly, I made questionnaires about non-verbal communication. I gave it to my

partner to check. The partner returned it and advised to change some of it. I changed

it. I gave the subjects to take it. I used Google Forms which tabulated the data.

2.2.3 Results

First, we will look at the data for the consciousness of non-verbal communication.

Then we will look at tables.

Table 1: The data for gender of subjects.

gender

Male 39%

Female 61%

61% of the subjects are female, and 39% of the subjects are male.

Table 2: The data for the consciousness of non-verbal communication.

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Yes No I don't know

male 100% 0% 0%

female 100% 0% 0%

The question was “Do you think non-verbal behaviors (gestures, postures, eye

contact...etc) are important?” Everyone answered “Yes”. They think that non-verbal

behaviors are important.

Table 3: The data for why they think non-verbal behaviors are important.

It is easy to express the emotion. 8 (24.24%)

It helps us to know other's feelings. 4 (12.12%)

It is necessary for us to express the feeling. 3 (9.09%)

It is easy to express. 3 (9.09%)

It helps us to communicate easily. 2 (6.06%)

It is certain way to express the emotion. 2 (6.06%)

It shows speaker that I'm a good listener. 2 (6.06%)

17

It helps us to express lots of things more words. 2 (6.06%)

It helps us to know something uneasy to know only words. 1 (3.03%)

It helps us to express lots of things more words. 1 (3.03%)

I want to stimulate conversation. 1 (3.03%)

It helps conversation better. 1 (3.03%)

It is certain way to know the meaning of words. 1 (3.03%)

It is the best tool for better communication. 1 (3.03%)

We can connect them to verbal communication deeply. 1 (3.03%)

The question was “ Why do you think so?” In Table 3. We can see the number

and percentage of answer types. 8 subjects answered It is easy to express the

emotion. 4 subjects answered It helps us to know other's feelings. 3 subjects each

answered It is necessary for us to express the feeling, It is easy to express. 2 each

subjects answered It helps us to communicate easily, It is certain way to express the

emotion, It shows speaker that I'm a good listener, It helps us to express lots of

things more words. There is an answer for another one.

Table 4: The data for the consciousness of using non-verbal behavior.

Most of the time

Usually Sometimes I don't know I try to avoid it

I use gestures. 9% 9% 39% 42% 0%

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Mirror my speaking partners'

gestures.

3% 24% 36% 36% 0%

I use eye contact when I speak. 30% 52% 15% 3% 0%

I use eye contact when I listen. 42% 45% 12% 0% 0%

I smile when I speak to other

people.

30% 45% 24% 0% 0%

I smile when I listen to other

people.

30% 55% 15% 0% 0%

I change my facial expressions

due to the contents of the

conversation.

30% 45% 15% 9% 0%

I nod when other people speak. 52% 27% 18% 3% 0%

I make response when other

people speak like "yeah" or

"Uh-huh".

39% 33% 27% 0% 0%

I touch other people when I

talk.

3% 3% 18% 73% 3%

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The question was “Do you use these behaviors consciously?” 39% of

the subjects sometimes use gestures consciously, and 42% of them do not

know. 36% of the subjects sometimes mirror their speaking partner’s

gestures, and 36% of the subjects do not know. 24% of the subjects

usually do it. About half of subjects usually use eye contact when they

speak and listen. And also 45% of the subjects usually smile when they

speak to other people, and 55% of the subjects usually do it when they

listen. 30% of the subjects smile most of the time when they speak and

listen. 45% of the subjects usually change their facial expression due to

the contents of the conversation, and 30% of the subjects do it most of

the time. About half of subjects nod most of the time. Everyone try to

make response like “yeah” or “Uh-huh” (はい, うん など) About 70% of the

subjects do not mind to touch other people when they talk. But 3% of the

subjects try to avoid it. What is common to all questions except touching,

no one try to avoid non-verbal behavior.

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Table 5: The data for the feelings when we talk to a person who uses a lot of non-

verbal behavior.

I feel that he is talking very hard. 5 (15.15%)

It’s fun. 4 (12.12%)

I feel that he is interested what I am talking about. 2 (6.06%)

It’s easy to talk. 2 (6.06%)

I have a cheerful impression of him like a foreigner. 1 (3.03%)

I feel that he listens carefully to my story. 1 (3.03%)

I think he is a cheerful person. 1 (3.03%)

I think he is a gentle person. 1 (3.03%)

It’s good. 1 (3.03%)

I understand that he is listening properly and understand that

they are trying to tell.

1 (3.03%)

I understand that he is trying to convey your effort to the

listener.

1 (3.03%)

It is easy to read emotions. 1 (3.03%)

I have a good impression of him. 1 (3.03%)

I have a better impression of you than those who do not use it. 1 (3.03%)

I'm into hear it. 1 (3.03%)

He looks fun. 1 (3.03%)

It’s easy to understand the story. 1 (3.03%)

I feel expressive abundance of you. 1 (3.03%)

I think he is a person with lots of emotions. 1 (3.03%)

I feel that he has a big reaction. 1 (3.03%)

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I also do big gestures. 1 (3.03%)

I feel secure. 1 (3.03%)

I think that those who listen with looking eyes are reliable. 1 (3.03%)

I do not think anything about it. 1 (3.03%)

The question was “How do you feel when a person who talks to you uses a lot of

non-verbal behavior?” 5 subjects feel that the speaker is talking very hard when the

speaker use a lot of non-verbal signals. 4 subjects felt fun. Everyone have a good

impression of the speaker with lots of non-verbal signals.

Table 6: The data for the feelings when we talk to a person who does not use non-

verbal behaviors.

I wonder if the story is being conveyed to the listener. 4 (12.12%)

I have a cold impression of you. 4 (12.12%)

I do not think anything about it. 3 (9.09%)

I think that it is not fun to talk. 2 (6.06%)

I guess he is a person who is incompetent. 2 (6.06%)

I feel that I do not know what he thinks. 2 (6.06%)

He seems not to be fun. 2 (6.06%)

It seems that feelings are not confined. 2 (6.06%)

It is hard to read emotions. 2 (6.06%)

I lose interest in talking to him. 2 (6.06%)

I feel it mechanically. 2 (6.06%)

I have a gentle impression of you. 2 (6.06%)

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It will go through to everyone. 1 (3.03%)

I think that he is calm. 1 (3.03%)

I think that he is able to put words of his thought. 1 (3.03%)

I wonder if my story is boring. 1 (3.03%)

The question was “How do you feel when a person who talks to you DOES NOT

use a lot of non-verbal behavior?” Subjects answered “I wonder if the story is being

conveyed to the listener.” And 4 subjects have a cold impression of the speaker.

Most of the subjects have bad impression of the speaker, but a few subjects do not

have a bad impression of the speaker.

Table 7: The data for the consciousness of gender difference in non-verbal

communication

Yes No I don't know

Do you think there are gender

differences of communication style? 72.70% 9.10% 18.20%

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The question was “Do you think there are gender differences of communication

style?” 72.7% of the subjects think that there are gender differences of

communication style. 18.2% of the subjects do not know. 9.1% of the subjects think

that there are no gender differences of communication style.

Table 8: The data for which use more non-verbal behavior, male or female.

Male Female

use more gestures 27% 73%

mirror my speaking partner’s gestures 21% 79%

use more eye contacts when speaking 30% 70%

use more eye contacts when listening 6% 94%

use more smile when speaking 24% 76%

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use more smile when listening. 6% 94%

change facial expressions by the contents of

the conversation

12% 88%

more nodding 3% 97%

more make response 21% 79%

more touch 9% 91%

The question was “Which do you think?” In every questions, over 70% of the

subjects think that female use non-verbal behavior rather than male. Also over 90%

of the subjects think that female use more eye contacts and smiling and nodding

when they listen.

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2.3 Data 2. Data for the difference of males and females’ non-verbal

communication in real conversations

2.3.1 Introduction

These data show the gender differences of non-verbal behaviors. We can see

how or how different males and females use non-verbal behaviors. Moreover, it may

show the differences of the amount of non-verbal behavior. The aim of this was to

find out the difference or similarities of non-verbal behavior between males and

females.

2.3.2 Method

1) Subjects

The subjects of this experiment were 4 men and women. There are two couples.

They were 2 Notre Dame Seishin University students and 2 Okayama University

students and were 20 years old to 22 years old. They were Kota Okamoto, Kenta

Sanga, Yumeno Fujiwara, Yuka Fujiwara. They are real name.

2) Test design

They talked one on one, and talked about the same subject in Japanese while I

recorded the video. The video had to be the length over five minutes at least so we

can find the difference clearly and easily. I listed up non-verbal behaviors, and

looked for something differences.

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3) Procedure

First, I asked 4 subjects, and made 2 couples. I asked them to talk about their

“best memory in summer vacation”. I set up the same topic so we can know the

difference clearly. I recorded the video when they were talking for 5~10 minutes.

They stood and talked, and I was there to record it, but I said nothing. I never gave

advice. I watched the video many times to write out non-verbal behaviors on the

paper. I counted the number of some non-verbal behavior, or measure time of them

and I compared both results.

2.3.3 Results

First we will look at the data for the experiment of gender differences in

communication. Then we will look at tables.

Table 9: The data for the experiment of Kota Okamoto and Yumeno Fujiwara.

non-verbal behavior Kota Okamoto

(age 22)

Yumeno Fujiwara

(age 20)

smiling 33.6% (3:30) 79.2% (8:15)

number of gesture 17 23

kinds of gesture 5 7

change facial expression due to the

contents of the conversation

1 (sad) 4 (sad, anxiety)

keep eyes on the partner 94.4% (9:50) 96.32% (10:02)

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Mirroring partner's posture and

gesture

1 3

scratch the right arm 2 0

scratch head 2 0

look at the ceiling 2 1

touch hair 1 1

touch face 3 10

cross arms in the front 86.88% (9:03) 11.2% (1:10)

cross arms on his back 19.2% (2:00) 0

approach 0 1

touch 0 0

nodding Kota < Yumeno

This video was 10:25 long. Both of them kept eye contact while talking most of

the time. Yumeno had 23 gestures in the conversation, and 7 kinds of gesture. It was

more than Kota’s. She changed her facial expression due to the contents of the

conversation when she feel sad and anxious. Yumeno was also nodding more than

Kota.

Table 10: The data for the experiment of Kenta Sanga and Yuka Fujiwara.

non-verbal behavior Kenta Sanga Yuka Fujiwara

smiling 27.56% (1:53) 59.75% (4:05)

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number of gesture 17 29

kinds of gesture 7 12

change facial expression due

to the contents of the

conversation

0 1 (surprised)

kept eyes on partner 86.09% (5:53) 97.56% (6:40)

mirror partner's posture and

gesture

1 5

scratch the right arm 2 0

scratch head 2 0

touch hair 0 1

touch face 1 0

touch 0 0

rest one's chin on one's

hands

11.95% (49 sec) 1.70% (7sec)

nodding Kenta < Yuka

cross arms on their back 2.43% (10 sec) 48.78% (3:20)

cross arms in the front 33.17% (2:16) 18.29% (1:15)

This video is 6:50 long. Both of them keep eye contact while talking most of the

time. Yuka used 29 gestures, and 12 kinds of gestures in the conversation. It was

more than Kenta’s. Yuka often crossed her arms on her back, but Kenta often

crossed his arms in front. Yuka was nodding more than Kenta.

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2.4 Summary

In this chapter we looked at the results of questionnaire and experiment. In the

next chapter we will review the data from Chapter Two and compare it with the

previous research in Chapter One.

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Chapter Three: The Analysis

3.1 Introduction

In Chapter One, we looked about non-verbal communication, and found the

effects of non-verbal behavior. In Chapter Two, we collected the data for non-verbal

communication. We took questionnaire and gave a short experiment. In this

chapter, we will look at the data of questionnaire and the experiment and we will

compare this with the previous research and the result in Chapter Two.

3.2 Summary of the results from Chapter Two

In Chapter Two, we collected the data from the questionnaire first. According to

the result of the questionnaire, every person thinks that non-verbal behaviors are

important, because they think that it is easy to express their emotion, or it helps us to

know each other's feelings. They have a good impression of non-verbal

communication, so they do not try to avoid non-verbal behaviors except touching.

Most of them do not know when they use gestures, mirroring and touching. Because

we use them under unconsciously. When we were young, we learned non-verbal

behavior from our mother, father or somebody. We were not taught to use them. So

we did not care about it. About half of the subjects reports usually using eye contact

and smile and will change their facial expression due to the contents of the

conversation. And about over 40% of them reported they nod and make responses

when they are listening to other people most of the time. The reason they do these

non-verbal behavior is to make our relationships better. Moreover, we were taught to

look in other’s eyes when we listen. There are many opinions in Table 5. Most of

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subjects have good impressions of people who use a lot of non-verbal behaviors.

However, there are many bad impressions of people who do not use non-verbal

behaviors, because people who do not use many non-verbal behaviors, seem not to

be fun. Many people feel bad when the listener seems to be bored due to a lack of

non-verbal behaviors. Also, about 70% of the subjects think that there is a gender

difference in non-verbal communication. And according to the last question, most of

the subjects think that females use more non-verbal behaviors than male.

Secondly, we will look at the data from the experiment. Each person used eye

contact most of the time. Both girls used more kinds and numbers of gestures and

smiled more than boys. However, boys cross their arms in front more than girls.

Boys touched their head or face more than girls. According to 1.2.2, Yuka Fujiwara

and Kota Okamoto were a little bit relaxed, because they crossed their arms on their

back when they were talking. In addition, all subjects were mirroring each other

some of the time. According to 1.2.2, it shows a signal of consent, equality, mutual

preference.

3.3 Comparing previous research and these data

In this section, we will compare the previous research and the data from

questionnaire and the experiment.

First, Vargas (1986) said that “eye contact is to make eye contact with each

other” so it is important for us to do it. In the data from the questionnaire, on Table 4,

about 97% of the subjects use eye contact consciously when they speak and listen.

We can say that most subjects think that eye contact is important as they know that

we can make a good relationships with eye contact.

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According to the previous research in Chapter One, there are gender differences

in non-verbal communication. The data in Chapter Two show that 72% of the

subjects think there are gender differences in non-verbal communication, too. And in

the experiment, there are many differences in non-verbal behaviors as we saw in the

previous section. As we can see in the experiment, there are gender differences, but

they can communicate smoothly because they know the gender differences in non-

verbal communication.

3.4 Research questions

This section will answer the research questions from Chapter One.

Research Question 1: Are there gender difference in non-verbal communication?

According to the experiment and Table 9 and 11, there are many differences

between males and females as we mentioned in 3.2.

Research Question 2: Are there differences between the number of gestures

used by men and women?

According to the experiment, there are differences between the number of

gestures used by men and women. Women used more gestures than men.

Research Question 3: Are there differences in the types of gestures used?

According to the experiment, there are differences in the types of gestures. In

Table 9, Yumeno Fujiwara used 7 types of gestures, and Kota Okamoto used 5.

Also, Yuka Fujiwara used 12 types of gestures, and Kenta Sanga used 7 types of

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gestures. We can see the difference from these results. But of course, these are only

data from four subjects.

3.5 Implications

In our society, we have to communicate with each other to live together. And we

should make good relationships with other people. Non-verbal behaviors can let

make communication smoother, so we should learn the effective use of non-verbal

behaviors.

If a person doesn’t use enough eye contact when you talk, he should probably do

it, because we can understand that he is listening or speak politely. It can be also

said about other non-verbal behaviors. People feel uncomfortable when you don’t

use any non-verbal behavior.

Even without consciousness, we will laugh to ask a favor, put your arm around

someone’s shoulder to encourage friends who are sad, and give hug to those we

love. However, it is unlikely that expressions and gestures expressing that you want

to convey are exactly transmitted to the other party. By using them correctly, you can

use them for everyday life, human relations, love affair, business etc.

3.6 Limitations of the Experiments

There are several limitations with this study. Firstly, most of the subjects were

Japanese female university students. So I could not collect a wide range of answer.

Secondly, all subjects were Japanese university students. So I could not collect wide

range of races and ages. Also the data were collected from only four subjects in the

face-to-face conversations.

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3.7 Further research

We can understand that there are gender differences in non-verbal

communication from the experiment, but we did not know how the different¥ces due

to each cultural and development environment. According to the previous research,

the reason why males and females have different communication style is that each

has a unique communication culture. So I would like to do the questionnaire about

this, and find out the differences so we will be able to see the result clearly.

Also, I collected the data only from subjects aged 19-23. I would like to collect

wide range of ages, and find a generation difference in non-verbal communication.

Additionally, I would like to collect data from a wide range of races, so I can look for

cultural differences of non-verbal behaviors.

3.8 Conclusion

In Chapter One, we looked at what non-verbal communication is, and how

different it is from verbal communication. There are many types of non-verbal

behavior, and we can get a lot of information from non-verbal behaviours, so we

should learn effective use of non-verbal behaviors. Also we looked at gender

differences and found girls like playing with a small number of people, but boys like

to play based on fixed rules such as playing in larger groups. In my previous

research, this difference affects the non-verbal communication of each.

In Chapter Two, I asked 33 Japanese students about non-verbal communication,

and collected the data in a questionnaire. And to show the gender differences of

non-verbal behaviors, I collected the data from a short experiment.

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As a result, everyone thinks that non-verbal communication is important, and they

try to use or unconsciously use non-verbal behaviors. We can say that we educated

ourselves or unconsciously learned how use them since we were children. Also

according to my experiment, there are gender difference of non-verbal behaviors.

We should realize the gender difference and make good relationships with each

other.

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References

Books and articles

Argyle, Michael. 1975. Bodily Communication, Methuen.

Birdwhistell, Ray L. 1970. Kinesics and Context: Essays on Body Motion Communication. University of Pennsylvania Press.

Fast, Julius. 1971. Body Language, Pan Books Ltd.

Gurien, Michael. 2003. What Could He Be Thinking: How a Man’s Mind Really Works, St Martins Press.

Tannen, Deborah.1982. Spoken and written language: exploring orality and literacy, edited by ABLEX Publishing Corporation

Vargas, Marjorie Fink. 1986. Louder Than Words: An Introduction to Nonverbal Communication, Iowa State Press.

Websites

Kendra Cherry. Types of Nonverbal Communication. https://www.verywellmind.com/types-of-nonverbal-communication-2795397 Accessed October 28, 2018

Koyama, S. 「遠慮 察しコミュニケーションの尺度」の作成 http://www.fedu.uec.ac.jp/~ikeda/documents/5-4_20110917_JSMR.pdf Accessed October 24, 2018

Kawashima, T. アイコンタクトとは？ https://www.direct-commu.com/chie/relation/eye-contact1/ Accessed October 23, 2018

Nelson, A. The Nonverbal Communication Gender Gap https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/he-speaks-she-speaks/201801/the-nonverbal-communication-gender-gap Accessed October 28, 2018

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Appendices

The English version of the online questionnaire.

Section 1 of 2

Non-verbal communication questionnaireThis questionnaire is about non-verbal communication.

Name*Gender*male, female*I accept that these data can be used for researchI accept, I don’t accept*Do you think non-verbal behaviors (gestures, postures, eye contact...etc) are important?Yes, No, I don’t know*Why do you think so?*Do you use these behavior consciously?Most of the time, usually, sometimes, I am not conscious, I try to avoid itI use gesturesCopy my speaking partners' gesturesI use eye contact when I speakI use eye contact when I listenI smile when I speak to other people

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I smile when I listen to other peopleI change my facial expressions due to the contents of the conversationI nod when other people speakI make response when other people speak like "yeah" or "Uh-huh"I touch other people when I talk*How do you feel when a person who talks to you uses a lot of non-verbal behavior?*How do you feel when a person who talks to you DOES NOT use a lot of non-verbal behavior?*

Section 2 of 2Gender differences of non-verbal communicationSome people say men and women use gestures differently and use different gestures sometimes. This is called "gender differences of communication"*Do you think there are gender differences of communication style?Yes, No, I don’t know*Which do you think?male, femaleuse more gesturescopy my speaking partner’s gesturesuse more eye contacts when speakinguse more eye contacts when listeninguse more smile when speakinguse more smile when listeningchange facial expressions by the contents of the conversationmore noddingmore make response

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more touch*

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