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3.1.4. ALBERT MEHRABIAN’S 7-38-55% COMMUNICATION RULE

Albert Mehrabian‟s research was based on experimental methods and his contributions
to the early nonverbal literature were significant. He developed a key interest in the role of
nonverbal communication and its impact during the face-to-face exchanges in the 1960s where

he developed the often used 7-38-55% rule. This was the culmination of two pioneering studies
conducted in 1967. The first, in which Mehrabian teamed up with fellow researcher Morton
Wiener, was entitled “Decoding of inconsistent communications”. The second study, which

built upon the conclusions from the first and which he undertook with Susan R. Ferris, was
entitled “Inference of attitudes to nonverbal communication in two channels”.

He proposed three categories of meaning associated with nonverbal behaviour –
immediacy (like/dislike); status (powerful/powerless); and responsiveness (active/passive)

(Mehrabian 1970). His studies of immediacy (e.g., Mehrabian 1968) showed how a cluster of
nonverbal behaviours can signal liking and disliking in initial interaction with strangers, but the
immediacy construct has led to scores of studies in teacher student interaction, personal

relationships, politeness routines and supportive behaviour. In two studies, Mehrabian and his
colleagues developed a formula for the relative influence of verbal (7%), vocal (38%), and facial
(55%) cues (Mehrabian and Ferris 1967; Mehrabian and Weiner 1967). The formula was limited

to the studies that used one-word stimuli, made vocal tone inconsistent with the word meaning,
and focused on perceived feelings.

3.1.5. THE PROCESS OF NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

Like language, the fundamental process of nonverbal communication consists of a

message encoded in a selected medium (body language, for example) that is then decoded.
When you form language and speak it, your brain encodes a thought into words and intelligible
sounds. For example, if you want to tell someone to leave the room, you can simply speak the

words, “Please leave the room.” Nonverbally, you can also encode an extra layer of
“illustration”

For example, first pointing at the person and then at the door. Some forms of nonverbal
communication are emblematic in nature, where the performance stands for a concrete

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