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Interparental Violence and Nonverbal Abilities

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Abstract

Nonverbal decoding and encoding abilities of undergraduates were examined as a function of their self-reported history of interparental violence. Students exposed to domestic violence showed decoding and encoding deficits. Results for decoding revealed an emotion-specific deficit for recognizing happiness but no evidence for an advantage in decoding anger and fear. In contrast, students from violent homes showed overall deficits in posed encoding of emotions. There was no evidence for an emotion-specific encoding bias in the pattern of false negatives and no evidence for suppression of general expressiveness. Hence, it appears that the encoding deficit of students from violent homes is a result of inappropriate encoding. Results are discussed in terms of past theoretical explanations for the influence of family environment on nonverbal abilities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology Department, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY, 12866

    Holley S. Hodgins

  2. Department of Psychology, Skidmore College, USA

    Cindy Belch

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  1. Holley S. Hodgins
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  2. Cindy Belch
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Hodgins, H.S., Belch, C. Interparental Violence and Nonverbal Abilities. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior 24, 3–24 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006602921315

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