Nonverbal behavior and interpersonal sensitivity

Although questions about how people respond to others' nonverbal cues have always been central to the study of nonverbal communication, the study of individual differences in accuracy of nonverbal cue processing, or interpersonal sensitivity, is a more recent endeavor. This chapter focuses on assessment of individual differences, emphasizing the major paradigms and instruments for assessing accuracy of nonverbal cue processing, and discussing characteristics of the stimuli and judgment methodologies (e.g., what state or trait is being judged, who is being judged, what cue channels are available, whether the cues are posed or spontaneous, whether judgment is done in live interaction or from standard stimuli, what judgment format is used, what criteria and methods are used for scoring). Relative advantages of different approaches are discussed in terms of psychometric qualities, validity, and utility.