Sammendrag
Nonverbal behavior plays a significant role in all human communication and is, among other things, of great importance within healthcare. The primary aim of this thesis is to test the validity and reliability of enhanced micro-level nonverbal behaviors, including positive facial expressions, body movements, and tone of voice. 15 coders rated several types of videos containing the various behaviors, and the results of two ANOVA largely supported the hypothesis that these were sufficiently enhanced. The enhanced conditions contained higher levels of their related nonverbal cues compared both to each other, and to neutral scenarios. This demonstrates that nonverbal behaviors can be systematically manipulated and successfully enhanced. Validating such behaviors introduces a way to systematically implement and control these in treatment settings, which may contribute to increase patient satisfaction and facilitate favorable outcomes. For the secondary aim of this thesis, the effects of incongruence between nonverbal channels on trust is investigated. A final sample of 50 participants completed an online survey in which they were randomly assigned to watch a health care provider displaying one of the enhanced nonverbal behaviors or a provider displaying positive nonverbal cues from all relevant channels. Contrary to the hypothesis that the all-positive and congruent condition would receive the highest ratings of trust, the results of an ANOVA indicate that positive facial expressions are the most important nonverbal cues for the formation of trust. However, due to the small sample size of the present study, additional investigations of this relationship are needed.
