Wednesday, July 3, 2013

THE 7-38-55 RULE



 
Albert Mehrabian (born 1939 in an Armenian family in Iran, currently Professor Emeritus of Psychology, UCLA), has become known best by his publications on the relative importance of verbal and nonverbal messages known as the 7%-38%-55% rule.  In his studies, Mehrabian comes to two conclusions:
  1. there are basically three elements in any face-to-face communication:
·             Words
·             Tone of voice
·             Nonverbal behaviour (e.g. facial expression)
  1. the non-verbal elements are particularly important for communicating feelings and attitude, especially when they are incongruent

The Mehrabian formula comes from two studies in nonverbal communication carried out by Mehrabian and two colleagues in 1967.  According to Mehrabian, he three elements account differently for our liking for the person; words account for 7%, tone of voice accounts for 38%, and body language accounts for 55% of the liking.  Mehrabian is often quoted as saying that the meaning of a message is communicated by:
  • Your words 7%
  • Your tone of voice 38%
  • Your body language 55%.
These figures mainly relate to a situation where we are forming an attitude (like or dislike) of someone.  The figures are actually about how we communicate feelings and attitudes only.

 
Shared from:
What the 7/38/55 communication rule really means; http://blog.essentii.co.uk/2011/03/what-73855-communication-rule-really.html



No comments:

Post a Comment