Nonverbal Communication in Sitcoms

After watching “The Big Bang Theory” clip, one is able to identify several channels of

nonverbal communication between Sheldon and Amy. A channel is described as “the medium

through which messages are exchanged” (Adler 12) and nonverbal communication is described

as “messages expressed by nonlinguistic means” (Adler 166). Therefore, a channel of nonverbal

communication is that of the medium of which messages are exchanged non linguistically. Three

main nonverbal communication channels displayed in the video clip are kinesics, voice and

distance.

To begin, a big channel that is displayed in this clip provided is through kinesics, “the

study of how people communicate through bodily movements” (Adler 178). All throughout the

clip, facial expressions, eye contact, posture and gesture are all shown. Overall, Sheldon is

perceived as confined and self intuitive while Amy is perceived as more expressive and

outgoing. Sheldon is seen as more held back within his changing of posture and gesture while

Amy’s is changing a great amount. Sheldon also remains in full eye contact while Amy does not.

One main example is shown in the beginning of the clip. Sheldon questions Amy whether or not

she thought they should continue living together. In Sheldon’s concern he is seen as gesturing

and avoiding eye contact more than normal. By analyzing Amy’s nonverbal communication

style, one could infer Sheldon is attempting to mirror her communication style to influence her.

The textbook states that, “persuasiveness increases when one person mirrors another’s

movements” (Adler 181). Sheldon’s use of gesture and avoidance of eye contact could be

perceived as evidence for this idea, while he does not normally use this type of kinesics, whereas

Amy does.
 Another channel of nonverbal communication used between Sheldon and Amy is voice.

Paralanguage, under the title of voice, is defined as “the way a message is spoken” (Adler 182).

It’s also important to note that this topic is “not so much about ​what ​you say, but ​how​ you say it”

(Adler 182). One example of this is displayed by Amy. As Amy begins to get mad at Sheldon

later in the clip, several factors change about her voice. One of these factors is tone. Before she

gets mad at Sheldon, her tone is very concerned and desperate; however, as she becomes angry,

her tone is encouraged by all the things that she has done for Sheldon when he isn’t doing

something for her. This causes her tone to be very outward and mean. Another factor that

changes in Amy’s voice is the rate of which she says things. Before she was angered, her rate

was slower than what it was when she became angry. A third factor shown is volume; Amy’s

voice gets louder and louder as she becomes more angry at Sheldon. However, as she goes back

to ask Sheldon a question, her volume decreases, rate decreases and tone becomes more sincere.

A final factor of paralanguage that Amy uses is tempo. When she becomes angry, she

emphasizes different words such as “Nothing but patient” and “best girlfriend”. This could

signify the things that Amy wants Sheldon to know this information because of how much it

matters to her that she is for him. A final voice factor that could be noted is that of discrepancies.

After watching the video one can see that Amy uses several discrepancies in comparison to

Sheldon.

A final channel of nonverbal communication communicated between Sheldon and Amy

is proxemics. Proxemics is described as “how communication is affected by the use,

organization, and perception of space and distance” (Adler 184). Beginning the clip, the distance

between Sheldon and Amy could be determined to be a personal distance (18 inches to 4 feet)
with each other. A personal distance is described as one where “most couples stand in public”

(Adler 186). While Amy and Sheldon are in a private place, they are also sitting but this gives

the viewer enough information to know that they are a couple. As the scene goes on, Amy

decreases her proximity to Sheldon due to her anger to an average of a social distance (4 to 12

feet). The textbook describes this distance as “a powerful effect on how we regard and respond

to others” (Adler 186). In this case, a “powerful effect” could be defined as Amy’s stance of

anger on Sheldon and the power she has at the moment. Finally, as Amy becomes more sincere

and wants to question Sheldon, she brings in her proximity to a personal distance to be more

intimate with asking him a question.

All in all, both Sheldon and Amy’s nonverbal communication styles enhanced their

verbal communication wants and needs. Even though Sheldon’s use of persuasiveness towards

Amy by mirroring her nonverbal communication styles did not work as effectively as hoped, it is

seen as a great method to do the job. Amy’s use of paralanguage reinforced her verbal

communication thoroughly. This is shown through Sheldon’s reactions. When Amy first lashed

out using an increase of volume and meaner tone Sheldon’s reaction was his posture. He reacted

by moving back and sitting up more straight, giving her full attention from a scare. As Amy

continued her rant, she began to increase her distance to a social distance which caused

Sheldon’s posture to relax some. Following this, when Amy increased her proximity to a

personal distance, Sheldon became more timid and his posture grew stronger and tenser again

giving her full attention. It’s neat to see how all of these channels of communication fall hand in

hand with each other and the doing of one channel could affect all other channels.