title: Decoding of inconsistent communications.

authors: Albert Mehrabian, Morton Wiener

year: 1967

DOI: None

URL: None

Zotero: zotero://select/items/@mehrabianDecodingInconsistentCommunications1967

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Decoding of inconsistent communications.

The present study dealt with inconsistent communication of attitude in 2 components of a message. 3 degrees of attitude (positive, neutral, and negative) communicated in single-word contents were each combined with 3 degrees of attitude communicated in tone of voice. It was found, consistent with the proposed hypothesis, that the variability of inferences about communicator attitude on the basis of information available in content and tone combined is mainly contributed by variations in tone alone. For example, when the attitude communicated in content contradicted the attitude communicated by a negative tone, the total message was judged as communicating a negative attitude. The limitations of the findings, as well as their implications for the double-blind theory of schizophrenia, were discussed.