Emotion cue. 1. The degree to which a nonverbal message conveys liking or disliking. 2. Nonverbally, an expression of emotional attachment (or a feeling of closeness) to another person. 3. Signs that show heightened sensory stimulation, attentiveness, and liking (Mehrabian 1981).
Usage: Immediacy (which most often refers to friendly rather than unfriendly cues) shows in a. angular distance, b. body alignment, c. body-lean, d. cut-off, e. eye contact, f. hand-reach signs, g. isopraxism, h. love signals, i. muscle tension, j. musk, k. object fancy, l. palm-up signs, m. perfume cues, n. personal distance, o. pupil size, p. rapport, q. tone of voice, r. touch cues, and s. zygomatic smiles.
RESEARCH REPORTS: 1. Immediacy is the "directness and intensity of interaction between two entities" (Mehrabian 1967:325). 2. Immediacy promotes psychological closeness (Anderson 1979). 3. "In short, immediacy behaviors express approach or avoidance and, in the process, affect the level of sensory involvement of the participants" (Burgoon et al. 1989:100). 4. "Immediacy is the degree of perceived physical or psychological closeness between people" (Richmond et al. 1991:205).
See also EMOTION, FIGHT-OR-FLIGHT.
Copyright 1998 - 2016 (David B. Givens/Center for Nonverbal Studies)