A First Look at Communication Theory. (2014, January 29). Retrieved July 12, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kmnZIxiYHk Burgoon, J. K. (2016). Expectancy Violations Theory (C. R. Berger & M. E. Roloff, Eds.). The International Encyclopedia of Interpersonal Communication, First Edition, 1-9. doi:DOI:10.1002/9781118540190.wbeic0102 Griffin, E. A., Ledbetter, A., & Sparks, G. G. (2015). A first look at communication theory. New York: …
Author Archives: Britt Stone
Applications of EVT Relevant to My Life
Throughout my career interpersonal communication has been something I have challenged myself to improve in both professional and personal relationships. Through experience and time I have learned more about the boundaries to avoid crossing in the workplace as well as what my own boundaries and threat thresholds are. When applying the lens of expectancy violation …
Limitations of EVT
Critiques of Burgoon’s expectancy violations theory noted by Em Griffin are that experiment test results have not always matched the EVT model, leading to mixed results over the years. Regardless, Burgoon’s EVT meets five out of six criteria of a good scientific theory outlined in the Griffin text (Griffin, et al., 2015, p.92). The meaning …
How Evidence and Data Are Used When Applying EVT
An important concept of expectations violations theory is understanding expectations. “Expectations are enduring cognitions about the behavior anticipated of others” (Burgoon, Berger, & Roloff, 2016, p. 2). Expectations come from social norms associated with particular situations and personal knowledge of the other person in the interaction. A stranger will base their expectations off of the …
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Welcome to my final project!
I created this blog for my final project in COML 595 A1 Summer Module 2019. Click this blog post for the suggested reading order.
How a Theorist Thinks
Judee Burgoon’s expectancy violations theory (EVT) has an interesting origin story. Burgoon was a student given an assignment to make sense out of literature on proxemics. In the video below Em Griffin, author of the textbook used for this course: A First Look at Communication, interviews communication theorist Judee K. Burgoon about expectancy violations theory. …
Leadership and Communication
When thinking about how Expectancy Violations Theory applies to leadership, the 2012 presidential debate comes to mind. President Barack Obama was widely criticized in the news for his nonverbal cues during the debate. From grimacing to looking down often, he appeared disengaged and distracted. “In earlier televised debates, such dissonant nonverbal behaviors may have gone …
Scoot Over: Proxemics
Judee Burgoon wasn’t the first to define personal space. In the 1960s, Anthropologist Edward Hall coined the term proxemics to “refer to the study of people’s use of space as a special elaboration of culture” (Griffin, Ledbetter, & Sparks, 2015, p. 82). In the image below, I’ve attempted to illustrate Edward Hall’s spatial interpretation. He …
Historical Development
Expectancy violations theory (EVT), originally coined the nonverbal expectancy violations model, was first theorized by Judee K. Burgoon over three decades ago.
Expectancy Violations Theory 