We all know that what we have—the material things, communicate to others, be it status,
culture, values, and so on.
In the language of nonverbal communication codes, or dimensions, the “things” in
the physical environment are called objectics, or artifacts.
This is the nonverbal code that we will delve into on this video.
First, a caveat: This is a deeper look, not a comprehensive discussion of this area of
study in nonverbal communication that you can find with a well-placed few clicks on
your keyboard.
Okay, let’s get started.
Some scholars have approached this code of objectics more generically, Personal Presentation
and Environment, to allow for physical appearance and all the things in the environment in general,
like a tidy room versus a messy room, or indoors versus outdoors, but we’ll start out by
focusing on the basic area of objectics.
The objects, or artifacts, you have around you in your physical environment can communicate
a number of concepts, such as marital status, economic status, social status, culture, personality,
and so on.
Let’s use marital status as an example.
In many countries, a wedding ring, often combined with an engagement ring, signifies that a
woman is married.
However, where that ring is worn may differ based upon culture.
In Western cultures, the wedding ring is worn on the left hand while in parts of Europe
and other countries you’ll likely find it on the right hand.
However, in some Hindu cultures, if you look for a ring to communicate if a woman is married,
you will be out of luck.
Instead you look for the bindi, which is the colored dot women traditionally wear in the
center of their foreheads.
The color of the bindi will vary based upon the occasion and the woman’s stage in life.
A married woman who follows this tradition will always wear a red-colored bindi to communicate
true love and prosperity.
Let me offer another example.
One of my favorite television shows is the West Wing which aired for 7 years in the late
90’s and early 2000’s.
And one of my favorite podcasts is The West Wing Weekly which pays homage to the series
at the same time they dissect and critique it.
The hosts of the podcast, Joshua Malina and Hrishikesh Hirway, are constantly entreating
their listeners to buy their show’s merchandise so that other listeners can recognize a fellow
fan when they see them.
Most of this merchandise is obscure and you won’t get the reference unless you are a
listener of the podcast: the lapel pin and the “signal” t-shirt.
In fact, the ordering page explicitly tells you that, by wearing the Signal t-shirt, you
are communicating to others that you are a West Wing Weekly listener—which Hamilton
creator Lin-Manuel Miranda did when he was photographed with fan Maddie Cupples, advertising
to everyone—nonverbally—that he is a fan of the show.
Let’s go into a bit more detail on the three types of artifactual codes: Personal, shared,
and public.
Personal artifactual codes are those that you have direct control over: your clothing
(like the “Signal” West Wing Weekly t-shirt), your jewelry and accessories (including that
classy West Wing Weekly lapel pin—which I don’t yet own), your glasses, how you
furnish and decorate your office, and so on.
If you drive an expensive car, you are communicating your economic status to others.
And the type of car—a sports car, an understated sedan, a mini-van—communicate other aspects
as well.
Shared artifacts are those shared by two or more people.
If you are sharing an office with someone, you have to agree, implicitly or explicitly,
as to how the office is decorated—and how tidy to keep it.
Or an agreed-upon clothing style—my friend and I could both have, and wear, matching
West Wing Weekly “Signal” shirts—if we had them.
And public artifacts are those shared by a community.
That community could be geographic—for example, I’m from Sacramento, which is the capital
of California in the United States.
Artifacts that communicate my city are the State Capital Building, the Sacramento Kings
logo (our pro-basketball team), and trees—we are the City of Trees.
The community could be cultural or corporate, like the turbans worn by many Sikhs or the
uniforms worn by members of the law enforcement community.
What you’ll probably notice is that many artifacts can fall into more than one of these
categories.
I used the West Wing Weekly “Signal” shirt as an example of both personal and shared
artifacts.
Another example is a wedding ring, which could be a personal artifact (I choose to wear it),
a shared artifact (my husband and I have similar rings), or a public artifact (in my culture,
we wear rings on our left hand to signify that we are married).
One more example: A public artifact of the United States is the Oval Office in the White
House.
One of the first tasks for the President and the White House staff is to change out the
furniture and decorations so the office reflects the personality of the current president.
You can see easily see this by looking at the couch.
In President Jimmy Carter’s administration, the couch was brown striped, while President
Bill Clinton chose a red-striped couch.
President Barak Obama switched it out with a light brown-colored one, and President Donald
Trump not only replaced it with a beige floral model, but moved it to a different location.
The set for my favorite TV show, The West Wing, has a different couch than the one used
in the popular Netflix House of Cards series.
Even in an artifact that reflects the public you will find personal and shared artifacts.
Earlier I said that physical appearance is sometimes included in this aspect of nonverbal
communication.
That’s because your physical appearance, including body type, height, hairstyle, skin
color, also communicates.
Much of racism and prejudice in our society is based upon skin color, hair type, and clothing.
There have been numerous studies reporting that physical appearance plays a significant
role in others’ perceptions of our credibility, honesty, friendliness, and so on.
The definition of beauty differs around the world.
In the U.S., “thin is in.”
In some African cultures, Maruitania, for example, carrying extra weight communicates
that you are wealthy enough to eat what you want.
Make-up tips differ by culture, as well as body art: tattoos and piercings.
So, look around at the objects you own.
What nonverbal messages are you communicating, intentionally or otherwise, about yourself
and the communities you are involved with?
Do you like those messages?
Or is it time to make some changes in your— or my—environment?
[Picture: A rather artistic view of my office at the beginning of the semester]