Misinterpreted Nonverbal Communication. Week 5 Assignment.

 

Misinterpreted nonverbal communication is a regular occurrence in my family. We each have our own ways of expressing anger, sadness, excitement, nervousness or frustration, and even though we have all known each other and been in countless repeating situations with each other stemming from every emotion, we still misunderstand each other.

            One of my family members raises her voice when she is trying to express a point because she grew up believing people were not listening, so even when she is not angry, she can come across as so, because she is trying so hard to express herself and ensure being heard. I know what it is like to misunderstand her, and sometimes take her furrowed eyebrows, raised shoulders and animated hands personally, as if she is angry with me, but I have to remind myself that is simply how she learned to express herself and how she gets a point across, especially if it’s something she is passionate about.

            I remember being afraid to ask for help because I did not think she would be interested in helping, and when we finally talked about it, she was very offended that I had not asked for help. But my reasoning was that her nonverbal cues of silence and disinterest caused me to assume that she was uninterested. She assumed I was unwilling to ask her for help because by not asking her and being quiet if she did bring it up was my way of saying I wanted to do it on my own, which was only true in part. I then realized that she did want to be involved after finally talking about the subject, but even then, her furrowed brows caused me to ask for her reassurance because it seemed she was still frustrated, but I came to realize that she appeared angry because she was very passionate about wanting to help me with this.