Expectancy Violations Theory - History

History

Expectation Violations Theory has its roots in Uncertainty Reduction research, which attempts to predict and explain how communication is used to reduce the uncertainty among people involved in conversations with one another the first time they meet. Expectancy Violations Theory however, builds upon this, and proposes that expected behavior causes arousal and uncertainty in people, and people then look to explain the violation in order to better predict another’s behavior. Early communication research that led to EVT was conducted by Judee K. Burgoon in 1976 from her Nonverbal Expectancy Violations Model. It explored issues of personal space and how communicative functions could be seen through expectations and expectation violations. In its earliest form, the theory focused on how people react to violations of personal space. Later however, the theory was extended to encompass all types of behavior violations. Whereas much of Burgoon’s work emphasizes nonverbal violations of physical spacethis known as the study of proxemics. Burgoon defined Proxemics as the study of people's use of space as a special elaboration of culture. Personal space can also refer to the psychological or emotional space of a person. Burgoon had seen academic attention paid to personal space norms but recognized a gap in research regarding the use of space as communication. Her theory brings to light another new component: kinesics. This is the study of body movements, gestures, facial expressions as a means of communication, and it involves the space between individuals, the ‘proper’ distance to be maintained (within contexts and relationships) and what happens when the boundaries are crossed. Also, the communicator, or violator, has a degree of power either in the present situation or a possible future one that influences the interpretation of his/her actions. The theory was later applied to other forms of nonverbal behavior and subsequently to other acts of communication, and is now referred to as EVT. It is considered a theory of communication processes, and more specifically a theory of discourse and interaction. Recently, the theory has undergone some reconstitution by Burgoon and her colleagues and has resulted in a newer theory known as Interaction Adaptation Theory, which is a more comprehensive explanation of adaptation in interpersonal interaction.