Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to compare perceptions of the nonverbal behavior of men school managers with that of women school managers by one hundred university graduate students. Set within work settings, the study sought to describe the relationship of gender to nonverbal behavior. The study was a companion study to Lyndon E. Taylor's dissertation "A Study of the Impact of the Nonverbal Behavior of Managers on Their Peer Group" conducted in 1975 at Claremont Graduate School. Research Methodology. The research design of the study is descriptive. Silent videotapes were made of three male school managers and three women school managers in their respective office settings. One hundred graduate students at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, viewed the six videotapes. Questionnaires used in the Taylor study were administered to survey any perceptions of nonverbal behaviors displayed in the videotapes. Findings. Men and women jurors arrived at fairly similar total scores for the subjects, yet by gender they focused on different aspects of nonverbal behavior. Women jurors focused on paralanguage factors and made subjective comments. Women jurors' reactions were emotional, while men jurors' comments remained objective. Women do not support women as positively as men support men, according to the study. Recommendations. The primary recommendation of this study was that schools of management should include the study of nonverbal communication in their curricula. Since women lacked essential nonverbal communication skills both in decoding and encoding, special emphasis should be placed on the training and education of women for management effectiveness. The present study focused on women and their nonverbal behavior as compared to men and their nonverbal behavior skills. Further concentration on enclaves of society, such as the elderly, the deaf, the blind, Hispanics, and Orientals was recommended.