Robert J. Sternberg - Social Intelligence and Nonverbal Communication

Cover illustration: Aleksandra Kosti

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The study of intelligence has a long and somewhat checkered past. There are many reasons for this mixed background but, almost certainly, one is that people can be intelligent, in a conventional sense, and lack much (and sometimes, seemingly any) social, practical, or emotional skills (Sternberg, 2003). The so-called intelligent person may do well on a conventional intelligence test but fare only poorly in his or her ability to adapt to the environment, which, from a Darwinian point of view, is essential to intelligence. Indeed, historically, intelligence has been defined at least in part in terms of the ability to adapt to the environment (e.g., Sternberg & Detterman, 1986).

Recognizing the limitations of conventional conceptions of intelligence, some researchers have sought to expand conceptions of intelligence better to reflect the importance of various noncognitive skills that are critical for adaptation to the environment. One such set of skillsarguably, one of the most important setsis to be found in what has come to be called social intelligence.Socialintelligence is the ability to understand, flexibly manage, and, sometimes, control interactions with other people (see various definitions in Albrecht, 2009; Goleman, 2007; Kihlstrom & Cantor, 2011, in press; see also Barnes & Sternberg, 1989; Sternberg & Smith, 1985).

The concept of social intelligence appears to date back to Dewey (1909), but it was popularized by Thorndike (1920). Different taxonomies of social intelligence have been proposed. But one simple one is between verbal and nonverbal social intelligence , whereby verbal social intelligence pertains to interactions of a verbal natureorally or in writingand nonverbal social intelligence pertains to interactions that are or a nonverbal nature, such as eye contact, gesture, facial expressions , bodily form and contact, and so forth. Nonverbal social intelligence is important in many domainsin job interviews, in giving presentations, in intimate relationships or attempts to establish intimate relationships, in inferring friendly or hostile intent, and in conveying messages of approval or disapproval, among other things. Sometimes, nonverbal communication supports verbal communication, but other times, it directly contradicts it. People who are high in social intelligence need to learn to use nonverbal cues to discern whether, for example, what they are hearing corresponds to what a speaker actually thinks or feels. As all of us know, sometimes people say one thing and nonverbally leak another so that nonverbal communication becomes our primary means for detecting deception.