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Non-verbal Communication: From Good Endings to Better Beginnings

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Nonverbal Communication in Close Relationships

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Abstract

This chapter offers an interpersonal model of relationship process that clarifies the role non-verbal communication has in facilitating or hindering the development of closeness. Sternberg’s story relationship perspective is a jumping-off place for presenting Nowicki and Duke’s four-phase relationship model. We remind the reader what aspects of non-verbal language cause it to be so important in determining our success not only at the choice and beginning, but especially at the deepening and ending of relationships. We introduce the idea that relationships are dynamic entities that continuously cycle through beginnings and endings as well as the circumplex model to identify what it is we seek from others to feel close and why relationship endings are so important for the success of future attempts at close relationships.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Emory University, EU, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Stephen Nowicki

  2. Emory University, EU, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Ann van Buskirk

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  1. Stephen Nowicki
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  2. Ann van Buskirk
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Correspondence to Stephen Nowicki .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, College of Human Ecology Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

    Robert J. Sternberg

  2. Faculty of Philosophy, Department of Psychology University of Niš, Niš, Serbia

    Aleksandra Kostić

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Nowicki, S., van Buskirk, A. (2022). Non-verbal Communication: From Good Endings to Better Beginnings. In: Sternberg, R.J., Kostić, A. (eds) Nonverbal Communication in Close Relationships. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94492-6_11

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