Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2019
Abstract
This case study analyzed nonverbal cues during the 2016 town hall debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Variables were facial expressions, posture, eye contact, and spatial distance. Clinton was friendlier, took more expansive postures, and maintained more eye contact. The candidates largely kept within social distance, except for an instance that created postdebate controversy. Whereas some of Clinton’s nonverbal behavior conformed to established gendered cues, her nonverbal behavior largely transcended gender norms. Also addressed are the media’s shortcomings in contextualizing debate visuals.
Recommended Citation
Wasike, Ben. "Gender, nonverbal communication, and televised debates: a case study analysis of Clinton and Trump’s nonverbal language during the 2016 town hall debate." International Journal of Communication 13 (2019): 251-276.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Publication Title
International Journal of Communication
Comments
Copyright © 2019 (Ben Wasike). Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives (by-nc-nd). Available at http://ijoc.org.