Abstract:
The paper focuses on the findings of the experiment, which involved Russian native speakers aged between 17 and 24 (both males and females). The objective of the experiment was to derive an algorithm of communicative behavior of interpersonal communication's participants and to determine the sequence of verbal / non-verbal actions of a communicant in various situations. The experiment is based upon the theoretical foundations of the autopoiesis theory by H. Maturana and F. Varela, which views communication as a natural response of the living system to a dissonance occurring between it and its niche. On the basis of this theoretical premise we can model communicative behavior of a person as a non-linear sequence of verbal / non-verbal actions. Their features and the very number of such actions hinge on the relevance of dissonance-triggering factors for the communicant. The statistical analysis and the interpretation outlined in the paper help unveil whether such communicative behavior is stereotypical or is determined by the communicant's personality. To uncover group-related characteristics of communicative behavior with a focus on gender and society-determined characteristics, the cluster of subjects has been further subdivided into smaller and more unified clusters. The trends identified have been scrutinized, interpreted and supported with relevant examples of the subjects' responses.
