Albert Mehrabian is a professor of psychology at UCLA. He is known for his 7-38-55 rule: 7% of communication is the actual language, whilst 38% is voice and 55% is body language. This has become a “myth” due to oversimplification of the research. His actual claims are more nuanced.

His work focuses on the context of feelings and attitudes. He suggests that three elements account for our liking for the person who puts forward a message concerning their feelings: 7% words, 38% tone, and 55% facial expression. What’s important for us liking or connecting with them is the congruence of these three factors. This mostly applies to situations again where there is incongruence between expression and words.

Here is an excerpt from his site:

Total Liking = 7% Verbal Liking + 38% Vocal Liking + 55% Facial Liking.

Please note that this and other equations regarding the relative importance of verbal and nonverbal messages were derived from experiments dealing with communications of feelings and attitudes (i.e., like–dislike). Unless a communicator is talking about their feelings or attitudes, these equations are not applicable. Also see references 286 and 305 in Silent Messages – these are the original sources of my findings.

REF - Silent Messages Summary by A. Mehrabian

Keywords & Nodes

• social connection
• influence
• psychology
• To influence people use reciprocation, liking, social proof, consistency, scarcity, and/or authority.
• 5. Psychology