Short definition of Expectancy Violation Theory (EVT): When what people predict will happen in an interaction is unexpectedly different than the "norm" for that interaction, resulting in a positive or negative value being placed on that unexpected interaction.
What a relevant topic to start out with in our Communication Theories class!
In the stock market expectancy violation is a constant, yet unwelcome, occurrence-
the experts calculate that the economy will continue to grow and hardly know how to react when we hit an economic down turn!
Beanie Babies were all the craze in the 90s and everyone knew they would someday be valuable collectibles... but they have violated collectors expectancies by now being close to worthless.
Here is what Expectancy Violation Theory means in regards to communication theory--
Expectancy Violation Theory explains how and why unexpected behavior violates and upsets others. People have a certain idea of how others will react in daily life and the circumstances that arise. When people that they interact with act outside of their predictions, their expectancy is violated.
It's also important to remember that communication is easy for people when they know the situation and everyone is operating in the social "norm". When someone violates this norm, communication becomes difficult because you have to reevaluate what you were previously going to say and come up with a new reaction to an event that is outside of your comfort zone.
It can take a long time to decide the valence of the violation that you are experiencing. Violation valence is defined as "the positive or negative value we place on an unexpected event". Some times you can have a positive reaction, maybe you think the violation is humorous or it is a good surprise that makes you happy. But it can also cause a negative reaction like in this video:
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