The Marital Disputes of Nigerian Celebrities: Emotional Cues in Nonverbal Communication

Abstract

Nonverbal communication provides valuable insights into individuals' emotional states and communication patterns, and it is at the heart of every message conveyed or received. The study aimed at identifying nonverbal cues that Nigerian celebrities use to communicate their emotions during marital conflict, and examining the types of emotions these nonverbal cues depict. It is very significant, as nonverbal communication can reveal unintentional information, as well as cause your communication to be misinterpreted. Through this study, second language learners will know how to infer meanings that are not verbally communicated and interpret them accurately. The study was guided by the following research questions: (1) What nonverbal cues were used by Nigerian celebrities to communicate their emotions during marital conflicts? (2) What types of emotions do these nonverbal cues depict? Data for the study was collated primarily through online media platforms such as Facebook, blogs, Instagram, Twitter and newspapers such as Vanguards, Daily Post, Daily Trust, Premium Times and so on. The collated data was given a qualitative analysis using Albert Mehrabian’s Contextual theory of emotions.  The findings showed that such nonverbal cues as cap lock, initial capitalisation, small letters, punctuation marks, emoticons, emojis, asterisk and formatting featured in the narratives of Nigerian celebrities. These identified nonverbal cues depicted such emotions as emphasis, contemplation, hesitation, uncertainty, incomplete thought, interruption, profanity, a short answer, smile or laughter, begging, death, intensity and so on. This study was recommended to be carried out among non-Nigerian celebrities to ensure the findings are adequate for generalisation.