THE IMPACT OF REDUCED FACE-TO-FACE INTERACTION ON DECODING NONVERBAL CUES OF GRADE 12 HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES STUDENTS IN NASUGBU EAST SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to determine how reduced face-to-face interaction impacts the ability to accurately decode nonverbal cues of Grade 12 Humanities and Social Sciences learners at Nasugbu East Senior High School, Nasugbu, Batangas, School Year 2023-2024. The researcher used descriptive method of research, particularly the survey technique using questionnaire. Moreover, the respondents of the study were 180 Grade 12 students in Nasugbu East Senior High School. Overall, respondents strongly agree that reduced face-to-face interaction has an impact on their overall accuracy in decoding nonverbal cues (WM-3.43, SD=2.93). Respondents strongly agree on the nonverbal cues are most affected by reduced face-to-face interaction (WM-3.40, SD=2.92). The respondents also strongly agree the extent on nonverbal cues in daily interactions of the respondents (WM-3.39, SD=2.89). The researchers proposed a development plan to inform and to gain insights into how changes in communication patterns affect social dynamics, relationships, and overall communication effectiveness on Grade 12 Humanities and Social Sciences learners. 

Keywords: Impact, interaction, nonverbal cues, grade 12 learners

INTRODUCTION     

According to Ruben (2021) digital revolution has certainly changed the way individuals can communicate, little empirical results exists regarding the effect of technology on an individual’s communication skills. Specifically, because technology markedly changes the available information individual’s use to decode the communicative intents of others (e.g., determining a friend’s emotional state via short text message instead of their facial expression), are those who spend large quantities of time communicating online better or worse decoders of nonverbal information? Not only is nonverbal decoding a crucial component of general social and communication skills, but it has been tied to better interpersonal outcomes (e.g., Hall et. al., 2009), can be easily assessed with validated, reliable, and standardized objective measures, and can be improved with practice and feedback training (e.g., Schlegel et. al., 2017). Therefore, the question of whether technology may affect nonverbal decoding, or how accurately a perceiver can recognize and interpret the nonverbal behaviors of another person, is important to empirically address. 

In our increasingly digital world, where face-to-face interactions are becoming less common due to factors like remote work and digital communication platforms, we're interested in understanding how this shift impacts our ability to pick up on nonverbal cues. Nonverbal cues, such as facial expressions, gestures, and tone of voice, are crucial for effective communication and understanding in interpersonal interactions. When we're not physically present with others, we may miss out on important nonverbal signals that contribute to our understanding of their thoughts, feelings, and intentions.

When not meeting in person and miss out on vital cues like facial expressions, gestures, and tone of voice, making it tougher to understand each other. These nonverbal signals, like the unsaid parts of our conversations, help us grasp emotions and intentions and build trust. So, when face-to-face interaction decreases, it's like losing a key tool for effective communication and connecting with others.

Moreover, reduced face-to-face interaction can lead to misunderstandings and hinder our ability to empathize with others. Nonverbal cues provide context and depth to our conversations, allowing us to better gauge the emotions and intentions of those we interact with. Without these cues, communication becomes more superficial, and relationships may suffer as a result. It's important to recognize the impact of these limitations and find alternative ways to maintain effective communication and understanding, even in non-face-to-face settings.

In today's world, people talk to screens more than people. This change makes us wonder how it affects our ability to understand feelings without words, like facial expressions and body language. This study explores what happens when there are fewer face-to-face chats and how it might make communication a bit tricky. This is trying to figure out the challenges and find ways to make sure we still get along, even though through screens. Less face-to-face interaction makes students harder to understand emotions and intentions through nonverbal cues like facial expressions and body language. This affects communication, especially in digital settings where these cues are limited. It's important to adapt by using video calls or clear verbal expression to compensate for the lack of in-person signals, ensuring effective communication.

Reduced face-to-face conversations make it tricky to pick up on nonverbal signals like expressions and body language. Combat this by opting for video calls, being extra clear with your words to make up for the lack of cues, and understanding to maintain a strong connection even without physical presence.

This research aims to investigate how reduced face-to-face interaction influences our ability to accurately decode the nonverbal cues of the Nasugbu East senior high school students. By exploring this topic, the outcome is to gain insights into how changes in communication patterns might affect social dynamics, relationships, and overall communication effectiveness in today's society. Understanding these implications can inform strategies for improving virtual communication and maintaining meaningful connections in an increasingly digital world.

METHODOLOGY

The study used the descriptive design to determine the impact of reduced face to face interaction on decoding nonverbal cues of Grade 12 Humanities and Social Sciences students of Nasugbu East Senior High School. Base on voxco.com (2021), Descriptive research design is a type of research design that aims to systematically obtain information to describe a phenomenon, situation, or population. Descriptive research design involves using a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods to collect data that aids in accurately describing a research problem. In this study, the method was utilized to gather the needed information and data on the impact of reduced face-to-face interaction on overall accuracy in decoding nonverbal cues, the nonverbal cues that are most affected by reduced face-to-face interaction, and the extent of the students relying on nonverbal cues in their daily interaction.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION  

This section presents the data collected where the researcher is given interpretation and analysis. 

1. The demographic profile of the respondents 

     A. Age

 Table 1 shows the distribution of the respondents according to their age including the weighting and computed mean with its interpretation.

Distribution of respondents in terms of age

This table shows that the most significant number of respondents is 15-25 years old, with a total number of 180. Such generation accounts for 100% of the total number of respondents. In addition, the least significant frequency of respondents in terms of age 26-35 years old, accounting for 0 and 0% of the total number of respondents. 

B. Sex

Table 2 shows the distribution of the respondents according to their sex including the weighting and computed mean with its interpretation.

Distribution of respondents in terms of sex

Table 2 shows the distribution of respondents according to sex. When the respondents are grouped according to their sex, female respondents comprised a more significant number than male respondents, 55% and 45% of the total respondents, respectively.   

2. The Impact of reduced face-to-face interaction on overall accuracy in decoding nonverbal cues. 

Table 3 shows that the reduced face-to-face interaction has an impact on overall accuracy in decoding nonverbal cues of the respondents with its weighted mean and interpretation.

This table shows that reduced face-to-face interaction has an impact on overall accuracy in decoding nonverbal cues of the respondents, with a grand weighted mean of 3.43 (SD=2.93). A study conducted by Rohrer et al. (2021) found that connecting with people leads to greater satisfaction in life than simply living alone. Since social interaction can lead to positive and healthy relationships between different individuals, it is clearly a worthwhile endeavor. People can recognize emotions based on multiple factors. The most straightforward factor is the tone of the voice, which can be transmitted in person and virtually. However, there are other key factors of communication, such as behaviors, gestures, and facial recognition, that can only be noticed in face-to-face interaction. Without these in-person indicators, communicating through a voice call or even a video chat can be frustrating. The table shows that the most responses had 180 responses; the highest was the statement number 12. The students think that their relationships with others have been affected by the reduced face-to-face interaction, which has a weighted mean of 3.56 (SD=2.85), while the lowest was the statement number 7, and that is the students believe that their communication skills are not affected by the reduced face-to-face interaction, which has a weighted mean of 3.36 (SD=2.88). 

2. Nonverbal cues that are most affected by reduced face-to-face interaction. 

Table 4 shows that the respondents, nonverbal cues are most affected by reduced face-to-face interaction with its weighted mean and interpretation.   

This table shows that the respondents, nonverbal cues are most affected by reduced face-to-face interaction, with a grand weighted mean of 3.40 (SD=2.92). According to Jonathan Gruber et. al (2022), Face-to-face communication is important for building and maintaining relationships. The COVID-19 pandemic led to severe limitations in people’s face-to-face interactions, resulting in most people relying more heavily on digital communication for social connection. Existing research has contributed to the understanding of how face-to-face communication is used alongside digital communication. As can be seen in the table, the students find it easy to interpret subtle facial expressions, such as micro expressions, without face-to-face interaction with top weighted mean of 3.49 (SD=3.00). The respondents think that gestures and body movements are not difficult to interpret when communication is in person with least weighted mean of 3.31 (SD=2.84). 

4. Extent on nonverbal cues in daily interactions as a senior high school student.   

Table 5 shows the extent on nonverbal cues in daily interactions of the respondents with its weighted mean and interpretation.

This table shows the extent on nonverbal cues in daily interactions of the respondents, with a grand weighted mean of 3.39 (SD=2.89). According to Joey F. George et. al (2023) The findings extend the understanding of people's use of nonverbal cues and the extent to which certain cues distract in the deception judgment. Although people rely on vocalic cues in audio-only media and kinetic cues in video-only media, they tend to rely mostly on, and are distracted by a few kinetic cues for full audiovisual media, even though vocalic cues are available. As can be seen in the table the most response of our respondents is Strongly Agree The table shows that the most responses had 180 responses; the highest statement was the number 5. The students think that decoding nonverbal cues is a skill that requires practice and experience to develop effectively, which has a weighted mean of 3.47 (SD=2.99), while the lowest statement was the number 4, the students are not struggling to differentiate between genuine nonverbal cues and those that are misleading or deceptive, which has a weighted mean of 3.32 (SD=2.85).  

CONCLUSIONS

The following statements are conclusions drawn from the finding: 

1. The majority of respondents fall within the age range of 15-25 years old, indicating a focus on this specific demographic. However, the majority of respondents being female has implications for understanding that reduced face to face impact student interaction on Decoding Nonverbal cues. 

2. Less face-to-face interaction affects how people connect and communicate. Students feel it impacts their relationships more than their actual communication skills. 

3. When face-to-face interaction decreases, people's nonverbal cues are most likely affected. This mean things like gestures and facial expressions become harder to interpret. 

4. Students mostly rely on certain body language cues when judging others, even when both audio and visual cues are present. This suggests they might miss important signals. It also emphasized the need for practice in reading nonverbal cues effectively.

RECOMMENDATIONS   

From the result of the study which was to determine the impact of reduced face to face interaction on decoding nonverbal cues of students at Nasugbu East Senior High School, these are the recommendations of the researcher to the beneficiary of this study: 

1. The study should take consideration of the specific perspectives and needs of respondents aged 15 to 25, as well as whether the findings apply to older or younger persons. Expanding demographic representation may lead to a better understanding. While, consider expanding on the implications of the predominant female respondents' influence on understanding the impact of reduced face to face interaction on decoding nonverbal cues. 

2. Offer more nuanced insights into the specific ways reduced face to face impact student interaction on decoding nonverbal cues. Teachers can use more video calls and activities where students can see each other. They can also teach students how to understand nonverbal cues better. Encouraging students to join clubs or activities outside of class can also give them more chances to practice these skills. 

3. Clarify the significance of the findings regarding the impact of reduce face to face interaction on decoding nonverbal cues, it's harder to understand gestures and facial expressions. To address this, we should use video calls or emojis more often to express ourselves better in virtual conversations. Additionally, providing clear verbal explanations can help make up for the lack of nonverbal cues. 4. 

4. Elaborate on the analysis of how reduced face to face impact student interaction on decoding nonverbal cues, they miss out on important nonverbal cues like body language. They might rely too much on visual and audio cues, which could lead them to miss important signals. To improve, they need practice in understanding nonverbal cues better. Adding activities that focus on listening, empathy, and cultural awareness can help them get better at it.