Big Brother Is Watching You.

Social presence can facilitate (e.g. Fridlund, 1991) or inhibit (e.g. Wagner & Smith, 1991) nonverbal behavior, depending on the relationship between the present persons. Nonverbal behavior will be facilitated among friends while presence of a stranger will inhibit nonverbal behavior (e.g. Wagner& Lee, 1999 ). In a 2x2 between subjects design, we varied the sociality of the setting (alone or presence of a stranger) and the visibility of the camera (visible or concealed). All Participants (N=89) watched 18 different IAPS pictures chosen to elicit different feelings. Feelings were measured by the PANAS Scale. While nonverbal behavior was recorded, categorized and analyzed in duration and frequency. Results showed that emotions do largely not differ between the conditions, but nonverbal behavior is significantly inhibited by the visibility of the camera and the present stranger. We thus conclude that a visible camera has the same inhibition effect as has the stranger. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]