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Articles

CJOC: VOL. 9 NO. 1, JUNE 2022

Non-verbal Communication: Anger and Dissatisfaction in Ghanaian Marriages

Submitted
June 30, 2022
Published
2022-06-30

Abstract

Problems and challenges are part of matrimony. This study focuses on how nonverbal cues express anger and dissatisfaction in Ghanaian marriages. Data from 30 married couples were thematically analyzed, resulting in three outcomes. One, married couples use various forms of nonverbal communication such as proxemics, occulesics or eye movements, chronemics, kinesics, and behavioral cues to communicate anger. The married couples also use nonverbal cues such as frowning, mean face, eye contact, fisting of hand, denial of sex, and refusal to eat to express their anger and dissatisfaction. Two, married couples encounter difficulties such as misinterpretation of cues by partners, suspicion, and ineffective communication in their use of nonverbal cues to express their anger. Third, there are essential
difficulties among couples regarding interpreting nonverbal cuesthat express anger.
These findings prove that the need strongly exists to educate couples on how to
interpret nonverbal cues as a vital component of the strategy to improve
matrimonial communication.