Expectancy Violations Theory

Observation #3
February 1, 2015
Expectancy Violation Theory

I think that most of my friendship with Meagan can be explained by the Expectancy Violations Theory.  Today when she came to my room to talk about schoolwork, instead of saying, "Hello Max, how has your day been?" she sat on my lap and licked my face.  Also, she did not knock before coming into my room, but rather just walked in without notice.  Despite these strange behaviors,

According to the Expectancy Violations Theory, how we predict something to occur is based on context, relationship, and communicator characteristics.  In order to understand how the Expectancy Violations Theory explains my response to Meagan's unexpected behavior, we have to understand Meagan and I's friendship.  Meagan and I really only became friends in December after she started dating my soon to be housemate.  Since then, we have become extremely close- to the point where let down a lot of our guard while around each other.

The Expectancy Violations Theory includes a one to two step sequence to determine how someone will react to an unexpected violation of social norms.  The first step tells us to look at the violation itself.  In this case, I will look into Meagan licking my face (though the same sequence could be used to determine my reaction to her charging into my room).  Normally, someone licking my face will yield a negative remark in my mind; however, physical touch is my secondary love language so it makes sense that it might be more ambiguous.  Since the behavior is not always bad or always good, we move onto the second step - communicator reward valence.  In this case, we have to look at my perception of Meagan.  Because I see Meagan as a friend and not as a potential threat, I was able to perceive her strange actions in a positive light.