Nonverbal Immediacy in Human Resources Training and Development Programs: The Case of Physicians
Mehmet Devrim Aydin

Abstract
This study was conducted to demonstrate the importance of adding nonverbal immediacy subject into human resources training and development programs by choosing physicians as the focus of the study. With a new scale, Nonverbal Immediacy Scale for Physicians (NISP), the study investigates the effects of physicians’ nonverbal immediacy skills on the “perceived success of physicians” and on the “patient satisfaction”. In order to test the hypotheses, Political Science and Public Administration students in Hacettepe University were selected as a study group. Students rated the nonverbal immediacy skills (maintaining eye-contact, smiling, relaxed body position, and lively voice) of the best physician they had ever known. Findings of the study proved that physicians’ nonverbal immediacy skills are positively correlated with “perceived success level of physicians” and “patient satisfaction”. In the conclusion part, the study emphasizes the importance of adding nonverbal immediacy subject into “physician training and development programs” in hospitals.

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