Expectancy Violation Theory states that individuals create expectations for how others will communicate and behave, and violating these expectations can lead to both positive and negative outcomes. Noynoy Aquino's actions as president of the Philippines provide examples of violating expectations. When Aquino attended wakes for 44 soldiers killed in action, people expected him to show grief, though his behavior was questioned. A speech he gave to the fallen soldiers' families was seen as insincere and not coming from the heart. However, violating expectations can also lead to positive outcomes unexpectedly. While Aquino was criticized for his alignment with U.S. interests, economic progress and reduced crime occurred under his leadership.

1. Methuselah Chua Advance Communication Theories
BACR 2-1 Prof. Kriztine Viray
Violating Our Expectations: An Analysis
Have you ever hoped for something and in the end get nothing? Have you ever wished to make
something happen but when it’s close to the edge, it stops? Have you ever wanted a thing in your life and
when you think you have it, you realized that you don’t actually have it? When you experience any of
these things, you are expecting.
Expecting, defined by dictionary.reference.com is “to look forward to, anticipate the occurrence
on the coming of and regard as likely to happen”. Usually, in our lives, we expect something to happen or
worked according to your plan like for example, you are taking an entrance examination in one of the
prestigious schools in the country. You do all the preparation for that exam; you enter a review class and
answer the entire example test they provide. After doing it, you know you are comfortable enough to pass
the test. However, when the results came, things get out of hand, and they did not turn out right on what
you are expecting. These instances can be explained by Burgoons theory: the Expectancy Violation
Theory.
This theory was born because of the Uncertainty Reduction Theory of Berger and Calabrese and
further developed by the authors Nonverbal Expectancy Violation model. The theory states that while
individuals are communicating, they create or made “an expectation of how the other will read. Violating
these expectations may lead to both positive and negative outcomes.
According to communication theory, Expectancy Violation Theory was “dependent on the
personal space. Personal Space, defined by Sommer (1958) is an unseen area around an individual,

2. attached to man and man act as its center. The theory elaborate that individuals tends to protect his or her
personal space when experiencing a certain violation.
Let us use Noynoy Aquino as our subject for explaining this theory further.
There are two types of expectancies according to communication theories. The first one is the
predictive wherein we identify the communication and interaction happening within a particular
environment or context. The second is the prescriptive where people displaying behaviors appropriate to
the existing environment. An example of this is when PNOy is attending the wakes of the fallen forty-
four. Everyone expect him to be in grief because his men were brutally killed and as a father to them, he
must show his condolences to their families. Although he did this, we cannot set aside the violation of our
expectancy to him when these forty-four men were carried in Villamor airbase to dissiminate their bodies
to their love ones.
Expectancy in people is determined by three factors:” Interactant Characteristics which includes
age, sex and other personality traits of the person make the listener creates an expectation of behavior” In
Noynoy’s case, we expect him to be his mother and father. His parents fought up to their last breath to
free Filipino from abusive leaders. His countrymen expect him to be on the same side so it’s a big
disappointment for us to find out that he let himself be used by the Americans for their own benefits. He
was used by them to push the poor more to their current status than helping them.
The second factor was Interpersonal Characteristic in which this deals with the relationship that
the person has with the listener, for example Noynoy to his fellowmen. Through his speech with the
remaining soldiers if they had a problem, none of them answer him. That’s because they may feel that the
president is not that sincere in delivering his speech and his condolences with the families of fallen forty-
four.
Last is the environment which the context takes place. In noynoy Aquino’s speech to the families
of the fallen forty-four, some were disappointed. It is seen and obvious enough that his speech isn’t

3. coming from his heart but only reciting a provided speech. Sincerity is an important factor in delivering a
speech to the families in grieves but that doesn’t show up to presidents voice even her facial expression is
the same when his giving his State of the Nation Address.
However, despite the negative outcomes of violating an expectation, there are also positive ones
that come up at unexpected times. It is also one of the concerns and criticisms against the theory cause it
only focuses on the bad side. Although Noynoy Aquino had done that Filipino people seem to find not
appropriate or good for them- his “boss” and criticized more because of his continuous alliance with the
American government, we cannot hide the truth that there is a progress in today’s economy and deflation
of crimes.
As to end, there may be times that are expectancies were violated but always remember not to
expect too much, because it might lead you only to disappointments
SOURCE:
http://www.communication heory.org/expectancy-violation-theory