YOUNGSTOWN YSU prof makes a power play

A large part of Ellyson's current research has focused on the eyes.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Dr. Steve L. Ellyson flips opens an August issue of Fortune magazine and points to some of the names in a large-type paragraph under the headline "Power."
It's "The Power Issue."
Mentioned are Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan and John D. Rockefeller.
Ellyson turns the page.
And down there, in a more readable type, is another name: Steve Ellyson.
The magazine tapped the Youngstown State University researcher this summer to offer his insight into the subconscious ways people "acknowledge power's presence."
Ellyson calls it "fun stuff." The social psychologist and professor of psychology specializes in nonverbal communication, and has earned an international reputation by writing more than 150 articles, two papers and a couple of books on the topic and giving lectures at several universities.
"If you look at social influence, we affect each other a lot," he said. "I'm affected by you. You're affected by me. Social norms become powerful shapers of our behavior, and we underestimate that."
Other contributions
Besides the mention in Fortune, Ellyson said he has worked with a Canadian filmmaker on a documentary that was aired by the British Broadcasting Corp. on "NOVA" programs shown worldwide outside the United States.
Ellyson, who has taught at YSU since 1986, had previously taught at the University of California at Davis. He earned his doctoral degree at the University of Delaware. A large part of his current research has focused on the eyes.
"The most visible part of the human body, the part we pay the most attention to, is from the neck up," he said. "Most of the time, we look at the eyes."
But he comforts others who might wonder if he's analyzing their eyes when he speaks with them, by pointing out that his research is based on hours of videotaped conversations that are analyzed frame by frame. If he tried to analyze everyone he speaks with, he'd never be able to carry on a conversation.
"Are the eyes the gateway to the mind? I don't know," he said. "I think this stuff is really interesting, and every time I ask a question, a new one comes up."
Research with students
Among other research, Ellyson worked with two students to analyze "Sexual Aggressive Content in Professional Wrestling: Trends Over 18 Years," a report he presented at a November conference of the Society for the Scientific Study of Human Sexuality.
Through counting violent acts in 18 annual World Wrestling Entertainment WrestleMania events, the students discovered that violence has not increased. However, sexual activity had increased in the form of more partial nudity and obscene gestures and words; women also took on more violent roles.
Ellyson discusses the wrestling topic on a Canadian Discovery Channel Program titled "The Sex Files" that will air next season.
Aside from his comments in Fortune and on the cable television programs, Ellyson has been asked to perform consultant work for marketing, advertising or management companies. But he prefers to limit his work in those areas; when information is disseminated, he explained, it sometimes gives the impression "that we know more than we do."
"We've only scratched the surface," he said. "Yes, I've done a lot of work but it only shows me that we have a lot more work to do."