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Body Language

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Saved by Kristy Campbell
on November 15, 2012 at 3:40:05 pm
 

Added a link to an MP3 interview on body language


The King of Body Language

 

"For as your majesty saith most aptly and elegantly, “As the tongue speaketh to the ear so the gesture speaketh to the eye.”

~ King James the First

 


Definition:

The gestures, movements, and mannerisms by which a person or animal communicates with others. [1] 


Summary

 

Body language is the most basic, fundamental form of expressing emotions used by humans to communicate with one another. At the same time, body language is culture specific and considered highly sophisticated.  Every culture has its own set of coded signals which play bodily and facial movement play just as significant to communication as does its verbal counterpart.[2]  Many scientists consider the concept of body language as such a broad statement which covers most everything in the realms of Kinesics.  "Kinesics is defined as a systemic study of the relationship between nonlinguistic body motions (as blushes, shrugs, or eye movement) and communication."[3]

 

Body language is something that we all do on a daily basis without even realizing it. It is something as simple as touching ones hands during a conversation. It is commonly described as 'talking with your hands'. Non-verbal communication is very important when trying to decide the type of message someone is trying to send. If someone is looking away from you during a conversation or trying to avoid eye contact that may indicate that they are not interested or they are not telling the truth. 

 

Expressions like waving, slouching, touching and pointing are all forms of nonverbal communication body language. Some of the unconscious gestures would be making an eye rub, nose itch, crossing arms, ear or head scratching, chin resting have been found to convey most important information in stipulated context. Body language reveals the feeling and also inner meanings of the content or message put forward to others and also it happens vice versa with others. The process of sending these signals to each other among two individuals can happen either at conscious or unconscious levels. There has been extensive research conducted on body language to help people control unintended expressions in order to make them successful in all aspects.[10]

 

Body language accounts for almost 70 percent of communication, and you can almost always tell what a person really means by paying attention to body language cues. You can use these cues to decipher anything, from someone lacking confidence to a person being nervous around you, despite what her words may say. [5]


History

 Body language is seen everyday and is used everywhere, from small children to businessmen. When someone of power uses their posture to "look down on" people of lower power it is an example of body language. A study was performed in a Columbia University lab, by researchers where they put a person in a slung over posture and directed to spit into a straw, then the same person was put into a power posture pose and directed to spit into another straw. The results were then sent off to a lab and the results indicated that people who were in the power posture pose had higher levels of cortisol and testosterone. Posture has a way of speaking for you without you having to say a word. [4] It just shows that the way one presents themselves through even something as simple as the way they stand, it provides them with more confidence and authority feeling. 

 

Body language is introduced to us at a very young age, children when they go off to school they may not even realize it but they are being introduced to body language. Their teachers without even realizing it constantly express nonverbal communication to their students by eye contact, gestures and touching. Children absorb everything they see and when their teacher, who sees them about seven hours a day communicates with them through nonverbal communicate children see that a learn to repeat it when they talk. Teachers need to watch what they say to children nonverbally and learn to teach them that way. [6]

 

When looking on the market there are many books trying to figure out body language and what everything someone does means. One book i found is called Peoplewatching it is described as "Peoplewatching is the culmination of a career of watching people – their behaviour and habits, their personalities and their quirks. Desmond Morris shows us how people, consciously and unconsciously, signal their attitudes, desires and innermost feelings with their bodies and actions, often more powerfully than with their words." [9]

Peoplewatching: The Desmond Morris Guide to Body Language


Non-Verbal Dictionary - A resource tool and detailed information on gestures, signs and body language cues ~ By David B. Givens, Ph.D

 

http://center-for-nonverbal-studies.org/6101.html

 

Flirting and Dating Tips - Body language expert, Craig-James Baxter, discusses body language and its role in attraction in this MP3 auditory interview.

 

http://www.all-about-body-language.com/media-files/flirting-and-dating-tips.MP3

 


 

Meaning Behind Specific Body Language 

 

Open Palms- (when you can see the palms of someones hands) suggests openness, honesty, and a weakness. [2] 

Closed palms - when you see someone who puts their hands in their pockets may symbolize that they are 'closed' and do not want to talk [2]

Arms Crossed over Chest- the is a universal signal meaning that the person does not agree with what is being told to them, or they are uncertain, or that they do not like the circumstances. [2]

Eyebrows- our eyebrows involuntarily go up, people tend to raise our eyebrows when we are surprised or suddenly called to attention [3]

Posture- The way people stand says a lot about them, when someone is hunched over they seem like they are not very interested. Or if a person has a very power posture they put off a very confident look.  

Legs- Crossing ones legs and tapping their leg may show that 

 

 


 

***remove this video...replace

 



Connection to Media Ecology

     The development of the television helped everyone watching at home get a better understand what people were talking about. For example prior to the invention of the television during the 'radio era' all the listeners just heard a voice but could not see the emotion that was linked behind it. With the television everyone can see the exact expressions that the person talking provides towards the conversation, every eye roll or shoulder shrug. Late night talk shows are an example of this, when the host is confronting a person about a specific situation everyone can see if the person is squirming in their seat or avoiding eye contact.

     With technology growing constantly the need for body language can possibly not be useful in the future. Everything becoming electronical face-to-face communication is turning into screen-to-screen communication, with the only form of body language would be a smiley face =) indicating your emotions. With the use of body language being eliminated by technology it will be a lot harder to figure out the type of message the person is putting off.

     But television talk shows are not the only form of media that brought back body language, movies and even photographs show off what the body is trying to say without speaking a word. Movies are similar to talk shows because they usually use language along with body language but they literally show it to you by having people act it out which makes it easy for everyone to comprehend what is happening. But when looking at a photograph it forces you to think about what the emotions captured in the image are trying to say. It is not as difficult as the radio which provided no image, requiring all forms of imagination whereas a picture provides us with a snapshot of what is happening.  The photography allowed for the first time to freeze a moment in time and really show how people were expressing themselves throught, posture, facial expression and hand movements. When comparing the photograph to the television is initially is a motion picture where a pgotograph is a frozen picture. On TV the person is moving and sometimes the message they are trying to express is hidden by the "motion" aspect whereas a photograph can be examined multiple times because it doesnt change.

     When looking at the article The Lord of Creation by Susanne Langer, she discusses the use of symbols incomparable to how animals use symbols. When looking at it, body language is a symbol that we use everyday because it expresses how we feel without even talking. If one looks at animals they use their form of body language as well, a tail wag indicating happiness, "puppy dog eyes" indicating sadness or begging, everyone uses body language even animals. [8]


 

References 


[1]"body language." Merriam-Webster.com.  Merriam-Webster, 2012.  Web.  14 Novermber 2012.

   

[2]"Body Language : What Hands and Arms Say About People." Personal Development for a Perfect Life. 22 Mar. 2011. Web. 26 Apr. 2011. <http://www.egodevelopment.com/body-language-what-hands-and-arms-say-about-people/>.

 

[3] Bowers, Kathleen. "The History of Body Language." Plastic Surgery News. 21 Apr. 2011. Web. 20 Apr. 2011. <http://www.body-philosophy.net/history_of_body_language>.

 

[4]  Cloud, John,  "Strike a Pose" Time, 0040781X, 11/29/2010, Vol. 176, Issue 22

 

[2] COLIN BLAKEMORE and SHELIA JENNETT. "body language." The Oxford Companion to the Body. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 14 Nov. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

 

[5] Hagy, Chad. "The Importance Of Body Language | Lifescript.com." Women's Health Issues | Women's Health Questions & Answers | Women's Health Articles | Lifescript.com. 22 Aug. 2007. Web. 20 Apr. 2011. <http://www.lifescript.com/Soul/Self/Growth/The_Importance_Of_Body_Language.aspx?gclid=CO6574rQrKgCFYEUKgoduielJA>.

 

[6]Hansen, Jacqueline. "Teaching Without Talking." Phi Delta Kappan Sep. 2010, Vol. 92 Issue 1, p35-40, 6p

 

[7]"How to Detect Lies - body language, reactions, speech patterns." Boredom Relief. Learn Something New or Stimulate your Mind with BrainTeasers, Games, Magic Tricks and more.. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2011. <http://www.blifaloo.com

 

[8]Langer, Susanne.  “The Lord of Creation.”  Fortune, Vol. 29, No. 1, January 1944

 

[9]"Peoplewatching: The Desmond Morris Guide to Body Language by Desmond Morris-Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists." Share Book Recommendations With Your Froends, Join Book Clubs, Answer Trivia.N.p.,n.d. Web.28.Apr.2011. <htto://www.goodreads.com/book/show1187815.Peoplewatching

 

[10]"Using Body Language." Changing minds and persuasion -- How we change what others think, believe, feel and do. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2011. <http://changingminds.org/techniques.>

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