Body language

[KALKI]

Body language is a form of non-verbal communication, which consists of body posture, gestures, facial expressions, and eye movements. Humans send and interpret such signals almost entirely subconsciously.


John Borg attests that human communication consists of 93 percent body language and paralinguistic cues, while only 7% of communication consists of words themselves;

however, Albert Mehrabian, the researcher whose 1960s work is the source of these statistics, has stated that this is a misunderstanding of the findings. Others assert that "Research has suggested that between 60 and 70 percent of all meaning is derived from nonverbal behavior."

Body language may provide clues as to the attitude or state of mind of a person. For example, it may indicate aggression, attentiveness, boredom, relaxed state, pleasure, amusement, and intoxication, among many other cues.


Understanding body language



The technique of "reading" people is used frequently. For example, the idea of mirroring body language to put people at ease is commonly used in interviews. Mirroring the body language of someone else indicates that they are understood.[citation needed] It is important to note that some indicators of emotion (e.g. smiling/laughing when happy, frowning/crying when sad) are largely universal; however in the 1990s Ekman expanded his list of basic emotions, including a range of positive and negative emotions not all of which are encoded in facial muscles.

The newly included emotions are:


Amusement
Contempt
Contentment
Embarrassment
Excitement
Guilt
Pride in achievement
Relief
Satisfaction
Sensory pleasure
Shame


Physical expression

Physical expressions like waving, pointing, touching and slouching are all forms of nonverbal communication. The study of body movement and expression is known as kinesics. Humans move their bodies when communicating because, as research has shown[citation needed], it helps "ease the mental effort when communication is difficult." Physical expressions reveal many things about the person using them. For example, gestures can emphasize a point or relay a message, posture can reveal boredom or great interest, and touch can convey encouragement or caution.


One of the most basic and powerful body-language signals is when a person crosses his or her arms across the chest.[citation needed] This can indicate that a person is putting up an unconscious barrier between themselves and others. It can also indicate that the person's arms are cold, which would be clarified by rubbing the arms or huddling.

When the overall situation is amicable, it can mean that a person is thinking deeply about what is being discussed. But in a serious or confrontational situation, it can mean that a person is expressing opposition.

This is especially so if the person is leaning away from the speaker. A harsh or blank facial expression often indicates outright hostility. A woman crossing her arms or hands over her chest is a also a way of drawing attention to her breasts as well as a gesture of sexual anticipation.

Consistent eye contact can indicate that a person is thinking positively of what the speaker is saying. It can also mean that the other person doesn't trust the speaker enough to "take their eyes off" the speaker.

Lack of eye contact can indicate negativity. On the other hand, individuals with anxiety disorders are often unable to make eye contact without discomfort. Eye contact can also be a secondary and misleading gesture because cultural norms about it vary widely. If a person is looking at you, but is making the arms-across-chest signal, the eye contact could be indicative that something is bothering the person, and that he wants to talk about it.

Or if while making direct eye contact, a person is fiddling with something, even while directly looking at you, it could indicate the attention is elsewhere. Also, there are three standard areas that a person will look which represent different states of being. If the person looks from one eye to the other then to the forehead, it is a sign that they are taking an authoritative position.

If they move from one eye to the other then to the nose, that signals that they are engaging in what they consider to be a "level conversation" with neither party holding superiority. The last case is from one eye to the other and then down to the lips. This is a strong indication of romantic feelings.

Disbelief is often indicated by averted gaze, or by touching the ear or scratching the chin. When a person is not being convinced by what someone is saying, the attention invariably wanders, and the eyes will stare away for an extended period.

Boredom is indicated by the head tilting to one side, or by the eyes looking straight at the speaker but becoming slightly unfocused. A head tilt may also indicate a sore neck or Amblyopia, and unfocused eyes may indicate ocular problems in the listener.

Interest can be indicated through posture or extended eye contact, such as standing and listening properly.

Deceit or the act of withholding information can sometimes be indicated by touching the face during conversation. Excessive blinking is a well-known indicator of someone who is lying. Recently[when?], evidence has surfaced that the absence of blinking can also represent lying as a more reliable factor than excessive blinking.

Some people use and understand body language differently, or not at all.[citation needed] Interpreting their gestures and facial expressions (or lack thereof) in the context of normal body language usually leads to misunderstandings and misinterpretations (especially if body language is given priority over spoken language). It should also be stated that people from different cultures can interpret body language in different ways.


Personal space

Permitting a person to enter personal space and entering somebody else's personal space are indicators of perception of the relationship between the people.
There is an intimate zone reserved for lovers, children and close family members.
There is another zone used for conversations with friends, to chat with associates, and in group discussions; a further zone is reserved for strangers, newly formed groups, and new acquaintances; and a fourth zone of used for speeches, lectures, and theater; essentially, public distance is that range reserved for larger audiences

[KALKI]

Body language can help you read people’s emotions and understand their feelings with an accuracy that is close to 100%.
Body language doesn’t only allow you to read people’s emotions but it can also help you give the impression you want to people. For example if you took the body language confidence gestures you will be able to give people the impression that you are a confident person.

Noticing the signals that people send out with their body language is a very useful social skill. Some of us can read it naturally and some of us are notoriously oblivious. Fortunately, with a little extra attentiveness, you can learn to read body language, and with enough practice it’ll become second nature.

A research was held at the University of Pennsylvania to determine to what extent a person’s body language can affect the impression people form of him. The shocking result the research came up with is that body language was found to be more responsible for the impression people form of you than your words.

The following are the detailed findings they came up with:
55 percent of the impression people form of you is based on your postures , body movements and gestures 38 percent was based on the tone of your voice (tempo and frequency).

Only 7 percent was based on what you say.

That means that a total of 93 percent of the impression people form of you is determined by your body language (which includes both Body gestures and voice tone) while only 7 percent is based on the words you say.
In other words this means that if you learned how to read body language you will be able to interpret people’s emotions with a 93% accuracy.
Why reading body language makes a lot of sense

Lots of people find it weird that reading body language can tell us about 93% of the real intentions of the people we are dealing with but when you put in mind that there are liars, imposers, dishonest people and people who don’t know how to express their emotions the results make a lot of sense.
Let me give you another example that will show you that depending on body language can be much accurate than depending on words people say. Lets suppose that you met a stranger who wears a horrible looking shirt? will you tell him about your opinion? of course not.

Most people suppress their emotions and opinions because of the rules their society forces upon them and that’s why their real opinion is reflected in their body language.

Based on these facts we can conclude that learning how to read body language will give you a deeper understanding of people and will help you interpret many of the unconscious signals they send.

Why its useful to read body language

Body language is now widely used in politics, investigations (where the suspect’s body language is analyzed), sales, negotiations and any other situation where communication between people is involved.

Body language is not only used in understanding the emotional states of others but it can also help you leave the impression you want. For example by using proper body language you can appear confident even if you were anxious or afraid.
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