Body Language

Mouth expressions and movements are very essential in reading body language. For example, chewing on the bottom lip may indicate that the individual is experiencing feelings of worry, fear, or insecurity. Covering the mouth may be an effort to be polite if the person is yawning or coughing, but it may also be an attempt to cover up a frown of disapproval. Smiling is perhaps one of the greatest body language signals, but smiles can also be interpreted in many ways. A smile may be genuine, or it may be used to express false happiness, sarcasm, or even cynicism. Four critical areas should be taken cognizance of while interpreting the signals of the mouth. The first on the list is pursed lips. Tightening the lips might be an indicator of distaste, disapproval, or distrust. Another point of concern is lip biting. People sometimes bite their lips when they are worried, anxious, or stressed. Further, when people want to hide an emotional reaction, they might cover their mouths in order to avoid displaying smiles or smirks. This is an intentional suppression of their emotional feeling. Finally, when the mouth is turned down or up, it bears a subtle message of a person’s feelings. When the mouth is slightly turned up, it might mean that the person is feeling happy or optimistic. On the other hand, a slightly down-turned mouth can be an indicator of sadness, disapproval, or even an outright grimace. Above all, no body language signal should be interpreted out of context to avert trouble.

The eyes are frequently referred to as the “windows to the soul” since they are capable of revealing a great deal about what a person is feeling or thinking. As you engage in conversation with another person, taking note of eye movements is a natural and important part of the communication process. Some common things you may notice include whether people are making direct eye contact or averting their gaze, how much they are blinking, or if their pupils are dilated. Eye gaze is the first signal you should pay attention to. When a person looks directly into your eyes while having a conversation, it indicates that they are interested and paying attention. However, prolonged eye contact can feel threatening. On the other hand, breaking eye contact and frequently looking away might indicate that the person is distracted, uncomfortable, or trying to conceal his or her real feelings. Blinking should be natural—not too much or too little. People often blink more rapidly when they are feeling distressed or uncomfortable. Infrequent blinking may indicate that a person is intentionally trying to control his or her eye movements. The pupil size also bears subtle messages. While light levels in the environment control pupil dilation, sometimes emotions can also cause small changes in pupil size. For example, you may have heard the phrase “bedroom eyes” used to describe the look someone gives when they are attracted to another person. Highly dilated eyes, for example, can indicate that a person is interested or even aroused.

It has been suggested that body language may account for between 50 per cent to 70 per cent of all communication. Understanding body language is important, but it is also essential to pay attention to other cues such as context. In many cases, you should look at signals as a group rather than focusing on a single action. In a bid to interpret body language signals, there are some vital things to look out for. Think for a moment about how much a person is able to convey with just a facial expression. A smile can indicate approval or happiness. A frown can signal disapproval or unhappiness. In some cases, our facial expressions may reveal our true feelings about a particular situation. While you say that you are feeling fine, the look on your face may tell people otherwise. The expression on a person’s face can even help determine if we trust or believe what the individual is saying. A research outcome shows that the most trustworthy facial expression involved a slight raise of the eyebrows and a slight smile. This expression, the researchers suggested, conveys both friendliness and confidence. Facial expressions are also among the most universal forms of body language. The expressions used to convey fear, anger, sadness, and happiness are similar throughout the world. Researcher Paul Ekman has found support for the universality of a variety of facial expressions tied to particular emotions including joy, anger, fear, surprise, and sadness. A study even opines that we make judgments about people’s intelligence based upon their faces and expressions.

The origin of body language is a little bit controversial. In fact, there is no one acceptable source of body language. However, beyond the submission of science, body language is as old man. It is the earliest form of communication. Beyond the evolvement of verbal utterances, humans used to communicate solely through the use of bodily movement. Hence, Body language is something that evolved over time to answer human social needs. Scientists and anthropologists still study which gestures developed and to what propose. Another form of evolutionary explanation to body language is that it can be divided into several groups. Some gestures and reactions are inborn, and they are universal around the world. Others are learned by observation, and some are refined with age and use. Hence, we can cautiously answer the question that the evolution of body language “depends” on the context of the poser. For example, nobody taught you how to scowl in anger – you’re born ‘programmed’ in your brain to response that way when angry. On the other hand, you probably did hear and learn that standing in straight posture and smiling projects a positive image. The practical study of non-verbal communication probably began with actors especially during the 19th century, when silence movies were first introduced. Actors learned how display feelings, attitude and status by mimicking the body language of the character they played – not a small feat at all. Charles Darwin, the father of evolution was the first to study body language. He was the first man to study the body language of humans and animals in his book “The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals” in 1872.

There is a wide range debate on whether body language can be categorized as being driven by nature or nurture. To an extent, the debate is needless because experience has shown that they both co-exist. That is, body language expression is now a product of both nature and nurture. There is no gainsaying that this has made the concept somewhat complex and that is why body language has to be carefully read. The Oxford Dictionaries defines body language as “The conscious and unconscious movements and postures by which attitudes and feelings are communicated.” There is a clear distinction between unconscious and conscious body language. When we say that body language is unconscious, that is, it is unintentional communication such as facial expressions and eye movement. On the other hand, when it is said to be conscious, it is intentional communication such as gestures and postures. From the foregoing, it can be said that the nature is the unconscious body language; the undiluted form which is not subjected to human manipulation while the nurture is the conscious movement which is controlled by human actions. While scientific evidence is of the opinion that nature plays the major role, experience is of contrary opinion. For instance, a smile can be genuine and natural reaction, thus making it an unconscious action while on the other hand, it can be forced or controlled—conscious/nurture. Eye blink can also be voluntary or involuntary. The same thing goes for posture. Hence, it is appropriate to conclude that body language has both natural and cultural sides.

A facial expression is the most common form of body language—nonverbal communication. It is one or more motions or positions of the muscles beneath the skin of the face. The expression conveys the emotional state of an individual to observers. Humans can adopt a facial expression voluntarily or involuntarily, and the neural mechanisms responsible for controlling the expression differ in each case. Voluntary facial expressions are often socially conditioned and follow a cortical route in the brain. Conversely, involuntary facial expressions are believed to be innate and follow a sub-cortical route in the brain. Facial recognition is often an emotional experience for the brain and the amygdala is highly involved in the recognition process. The eyes are often viewed as important features of facial expressions. Aspects such as blinking rate can possibly be used to indicate whether a person is nervous or whether he or she is lying. Also, eye contact is considered an important aspect of interpersonal communication. However, there are cultural differences regarding the social propriety of maintaining eye contact or not. More than anything though, what shapes a child’s cognitive ability to detect facial expression is being exposed to him/her from the time of birth. The more an infant is exposed to different faces and expressions, the more able they are to recognize these emotions and then mimic them for themselves. Infants are exposed to an array of emotional expressions from birth, and evidence indicates that they imitate some facial expressions and gestures (e.g., tongue protrusion) as early as the first few days of life.

A first impression is the event when one person first encounters another person and forms a mental image of that person. Impression accuracy varies depending on the observer and the target (person, object, scene, etc.) being observed. First impressions are based on a wide range of characteristics: age, race, culture, language, gender, physical appearance, accent, posture, voice, number of people present, and time allowed to process. The first impressions individuals give to others could greatly influence how they are treated and viewed in many contexts of everyday life. It takes just one-tenth of a second for us to judge someone and make a first impression. Research finds that the more time participants are afforded to form the impression, the more confidence in impressions they report. Not only are people quick to form first impressions, they are also fairly accurate when the target presents him or herself genuinely. People are generally not good at perceiving feigned emotions or detecting lies. Individuals are also fairly reliable at understanding the first impression that he/she will project to others. The rate at which different qualities are detected in first impressions may be linked to what has been important to survival from an evolutionary perspective. For example, trustworthiness and attractiveness were the two traits most quickly detected and evaluated in a study of human faces. People are fairly good at assessing personality traits of others in general, but there appears to be a difference in first impression judgments between older and younger adults. Older adults judged young adult target photos as healthier, more trustworthy, and less hostile, but more aggressive, than younger adults did of the same photos.

Meeting a person either for official or unofficial purpose demands that you make good impression with them. This is because the kind of relationship you build with them will serve as the foundation through which other affairs would be developed. When it comes to making a good impression, you can verbally say all the right things, but it’s helpful when you’re saying all the right things through your body language too. In order to convey confidence, ensure that you shake hands firmly with the person. Weak, listless handshakes can make you seem timid and anything but confident. Your handshake should be firm but not overly tight, because you won’t impress anyone by giving them a sore hand. As you shake the person’s hand, make eye contact with him to show you’re sure of yourself and genuinely interested in meeting him. Also, make sure you maintain a relaxed posture. Stand up straight, but don’t tighten up so that you look rigid and nervous. If you’re a natural sloucher, make sure to check your posture sporadically and straighten up as needed. Your eye contact should be appropriate. By maintaining eye contact with the person you’re talking to — or meeting for the first time — you’re letting her know that you’re paying attention to what she is saying. Not only are you paying attention, but you’re interested in it as well. Whenever there is a natural pause in the conversation, feel free to casually glance at something else. Eye contact is good, but nonstop staring can be a little unsettling!

Body language is a type of nonverbal communication in which physical behavior, as opposed to words, are used to express or convey information. Such behavior includes facial expressions, body posture, gestures, eye movement, touch and the use of space. Body language exists in both animals and humans. Body language is also known as kinesics. Body language must not be confused with sign language, as sign languages are full languages like spoken languages and have their own complex grammar systems, as well as being able to exhibit the fundamental properties that exist in all languages. Body language, on the other hand, does not have a grammar system and must be interpreted broadly, instead of having an absolute meaning corresponding with a certain movement, so it is not a language like sign language, and is simply termed as a “language” due to popular culture. In a community, there are agreed-upon interpretations of particular behavior. Interpretations may vary from country to country, or culture to culture. On this note, there is controversy on whether body language is universal. Body language, a subset of nonverbal communication, complements verbal communication in social interaction. In fact some researchers conclude that nonverbal communication accounts for the majority of information. The commonest form of body language is facial expression. It is integral when expressing emotions through the body. Combinations of eyes, eyebrow, lips, nose, and cheek movements help form different moods of an individual (example happy, sad, depressed, angry, etc.). For example, a lack of crinkles around the eyes suggests a potentially fake smile. At one point, researchers believed that making a genuine smile was nearly impossible to do on command. When you’re smiling joyfully, they crinkle.

The optimal business handshake strikes a balance between a forceful grip and a limp noodle. The extended hand should fully engage with the other person’s hand for the most impact. Weak handshakes that only grip fingertips may make a negative impression on a new business contact, co-worker or customer. Likewise, a vice-grip-style handshake presents an overly aggressive stance. When shaking the hands, make sure your right hand is open so the lower joint of the thumb of both parties touch. The grip should be firm–not limp or so strong that it hurts the other person. You may have to adjust your grip to that of the other party’s. A good handshake has a smooth up-and-down motion. You will have to gauge when the person wants to end the shake, and then do so right away. How you shake hands provides subtle nonverbal cues about your personality, business style and negotiating techniques. A firm, strong handshake transmits your underlying confidence in yourself and your abilities. When individuals feel your confidence, it helps instil trust in your words and work abilities. Working from a foundation of trust is important to advance sales opportunities, gain employment, attract competent employees and obtain business partners. The proper grip and hand position are essential to good handshake etiquette, but so is the rest of the body. Do not forget global etiquette–other cultures may add something like a kiss on the cheek or have a different way of shaking. Most business cultures use the handshake as a greeting, but not all do so in the same way.