body language paper

Prologue

While browsing for a topic for this project, something caught my attention: I read the

more than 60% of all communication is done trough non- verbal communication (body

language).This is how I became interested and invested in writing about this. It had never

dwelled on me that body language played such a significant part in our communication. I never

really paid any attention to my own body language or someone else’s and what it meant. I never

thought it was something I should have to paid attention to. But for something that plays such a

big role in our communication I needed to know more about.

I more a read about the more I thought it was important to try to understanding body

language, as it has such a great impact in our communication with the outside world. I also

thought that what learned would be practical use in my daily life. In the project I wanted to

explore what is body language, how it affects us and our perception of others, how does it impact

how others perceive us, how it differs from place to place and the role and importance it plays in

our lives. Body language is as extensive topic with hurdles of information on what each

movement means that’s why this project is more focused on how it can impact our lives,

personal relationships, business and even politics.

Introduction

Body language and the importance of its understanding

Our interaction with the outside world requires communication of information and

emotions. What we often overlook is that feelings and emotions are always on display through

our body language. Voluntary or involuntary we do the majority of our communication trough

non-verbal communication.

Allan Paese refers to body language in his book The Definitive Book of Body Language

as “an outward reflection of a person's emotional condition.” Most of us are unaware of what

where communicating with our body language and are equally unaware in understanding of the

body language of others, even though we take it into account when making judgments about that

person. When we first meet someone we make judgments on what we see. Some of the

judgments can even be made unconsciously; we often get “feelings” about people. At times we

think: ‘I don’t know why but I like this person’ or just the opposite: ‘I don’t know what is it

about this person but I don’t like him/her’. Judgments are made about that person because their

body language gave us indication that we were able to pick up, unconsciously or consciously,

that helped us make that judgment about that person.

Body language is tremendously significant in the way people rely messages. Researcher

of body language, Albert Mehrabian, found that “the total impact of a message is 7% verbal,

only words, 38% vocal, tone of voice, inflection and other sounds, and 55% non-verbal”. Our

bodies do the majority of the “talking” when it comes to communication.

Scientists have studied non-verbal communication for decades. The most prominent were

the findings of Charles Darwin, published in his book The Expression of the Emotions in Man

and Animals. In his book he expressed that facial expressions of emotion are akin among humans

in spite of culture. The term body language was later popularized by Julius Fast in the 1970’s

with the publication of his book Body language. In his book he continues to explore body

language and its different theories. He explains that there are certain aspects of body language

that are innate and inherited that don’t vary from culture to culture. Certain expressions are

hardwired in our brains to universal facial displays when it comes to surprise, anger, sadness,

disgust, fear, and happiness. In conclusion he declares that: “we are born with the elements of a

non-verbal communication. We can make hate, fear, amusement, sadness and other basic

feelings known to other human beings without ever learning how to do it.”

It’s true that body language has its innate nature, but body language can vary from culture

to culture. Thus Faust concludes that our body language is “partly instinctive, partly taught and

partly imitative.” It’s important to understand that there might be cultural and environmental

differences when it comes to body language. Allan Pease attributes these differences existence

mainly “in relation to territorial space, eye contact, touch frequency and insult gestures.” For

example in Saudi Arabia a man holds another man's hand in public in sign of mutual respect .Not

something that’s seen that way in the Western world or in Europe. Another example, in the

Japanese culture bodily contact is considered impolite. Handshakes, kissing and bear hugs have

not become established is Japan. It’s important to understand that this differences exist when it

comes to body language and other culture in other to avoid misunderstanding,

miscommunication and in some cases getting in trouble.

Another important aspect of body language that’s important it’s the role it plays in our

interpersonal relationship. Body langue plays a big role in the business sector where dominance

and credibility are incredibly important for success. Some ways to establish this, according to

The Definite Book of Body Language, is trough hand gestures like handshakes. Allan Pease

believes that the power is in our hands and that the palms and handshakes are used to control. He

explains that: “the open palm has been associated with truth, honesty, allegiance and submission.

Many oaths are still taken with the palm of the hand over the heart, and the palm is held in the air

when somebody is giving evidence in a court of law; the Bible is held in the left hand and the

right palm held up for the members of the court to view…… humans use their palms to display

in a similar way to show that they are unarmed and therefore not a threat.”

When it comes to handshakes Allen states that “In the 1970s he documented the effect of

these handshake techniques in business skills classes and taught them as business strategies,

which, with a little practice and application, can dramatically influence any face-to-face meeting.

Dominance is transmitted by turning your hand so that your palm faces down in the handshake.

Your palm doesn't have to face directly down, but is the upper hand and communicates that you

want to take control of the encounter.” There are many other ways where body language can be

used for self-benefit in business situations and because of this countless of books have been

written on this very subject.

Another important aspect in our lives when understanding body language is very

important is in our personal relationships. An example of this is the effect laughing has on

couples. Robert Provine found that in courtship, “it's also women who do most of the laughing

and smiling, not men. Laughing in these contexts is used as a way of determining how

successfully a couple is likely to bond in a relationship.” Provine explains that it’s mainly

because “the ability to make others laugh is perceived as a dominant trait and women prefer

dominant males, while males prefer subordinate females.” Dating and reading the opposite’s sex

body language is something that has been greatly explored and attracts a lot of attention from the

public. Interest in bettering dating life is a thriving business in itself.

Consciously or not we’re constantly giving messages, communicating our emotions.

With a better understanding of our body langue we can better understand ourselves and the world

around in other to achieve success in various aspects of our lives. Body language, signals,

messages are all around us all the time, it’s time we learn to take notice.

Epilogue:

Most people believe that most of our communication is done trough speech. That is way

we are often careful with what we say. I used to be one of those people but thanks to the

knowledge learned in this research I know how important non-verbal communication and body

language is in our communication. I would like people to take away from this research that our

emotions are constantly being expressed and that our bodies are designed to tell what we are

feeling. That by understanding what our and other’s body languages we can learn about

ourselves and the world around us. Maybe by understanding certain thing you can uncover things

about yourself that you weren’t conscious about.

Understanding body language can better our lives. As uncovered in the research, body

language affects every aspect of our lives. A better understanding could make us better in

relationships new and old; it can help us on our work life, in our interactions with other cultures.

In my genres I expressed the immense importance of body language in politics and in the movie

industry especially in the silent film era. These actors had to understand what body language

means in other to tell us a story. And our bodies are constantly telling stories, some that we try to

hide, but knowing what you’re giving out to the world can help us be more successful in it.

Annotated Bibliography

"Body Language - A Powerful Form of Communication - Associated Content." Associated

Content - associatedcontent.com. 21 Apr. 2009 <http://www.associatedcontent.com

/article/182501/body_language_a_powerful_form_of_communication.html?cat=4>.

A very informative web article in which the author gives a very brief introduction

of body language and its meanings. The author tries to inform us of the importance of

body language. The author also talks about of how we express this feelings trough body

language. She also briefly talks about our unconscious actions in body language.

Fast, Julius. Body Language. London: Pan Books Ltd, 1971.

One of the fist books to detail an introduction to body language as a study and

science ( kinetics).. The book as very little illustrations and doesn’t detail meaning of

gestures and such but it explains body language from the non-verbal science stand point.

He also gathers past theories made by previous non-verbal communication researches and

comes to some condense conclusions that incorporate past research.

Haas, Werner. "Expressing Emotion & Body Language - Associated Content." Associated

Content - associatedcontent.com. 21 Apr. 2009

<http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/85448/expressing_emotion_body_language_p

g5.html?cat=58>.

In this web article the author connects our emotions to body language; he gives different

scenarios and examples. He also thinks it’s important to give attention to silence, if doing

absolutely nothing and saying absolutely nothing has its interpretations other than void of

emotions.

Pease, Allan. Body Language. London: Sheldon P, 1984.

This short 148-page book gives an introduction to the understanding of body language,

mostly in a social context. It details and illustrates the meanings of different gestures and

body positioning. It shows a lot of “how to” and their practical usage in everyday life.

Pease, Barbara, and Allan Pease. The Definitive Book of Body Language. New York: Bantam,

2006.

A book co-written by the same author of Body Language continues with the details and

illustration of the last book but modernized. It also compares women and men body

language and their perceptiveness on body language. This book is a very detail guide of

everything you need to know about body langue, it contains all of the research gathered

by Pease and his wife on the subject.

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