Body Language: Revealing Subconscious Feelings and Intentions

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Body language is non-verbal communication where your body reveals unspoken, usually subconscious, feelings and intentions physically. Body language is expressed through eye movements, facial expressions, body postures and gestures. It plays a part in how humans judge you while communicating or first meeting which is what we do when we see a characteristic we wouldn’t tolerate to possess or envy of the person which drives you to find faults within that person. Body language also indicates a persons state of mind; whether they are alert/attentive, bored, interested or nervous. Before language was developed, cavemen and other early ancestors used body gestures to communicate and judge each others body postures and voices to guess what they wanted to get across. Body language reflects who we are. One of the reasons television was so groundbreaking because radio couldn’t display facial expressions and body language. In 1960, Kennedy and Nixon had debates. Nixon was sweating, looking nervous whereas Kennedy wore makeup and looked straight at the camera to show conviction. People listening to the debates on the radio believed Nixon had won and the people watching it on television thought the opposite. After that event, non-verbal communication was taken more seriously. Body gestures and postures are categorized into four types of movements: Emblems. They are gestures substituted for words or phrases and are used in sign language. Holding up a hand to say stop, for example, is one of the universally known emblems. When we speak, our body sometimes accompanies actions with words such as shaking our head when we say no or slapping our foreheads when making mistakes. Illustrators emphasizes thoughts and verbal messages. If a person who uses... ... middle of paper ... ...ize them. Even when micro-expressions are attempted to be hidden, they are still shown for one fifteenth to one twentieth and more training is required to recognize and identify them. One of the most basic and powerful body language is crossing your arms to create a barrier and shield to think an protect ourselves behind. It could be because of weather, anger, boredom or insecurity. Body language can also indicate that you are hiding a secret. Hands behind the back shows that the person has withheld information. Humans like to see hands and hiding them is used in lying and deceit. Works Cited J. Gill, "Indispensable Self-Esteem," in Human Development, vol. 1, 1980. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-esteem http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-image http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-schema http://www.self-confidence.co.uk/articles/top-ten-facts-about-low-self-esteem/

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