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Nonverbal communication in social interactions
Nonverbal communication in social interactions
Limitation of nonverbal communication
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Have you ever watched someone while they speak to you or someone else? Did you notice anything about the way they stand, the pitch of their voice, or the expressions on their face? If you have, you have been viewing body language or microexpressions. Body language is a form of nonverbal communication involving gestures that are made consciously or unconsciously. (Navarro) Microexpressions are very brief facial expressions that last anywhere from one twenty-fifth to one fifteenth of a second whereas a normal facial expression lasts from one half of a second to four seconds. Microexpressions are revealed when a person is attempting to conceal a different emotion than the one they are portraying, whether they are doing it purposely or not.; microexpressions are narrowly recognizable (Ekman). Body language and microexpressions allow humans to communicate with better understanding than simply speaking to one another, but what do certain microexpressions and forms of body language mean and how does oneself detect them?
The discovery of microexpressions was made by Haggard and Issacs, who called them “micromomentary expressions”. Haggard and Isaacs conducted interviews in a psychotherapeutic setting and noticed that microexpressions appeared when a patient did not know what they were feeling, so their repressed feelings came about on their faces as a microexpression. These two scientists realized that microexpressions cannot be viewed in real time, meaning they had to record their interviews and review them in order to read patients’ faces correctly (Ekman). At this point, Paul Ekman and W.V. Friesen elaborated upon the work of Haggard and Issacs and came up with new information. They discovered that microexpressions leaked from a face w...
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Ekman, Paul. "Micro Expressions." Paul Ekman Group LLC. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2013.
Evanas, Cassandra. "Read My Face: Deciphering Microexpressions." Divine Caroline. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Dec. 2013.
Navarro, Joe. "Body Language Basics." Psychology Today. N.p., 21 Aug. 2011. Web. 16 Dec. 2013.
Navarro, Joe. "Reserved Behaviors in the Study of Nonverbal Communications."Psychology Today. N.p., 1 Jan. 2104. Web. 2 Jan. 2014.
Scheve, Tom. "What Are Microexpressions?" HowStuffWorks. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Dec. 2013.
Straker, David. "Eyes Body Language." Eyes Body Language. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Jan. 2014.
Vaughan Tremmel, Pat. "Microexpressions Complicate Face Reading." Medical News Today. MediLexicon International, 3 Aug. 2007. Web. 02 Jan. 2014.
Zetter, Kim. "What a Half-Smile Really Means." Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital, 2 Sept. 2003. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.
see the first sign of emotions when "Their face did not move and they did not
In this video, Ann Washburn talks about how body language is a key to access our subconscious. Body language is something that demonstrates and determines who we are as a person because we send messages to others and to ourselves with our body language. For example, if a person stands with crossed arms while putting his weight on one leg, it sends out a message that the person is weak. On the other hand, if the same person stands with his hands on the side keeping the weight on both the legs, it sends a message of being confident to his subconscious and signals others that he is a strong person. Another example in the video is about our reaction to the compliments given by others to us. If a person says thank you after hearing the compliment
Clark, Deborah. "Gender, Face & Language in Light in August." American Language 61 (1989): 398-413.
[18] Tranel, D., Damasio, A.R., 1985. Knowledge without awareness: an autonomic index of facial recognition by prosopagnosics. Science 228, 1453–1454.
The presence of nonverbal messages in our communication is very important. Following the text, researchers have estimated it is up to “65 percent of social meaning we convey in face-to-face interactions is a result of nonverbal behavior” (131). The movie “Mrs. Doubtfire” is a typical example about the interactions among characters, also with audience. Several scenes in this movie show us the effects of nonverbal messages in communication, especially through the character Daniel, who disguises himself as a middle-aged British nanny in order to be near his children.
Carlson, Margaret. “That Killer Smile.” Time 143.6 (1994): 76. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
When we think about communication, we think about interactions. So what is your body language communicating to me? This are the words that Amy Cuddy a social physiologist, uses when she start up her talk about body language. Cuddy’s talk “how body language shapes who you are” explains how body language can identify how much power one is feeling just by observing someone’s body language. Amy Cuddy states that when one expands one is feeling power, and when the opposite is done which is shrinking one is feeling powerless.
Richmond, V & McCroskey, J 2011. Nonverbal Behavior in Interpersonal Relations. 7th ed. Allyn & Bacon.
Burgoon, J. K. Buller, D. B. and Woodall W. G. (1989). Nonverbal Communication: The Unspoken Dialogue. New York: Harper & Row.
...oes for most of the emotions that people feel. I never really noticed any of this before I started writing this paper. I shared this information with my best friend and she was amazed that the way people interact is generally the same within groups in society. She now has a better understanding of the communication patterns and behaviors of people and she is not even in the class.
Hall, J. (2012). Nonverbal cues and communications.Encyclopedia of Social Psychology Education. Thousand Oaks. CA: SAGE, 2007 626-628. Retrieved November 2, 2013 from SAGE online.
Axtell, E. R. (1993). The dos and taboos of body language around the world. In Social interaction in everyday life (chapter 22). Retrieved from http://www.sheltonstate.edu/Uploads/files/faculty/Angela%20Gibson/Sph%20106/taboos0001.pdf.
...tention to how people react to one another’s comments, guessing the relationship between the people and guessing how each feels about what is being said. This can inform individuals to better understand the use of body language when conversing with other people. It is also important to take into account individual differences. Different cultures use different non-verbal gestures. Frequently, when observing these gestures alone the observer can get the wrong impression, for instance, the listener can subconsciously cross their arms. This does not mean that they are bored or annoyed with the speaker; it can be a gesture that they are comfortable with. Viewing gestures as a whole will prevent these misunderstandings. Non-verbal gestures are not only physical, for example; the tone of voice addressing a child will be different from the way it is addressed to an adult.
When we communicate, we can say a lot without speaking, through our body, our posture, tone of voice and the expression on our face all display a message. If our feelings don’t fit with our words, it is often the body language that gets heard and believed. Nonverbal communication is a rapidly flowing interactive process. Being aware and understanding the cues you may be sending along with the cues others send and pick up from your body language, may not be showing what you are really trying to communicate to others at that moment.
Before the spoken word was commonly used to communicate, there was body language. Body language allowed people to effectively communicate with one another. Non-verbal gestures, facial expressions, and movements were used to express thoughts and feelings when the mouth was not. Later in history, a famous philosopher, politician, and scientist by the name of Francis Bacon stated that “as the tongue speaks to the ear so the gesture speaks to the eye.” Even though spoken l...