Welcome to Nonverbal Communication 102. In the last post we briefly touched on the basics of nonverbal communication: Dr. Albert Mehrabian’s famous statistic claiming that over 90% of body language is nonverbal, facial expressions, gestures and posturing. In this post I intend to expound on the same concepts as last time and tie up a few loose ends. Particularly eye movements, gestures/decorum and further information on posturing. Remember though, that this post is essentially just a continuation of a primer for body language. To catalog and define every actionable gesture, posture or otherwise would simply just not be possible in one, or even two or ten, blog posts. However, if you’re really struggling to understand your co-workers then this is a great place to start.
Eyes and Eye Movement
As aforementioned in the previous post, the eyes are the windows to the soul. Facial expressions are one of our most base forms of nonverbal communication and the eyes tend to be the most expressive of facial features. Eye movements and reactions can be scrutinized past the point of usefulness for anybody without an ocular ultrasound device in their back pocket. In addition to eye contact and the frequency at which a person blinks, you can also determine a lot from the direction of their eyes and the dilation of their pupils. Eye direction generally offers insight into whether the brain is constructing a thought or remembering one (see above link), which can be useful for determining if someone is lying or in deep thought. Pupil dilation is generally related to stress responses, which is important on a physiological level as well as an emotional one, and can indicate altered mental status (such as a head injury or intoxication) as well as love, aggression or fear. Remember that the next time you get in a staring contest with your cat.
Gestures, Manners and Decorum
Gestures, again, are one of the most broad components of body language. Gestures can extend far beyond a thumbs up or waving hello and goodbye. Gestures also generally extend to etiquette and well into the metaphysical since they can manifest verbally. For example, it is polite to say hello to someone who says hello to you. Although this interaction is a verbal one which is typically used to start a conversation, it is also at times a gesture of kindness and acceptance to say hello to someone in passing. It’s important to understand politeness, manners, decorum, etiquette, etc. as pre-meditated gestures to ensure an accurate and dignified presentation (communication) of one’s self. Folding your napkin at the end of a meal, for example, is not simply a cryptic gesture of respect, but also an indication of the fact that you are not out of place in a formal setting. Similar to how chewing with your mouth open would indicate that you aren’t out of place in a zombie apocalypse.
Posturing Continued
There will always be quite a lot to say about posturing. Generally, posturing is what we think of when we think of body language. Where gestures may be thought of as a more fine-tuned version of posturing, posturing itself may be considered a more primary version of gestures. Posturing, however, is generally concerning one’s immediate physical space and self expression rather than communicating to anyone in particular. For example, a man in a group who takes a wide-set stance and folds his arms is, more than likely unwittingly, communicating that he is guarding or claiming his physical space. He isn’t actually actively trying to keep people away from him, or being physically aggressive, he is simply communicating his comfort level and his physical boundaries. Remember, the next time your boss is looming over your desk, he might just be more afraid of you than you are of him.
Once again Allan and Barbara Pease outline these behaviors in their book The Definitive Book of Body Language. This post simply cannot cover the finer points of these basic components of body language, or put them in a proper context. Learning to identify and read people’s body language accurately requires attention to very specific actions or behaviors and an understanding of their context. You’re now another step closer to a Hannibal Lector level of observational power. Check back soon for my next post on gender dimorphism and group dynamics in Non-Verbal Communication 110. In interim just be sure not to do anything too sociopathic while you’re analyzing your co-workers by the water-cooler.