Non verbal communication

Non verbal communication

All of us communicate non-verbally as well as verbally. If irritated, we may tense our bodies, press our lips together, and gesture with our eyebrows. With a gaze, a glance or stare we can communicate intimacy, submission, or dominance.

Most of us are good at “reading” non-verbal cues  to understand the emotions in an old silent film. We are specially good at detecting non-verbal threats. In a crowd of faces, a single angry face feel will “pop out” faster than a single happy one. Some of us are more sensitive to these cues than others.

Robert Rosenthal and colleagues discovered this by showing hundreds of people brief film clips of a person’s emotionally expressive face or body, sometimes with a garbled voice added. For example, after a two second science revealing only the face of an upset women, the researchers would ask whether the women was expressing anger or discussing a divorce. Rosenthal and company reported that some people are much better “emotion detectors” than others, and that women were better at it than men.

The growing awareness that we communicate through the body’s silent language has led to studies of how job applicants and interviewers communicate (or miscommunication). There has also been a spate of guide books on how to interpret non-verbal signals. Whether negotiating a business deal or selling a product, it pays to be able to “read” feelings. Fidgeting for example, may reveal anxiety or boredom. Different expressions may convey the same emotions; either a cold stare or the avoidance of eye contact may signify hostility.

A given expression can also convey very different emotions; folded arms, for example, can signify irritation or relaxation.