Body

Language

Ivnu Andreea-Simona
Maticiuc Diana-Alexandra

By a man's fingernails, by his coat-sleeve, by his boots, by his trouser-knees,

by the calluses of his forefinger and thumb, by his expression, by his shirt-cuffs, by
his movements - by each of these things a man's calling is plainly revealed. That all
united should fail to enlighten the competent enquirer in any case is almost
inconceivable. SHERLOCK HOLMES, 1892
History and Background
Philosophers and scientists have connected human physical behaviour with meaning, mood
and personality for thousands of years, but only in living memory has the study of body language
become as sophisticated and detailed as it is today. Body language studies and written works on the
subject are very sparse until the mid-1900s. The first known experts to consider aspects of body
language were probably the ancient Greeks, notably Hippocrates and Aristotle, through their interest
in human personality and behaviour, and the Romans, notably Cicero, relating gestures to feelings
and communications. Much of this early interest was in refining ideas about oration - speechmaking - given its significance to leadership and government.
Isolated studies of body language appeared in more recent times, for example Francis Bacon
in Advancement of Learning, 1605, explored gestures as reflection or extension of spoken
communications. John Bulwer's Natural History of the Hand published in 1644, considered hand
gestures. Gilbert Austin's Chironomia in 1806 looked at using gestures to improve speech-making.
Charles Darwin in the late 1800s could be regarded as the earliest expert to have made
serious scientific observation about body language, but there seems little substantial development of
ideas for at least the next 150 years.Darwin's work pioneered much ethological thinking. Ethology
began as the science of animal behaviour. It became properly established during the early 1900s and
increasingly extends to human behaviour and social organization. Where ethology considers animal
evolution and communications, it relates strongly to human body language. Ethologists have
progressively applied their findings to human behaviour, including body language, reflecting the
evolutionary origins of much human non-verbal communication - and society's growing acceptance
of evolutionary rather than creationist theory. Austrian zoologist and 1973 Nobel Prizewinner
Konrad Lorenz (1903-89) was a founding figure in ethology. Desmond Morris, author of The Naked
Ape, discussed below, is an ethologist, as is the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins (b. 1941) a
leading modern thinker in the field. Ethology, like psychology, is an over-arching science which
continues to clarify the understanding of body language. The popular and accessible study of body
language as we know it today is very recent.In his popular 1971 book 'Body Language', Julius Fast
(1919-2008) wrote: "...kinesics [body language and its study] is still so new as a science that its
authorities can be counted on the fingers of one hand..."
Julius Fast was an American award winning writer of fiction and non-fiction work dealing
especially with human physiology and behaviour. His book Body Language was among the first to
bring the subject to a mainstream audience. Significantly the references in Julius Fast's bookindicate
the freshness of the subject in 1971. All except one of Julius Fast's cited works are from the 1950s
and 1960s.The exception among Fast's contemporary influences was Charles Darwin, and
specifically his book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, written in 1872, which

is commonly regarded as the beginnings of the body language science, albeit not recognised as such
then.
Sigmund Freud and others in the field of psychoanalysis - in the late 1800s and early 1900s would have had good awareness of many aspects of body language, including personal space, but
they did not focus on non-verbal communications concepts or develop body language theories in
their own right. Freud and similar psychoanalysts and psychologists of that time were focused on
behaviour and therapeutic analysis rather than the study of non-verbal communications per se.
A different view of human behaviour related to and overlapping body language, surfaced
strongly in Desmond Morris's 1967 book The Naked Ape, and in follow-up books such as Intimate
Behaviour, 1971. Morris, a British zoologist and ethologist, linked human behaviour - much of it
concerned with communications - to human 'animalistic' evolution. His work remains a popular and
controversial perspective for understanding people's behaviours, and while his theories did not
focus strongly on body language, Morris's popularity in the late 1960s and 1970s contributed
significantly to the increasing interest among people beyond the scientific community - for a better
understanding of how and why we feel and act and communicate.
Within the last few years a new and exciting science has been uncovered and explored. It is
called body language. Both its written form and the scientific study of it have been labelled
kinesics. Body language and kinesics are based on the behavioural patterns of non-verbal
communication, but kinesics is still so new as a science that its authorities can be counted on the
fingers of one hand. Clinical studies have revealed the extent to which body language can actually
contradict verbal communications. A classic example is the young woman who told her psychiatrist
that she loved her boyfriend very much while nodding her head from side to side in subconscious
denial
Body language is a kind of non verbal communication where thoughts, intentions, or
feelings are expressed by physical behaviors, such as facial expressions, body posture, gestures, eye
movement, touch and the use of space. Body language exists in both animals and humans, but this
article focuses on interpretations of human body language. It is also known a kinesics.
Body language must not be confused with sign language, as sign languages are full
languages like spoken languages and have their own complex grammar systems, as well as being
able to exhibit the fundamental properties that exist in all languages. Body language, on the other
hand, does not have a grammar and must be interpreted broadly, instead of having an absolute
meaning corresponding with a certain movement, so it is not a language like sign language and is
simply termed as a "language" due to popular culture.
In a community, there are agreed-upon interpretations of particular behavior. Interpretations
may vary from country to country, or culture to culture. On this note, there is controversy on
whether body language is universal. Body language, a subset of nonverbal communication,
complements verbal communication in social interaction. In fact some researchers conclude that
nonverbal communication accounts for the majority of information transmitted during interpersonal
interactions. It helps to establish the relationship between two people and regulates interaction, but
can be ambiguous. Hence, it is crucial to accurately read body language to avoid misunderstanding
in social interactions.
Body language means much more than simply posture and gestures. It includes less obvious
mannerisms such as eye contact, speed and tone of voice, facial expressions and even non-verbal

expressions such as sighs Body language helps us to look beyond what people actually say, to what
they actually mean. It is something we have been observing and learning sub-consciously since the
time we were born.
There are five types of body language:

eye contact

facial expression

gestures

posture and stance

space relationship

Eye Contact
It is a fundamental way of getting along with people and building trust. When it is lacking,
communication becomes uncomfortable and it is easy to get a wrong impression of things. Yet eye
contact is different in different cultures. In some cultures it may be downright rude to make direct
eye contact while in others it may mean overstepping ones limits.Even eyebrows are important.
Flashing of eyebrows is a universal sign of recognition. Too much eye contact may be
interpreted as communicating superiority, lack of respect, threat, or a wish to insult.Too little eye
contact may mean not paying attention, being impolite, insincere or just plain shy.Withdrawing eye
contact could imply submission.People will communicate with each other more effectively if their
interaction contains the amount of eye contact they both find appropriate for the situation.
Avoiding eye-contact may convey a message that one is busy, or avoiding the other
person. During presentations, if one looks at the flip chart or screen for too long, rapport with the
audience is lost. Communicators who use eye-contact effectively, are seen as persuasive, sincere,
credible, skilled, informed, honest and friendly. However, one should avoid more eye contact with
those one likes or look at those one knows in the audience.
When people are excited they tend to make rapid eye movements. When they are afraid,
the eyes appear to be frozen open as if not to miss any sign that the danger is coming nearer. When
people are angry, the eyes narrow into slits. Sadness is expressed by looking downwards as well as
by reducing eye contact and this is a universal phenomenon.
Eye behaviors with emotional summaries:
->Eyes up - Different people look up for different reasons. Some look up when they are
thinking. Others perform that action in an effort to recall something from their memory. It may also
be a way for people to subconsciously display boredom. The head position can also come into play,
however, as an upwards look with a lowered head can be a coy, suggestive action.

->Eyes down - Avoiding eye contact, or looking down, can be a sign of submission or fear. It
may also indicate that someone feels guilt. However, depending on the culture of the person, it may
also just be a sign of respect.
->Lateral movement of eyes - Looking away from the person to whom one is speaking could
be a sign that something else has taken their interest. It may also mean that a person is easily
distracted. Looking to the left can mean that a person is trying to remember sound, while the right
can mean that the person is actually imagining the sound. Side to side movement, however, can
indicate that a person is lying.
->Gazing - Staring at someone means that a person shows sincere interest. Staring at a
person's lips can indicate that someone wants to kiss another person. In general, staring means, "I
want that."
->Glancing - Glancing can show a person's true desires. For instance, glancing at a door
might mean that someone wants to leave. Glancing at a glass of water might mean that a person is
thirsty.
->Eye contact - Eye contact is powerful and shows sincere interest if it is unbroken. A
softening of the stare can indicate sexual desire. Breaking that eye contact can be threatening to the
person who does not break the eye contact.
->Staring - Staring is more than just eye contact, it usually involves eyes wider than normal.
A lack of blinking may indicate more interest, but it also may indicate a stronger feeling than a
person may intend to portray. Prolonged eye contact can be aggressive, affectionate, or deceptive.
->Following with the eyes - Eyes follow movement naturally. If a person is interested in
someone, then their eyes will follow that person naturally.
->Squinting - Squinting of the eyes may mean a person is trying to obtain a closer look. It
may also mean that a person is considering whether something is true or not. Liars may use
squinting as a tool to keep others from detecting their dishonesty. Of course, squinting may also just
be a result of a bright sun.
->Blinking - Blinking is also a natural response that can occur for no other reason than
having dry eyes. It can also be the result of a person feeling greater levels of stress. Rapid blinking
can indicate arrogance while reduced blinking can move towards a stare.
->Winking - Winking can indicate that two people understand something without using
words. It can mean "hello" or it can be a sign of flirtation.
->Closing of eyes - Closing the eyes serves to shut out the world. It can be a reaction to fear
or embarrassment. Others may close their eyes as a way to think more sincerely about a particular
subject.
->Eye moisture - Tears obviously indicate sadness, but moisture also has a more practical
purpose to wash and clean the eyes. Damp eyes can be suppressed crying or an expression of
extreme happiness or laughter. Men, in many cultures, are not expected to cry but may experience
damp eyes in place of crying.
->Pupil dilation - Pupil dilation may be harder to detect by most people. Sexual desire may
be a cause of such dilation. It may also be an indication of attraction. Physiologically, eyes dilate
when it is darker to let in more light.
->Rubbing of eyes - Eyes may water, causing a person to rub their own eyes. This can
happen when a person feels uncomfortable or tired. It may also happen when a person simply has
something in their eyes.

Facial Expressions
A facial expression is one or more motions or positions of the muscles beneath the skin of
the face. According to one set of controversial theories, these movements convey the emoional
state of an individual to observers. Facial expressions are a form of nonverbal communication. They
are a primary means of conveying social information between humans, but they also occur in most
other mammals and some other animal species. (For a discussion of the controversies on these
seemingly obvious claims.
Humans can adopt a facial expression voluntarily or involuntarily, and the neural
mechanisms responsible for controlling the expression differ in each case. Voluntary facial
expressions are often socially conditioned and follow a cortical route in the brain. Conversely,
involuntary facial expressions are believed to be innate and follow a subcortical route in the brain.
Facial recognition is often an emotional experience for the brain and the amygdala is highly
involved in the recognition process. The eyes are often viewed as important features of facial
expressions. Aspects such as blinking rate can be used to indicate whether or not a person is nervous
or whether or not he or she is lying. Also, eye contact is considered an important aspect of
interpersonal communication. However, there are cultural differences regarding the social propriety
of maintaining eye contact or not.
Our face is like a projector It shows the world what's going on inside. You're happy - the
face automatically wears the smile, you're sad and your face "melts" down. I know it's kind of
obvious, but think about it nobody taught you how to smile or cry, and you don't think about
doing it either, it's just happens. We use face expressions to project our emotions for others and add
the "flavor" to the words we say (imagine if we had to describe how we feel every conversation).
That's why we understand face expressions easily and intuitively, unlike some other body language
signs. This makes facial expressions a sort of a double-edge sword when trying to read body
language: it's easy to spot and understand it, but since we can mask our emotions and hide our true
intentions, it's not the best indicator of truth. Faking emotions however can be a very difficult
task. Because it's like fighting an inner war your body wants to say one thing while you try to
force him to say another. We can often get a glimpse of this inner conflict with something called
micro expressions.

Gestures
Gestures are movements made with body parts (e.g. hands, arms, fingers, head, legs) and
they may be voluntary or involuntary. Arm gestures can be interpreted in several ways. In a
discussion, when one stands or sits with folded arms, this is normally not a welcoming gesture. It
could mean that he/she has a closed mind and is most likely unwilling to listen to the speakers
viewpoint. Another type of arm gesture also includes an arm crossed over the other, demonstrating
insecurity and a lack of confidence.
Hand gestures often signify the state of well-being of the person making them. Relaxed
hands indicate confidence and self-assurance, while clenched hands may be interpreted as signs of
stress or anger. If a person is wringing his/her hands, this demonstrates nervousness and anxiety.

Finger gestures are also commonly used to exemplify ones speech as well as denote the
state of well-being of the person making them. In certain cultures, pointing using ones index finger
is deemed acceptable. However, pointing at a person may be viewed as aggressive in other cultures
- for example, people who share Hindu beliefs consider finger pointing offensive. Instead, they
point with their thumbs. Likewise, the thumbs up gesture could show OK or good in countries
like the US, France and Germany. But this same gesture is insulting in other countries like Iran,
Bangladesh and Thailand, where it is the equivalent of showing the middle finger in the US.
At the end of the essay we will put some funny stories that show how those difference
between the contries can lead to misunderstandings.Proxemics is the technical term for the personal
space aspect of body language.

Posture and Stance

In humans, posture can provide a significant amount of important information on
nonverbal communication and emotional cues. Psychological studies have shown the effects of
body posture on emotions. This research can be traced back to Charles Darwin when he studied
emotion and movement in humans and animals.Currently, many studies have shown that certain
patterns of body movements are indicative of specific emotions. Researchers studied sign language
and found that even non-sign language users can determine emotions from only hand movements.
Another example is the fact that anger is characterized by forward whole body movement. The
theories that guide research in this field are the self-validation or perception theory and the
embodied emotion theory.
Self-Validation theory is when a participant's posture has a significant effect on his or her
self-evaluation of their emotions. An example of this is an experiment where participants had to
think and then write positive qualities of themselves in a confident or doubtful posture. Participants
then had to self-evaluate on how good a job candidate, interviewee, performer, and how satisfied
they would be as an employee. Mood and confidence level were also measured. Results from this
study proved in favor of the self-validation theory. Participants' attitudes in the confident but not
doubtful posture, significantly affected their self-reported attitudes. A similar study showed that
participants who were placed in a hunched posture reported were more likely to feel stressed
compared to participants who assumed a relaxed position.
Embodied Emotion theory is the idea that mental events can be represented by states of the
body. In a study showing embodied emotion, participants were primed with concepts of pride and
disappointment by a word generation task. Researchers hypothesized there would be an observable
change in participants' posture based on the word they were primed with. This hypothesis was
confirmed for the disappointment prime because participants were more likely to decrease in their
vertical height or show slumping behavior.

Space Relationship

Proxemics is the technical term for the personal space aspect of body language. The word
was devised in the late 1950s or early 1960s by Edward Twitchell Hall, an American anthropologist.
The word is Hall's adaptation of the word proximity, meaning closeness or nearness. Proxemics personal space - is defined as the amount of space that people find comfortable between themselves
and others.
Personal space dimensions depend notably on the individual, cultural and living background,
the situation, and relationships, however some general parameters apply to most people, which for
Western societies, are shown below. There are five distinct space zones, which were originally
identified by Edward T Hall, and which remain the basis of personal space analysis today. The first
zone is sometimes shown as a single zone comprising two sub-zones.
1. Close
intimate

0-15cm

lovers, and
physical touching
relationships

Sometimes included with the 2nd zone below,

this is a markedly different zone in certain
situations, for example face-to-face contact
with close friends rarely encroaches within 6
inches, but commonly does with a lover.

2. Intimate

15-45cm

physical touching
relationships

Usually reserved for intimate relationships

and close friendships, but also applies during
consenting close activities such as contact
sports, and crowded places such as parties,
bars, concerts, public transport, queues and
entertainment and sports spectating events.

3. Personal

45-120cm

family and close

friends

Touching is possible in this zone, but

intimacy is off-limits. Hence touching other
than hand-shaking is potentially
uncomfortable.

4. Socialconsultative

1.2-3.6m

non-touch
interaction, social,
business

Significantly hand-shaking is only possible

within this zone only if both people reach out
to do it. Touching is not possible unless both
people reach to do it.

5. Public

3.6m+

no interaction,
ignoring

People establish this zonal space when they

seek to avoid interaction with others nearby.
When this space is intruded by another person
is creates a discomfort or an expectation of
interaction.

Story 1
A Japanese man asks an American passenger whether the airport has a luggage-trolley
service. The American wants to say that there is not only a trolley service, but that it is FREE! So he
replies with the famous "A-OK" ring gesture. To the Japanese, however, this means "money" and
the Japanese man concludes that there is a significant charge for the service. Meanwhile, a Tunisian
observer thinks the American is telling the Japanese man that he is a worthless thief and that he is
going to kill him. What confusion!

Story 2
A Sardinian woman asks a man if it is easy to find a taxi at Heathrow Airport. The answer
she gets is a cheerful British thumbs-up. Immediately, she hits the poor man with her handbag for
making such a rude suggestion. This is an example of why, incidentally, it's not a very good idea to
go hitchhiking in Sardinia.

Story 3
Glancing around a restaurant in the airport, a Frenchman remarks wonderingly to his wife,
"Do you know how much this airport cost the British taxpayers? Nothing!" He then makes a finger
and thumb ring, meaning "zero".
Unfortunately, at the same time, the Frenchman is glancing at a Colombian who is
enjoying a fine wine with his dinner. The Colombian is made very angry by the mean gesture
because he believes it is directed at him. So he swallows his wine the wrong way and holds his nose
between his finger and thumb.
Yet this gesture horrifies a Syrian sitting opposite the Colombian because he thinks he is
being told to "go to hell". Thanks to a Greek friend, the Syrian is held back, with great difficulty,
from getting up and hitting the Colombian on the nose.
Meanwhile, the restaurant owner hurries over and attempts to calm the men, holding out
both of his hands. This, of course, is taken by the Greek to be a double "moutza" and, in his anger,
he instantly tries to kill the unfortunate man with his fish knife! So you see, the lesson from all
these stories is that one should be careful with one's own body language.

This essay is the basis of our presentation with more scientifical and historical
information and less examples like we did for the speaking part. There are a lot more things
to say about body language.Thank you for reading our essay and we hope that you will
enjoy it as much as we did.

Bibliography

www.google.ro body language

http://www.businessballs.com/body-language.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_language
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oculesics
http://lonerwolf.com/body-language-personal-space/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxemics
www.slideshare.net
https://www.goodreads.com/ebooks/download/2183352.Body_Language
http://www.study-body-language.com/facial-expressions.html