Nonverbal Communication and Body Language

Communication is everywhere. We, as interactive human beings, spend the majority of our time corresponding with others to satisfy our physical, identity, social, and practical needs (Adler, Rodman, & Sevigny, 2011). Often, this is consciously done; we search our minds for the accurate linguistic means to express our experiences, and use them to communicate with those around us. However, communication is not as straightforward and effortless as we may believe. It is, in fact, often unintentional, with 65% of it occurring as a result of non-verbal cues (Matsumoto, Shibata, Seiji, Mori, & Shioe, 2010). As mentioned by Marta Dynel (2011) in a study done on nonverbal communication, “Non verbal signs and signals ... are prevalent practically in

I am originally from Puerto Rico, which is a country in which communication is an integral part of society. The cultural norm of the Puerto Rican culture is to speak up when necessary and communicate clearly if we want things to be done. At the same time, I believe that in order to produce results, the manner in which communicating takes place, is an extremely important component. My culture also showed me how the emotions used when communicating, such as the use of the hands and body language, will dictate the tone and flow of the communication. The literature suggests that the majority (as much as 76%) of the message we gibe to another person during conversations is carried by non-verbal or para-verbal communication. Thus, we must be very careful and strategic in our use o non-verbal communication (Van Acker, 1997).

Body language plays a substantial role in the ways females and males differentiate from each other. One’s identity lies in the way in which one holds themself. McCloskey claims, “It’s hard to pass,” acknowledging that the body language one naturally acquires does not necessarily represent the character on the inside. McCloskey and Walker both address hip positioning when standing and walking. McCloskey claims that “Men walk from their shoulders and women

There are eight key forms of nonverbal communications used on a daily basis. These forms can affect the way people view another person; however, without understanding the forms of nonverbal communication there is certain to be a lot of misinterpretations. Cultural and language differences are a common reason for miscommunication. When communicating with people in different cultures, a person should be extremely aware of the hand gestures and nonverbal communication tools they are using. Many of the hand gestures used in the United States that mean good things, mean offensive and profane things to other cultures. Nonverbal communication is described as body language, hand gestures, and facial expressions. It is known that people reveal more information through nonverbal communication, than words alone to get a point across. There will always be some interaction between two or more people that everyone’s

Thesis Statement: Body language expresses emotions and actions unconsciously and differs between men and women depending on their brain type, emotional experience and culture.

The aspect of nonverbal communication has been studied extensively for at least four decades. During the 1960s, volumes were printed about "body language." While that label has become trite to the point of jokes, the subject itself is valid and has been given a more appropriate label: nonverbal communication. Words, in and of themselves, do not convey the entire message in any communication interaction. There are always nonverbal cues. Even in a telephone conversation, there is are cues in terms of voice inflection, tone, volume, speed. Loudness and/or a harsh tone, for instance, communicates hostility and/or anger. Whether the speaker means to convey that message or not is immaterial because it is the listener's interpretation that will set the tone for the rest of the conversation.

Nonverbal communication is behaviors and characteristics that convey meaning with out the use of words. Sometimes accompanying verbal messages, to clarify or reinforce them. (Floyd, Communicating Nonverbally, 2013) It is said to be true that nonverbal communication sometimes gives more information that verbal communication. People’s facial expressions, gestures, and personal appearance are all forms of nonverbal communication and it relies on our sense of vision. For instance, when my sorority and I get together for a meeting and the president of our chapter stands up in front of everyone to share information, it is important that we let her know that we are interested by nodding our head in agreement, smiling at her, clapping our hands, and keeping eye contact with her so she knows our focus is on her. For our chapter it is important to reassure our president that we are listening and focused on what she has to say by using nonverbal behaviors. Without nonverbal communication, it would be hard to tell when someone is interested or not in a conversation. Nonverbal communication helps us maintain

Introduction. Communication assistant professor of communication at Maryville University Dustin York saying that only 7% of communication is verbal, it’s mean 93% communication is non-verbal communication. That means only 7% of information we give though the word choice, and 97% via body language. In 1990 American academic and professor of linguistics Deborah Tanned wrote an article named “Sex, Lies and Conversation”. She provided a great example of how nonverbal communication plays a big role in our interpersonal relationships. According to the book “A young woman in college was frustrated: Whenever she told her boyfriend she wanted to talk to him, he would lie down on the floor, close his eyes, and put his arm over his face. This signaled to her, "He's taking a nap." But he insisted he was listening extra hard”. It’s only one of the many examples when lack of attention to non verbal communication created a bump in the relationship.

In a romantic relationship, it is easy to have miscommunication between a man and a woman. “Most researchers agree that 70% or more of the meaning of any message is communicated through nonverbal channels like eye contact, facial expressions, posture, hand gestures, etc.” (Stinnett, 2015). Verbal and nonverbal messages are like a relationship, they work well together that way the message is sent and delivered appropriately and that there is no miscommunication. Women have their way of expressing themselves to their boyfriend, fiancé, and or husband and vice versa for men. This paper will focus on the varying behavior of gender in expressing the different type of emotions using nonverbal communication in a romantic relationship. Following

In every society nonverbal communication is one of the most powerful tools that a person can use to interpret the message that is being delivered. Even though verbal communication is fairly straightforward, nonverbal communication allows others to sense the true emotions of the person that is expressing them. For example even though a person may say that they are not irritated, their usage of voice may display otherwise. Nonverbal communication not only reveals hidden messages, but it also complements, substitutes, and exaggerates verbal communication.

It is a well-known fact that men and women have vastly different styles of nearly everything, communication not excluded. Women tend to be more talkative and emotional whereas men are usually reserved and not quite as open with their emotions. Many differences indeed exist between the spoken language of males and females. What about body language? Nonverbal cues are often difficult to notice and even harder to understand. Some people may not even realize when they are communicating in this sense. Like the spoken word, nonverbal communication usually varies between males and females, depending on relationships, environments, and circumstances. Learning why different genders communicate in this manner, the various ways in which they do this,

Communication had its verbal and nonverbal understandings, but they also have their misunderstandings. Body language has industrialized itself with different types of language that were brought up by the society. Men and women weren’t use to these body languages towards the similar gender. Miscommunication has been a problem when dealing with these differences. Men and women continue to build body languages that only made sense to themselves and not to the opposite gender. Although one defeats the other in a

Nonverbal communication includes visual cues known as body language that arise during human interactions. These cues include proximity, body positions, posture, touch, gestures, facial expressions, and eye contact, and can be as important in communication as the words actually spoken. Within the category of nonverbal communication, many variances exist between males and females. Matthew Hertenstein, a psychology professor at DePauw University, and Dacher Keltner found in a study of U.S. undergraduates that “a number of explanations have been proposed to explain these gender differences, some of which emphasize power and status some of which emphasize the social roles of the genders” (Hertenstein and Keltner 72). Since many differences exist between males and females in how they display nonverbal communication, it is important to study these distinctions to eliminate confusion and misunderstanding between genders.

“Systematic research on the role of nonverbal behavior in social interaction has been common only in the past 20 to 25 years.”(Edinger and Patterson, 1983, p. 30).because that statement was published in 1983, it is apparent that the study of nonverbal behavior has been around for roughly 50 to 55 years. However, that is still a relatively recent amount of time compared to research in other science fields such as chemistry or biology. Despite the fact that this field is relatively recent there are many theories about our interaction with others. This paper will discuss the nonverbal expectancy theory along with two other theories, and describe how these theories can work together.

While communication via spoken word constitutes a large part of everyday life, there is another type of communication that often goes overlooked. This other form of communication, known as nonverbal communication, is arguably used more frequently on an everyday basis than verbal communication (Knapp, 2013). Yet, rather than the use of spoken words, nonverbal communication revolves around displaying body language and other visual cues to communicate efficiently with others. Nevertheless, it should be noted that while non-verbal communication can be an effective way of expression, it can also be misinterpreted or go undetected at times. Through an in-depth analysis of the literature, there is the common belief that gender differences exist in relation to nonverbal communication (Hall, 1979) In general, this paper touches on the gender differences witnessed through the sense of touch, the study of proxemics and kinesics, as well as through encoding and decoding abilities. While there is no definitive reasoning behind these differences, the research attempts to explain these variations in terms of social power and dominance. Specifically, the potential cause for these discrepancies may lie in the fact that men tend to perceive themselves as the dominant members of society, while women in turn accept their inferior status (Briton, 1995). For within the areas of nonverbal communication mentioned above, men tend to display more aggressive, territorial behaviors while women are