Nonverbal behavior (NBI) is generally divided into several categories. One category is paralangue, which refers to vocalizations and pauses without content associated with language. Research by Starkey Duncan and Donald Fiske (1979) shows how paralinguistic behaviors serve as regulators of social interaction. Another category is facial expressions. Paul Ekman`s research has shown how expressions indicate primary emotions (see, for example, his 1992 paper). A third category is kinesik or body language. The research reported by Ray Birdwhistell in Kinesics and Context (1970) is an example of the value of detailed recording of body gestures and movements. A fourth category is visual behavior, which includes appearance. Michael Argyle`s research, reported in Bodyily Communication (1975) and elsewhere, has elucidated the meaning and social functions of different patterns of eye contact between people.
The study of spatial behavior or proxemia is another aspect of NBI research. Edward Hall`s categories of interpersonal distance influenced the study of communication and culture (see The Hidden Dimension, 1966). Georg Simmel`s writings on spatial relations shed light on how space can reflect the social position of a group as dominant or marginal in a society (cf. Allen, 2000). The synergistic effects of these categories are illustrated by Albert Mehrabian`s multi-channel research, summarized in his 1972 book Nonverbal Communication. However, what distinguishes non-verbal communication from verbal communication is that some non-verbal communication is not learned; it is congenital. Charles Darwin argued that the facial expressions that people show for certain emotions such as anger, disgust, distress (sadness), fear, happiness, and surprise (some scholars also argue for contempt, embarrassment, and/or interest) are part of the human evolutionary legacy. These emotions have helped humans (and other animals) survive, and so they are passed down from one generation to the next. A person who has an emotional response to a danger is more likely to escape that danger and therefore survive and reproduce. A person without this reaction will not survive and therefore will not pass on their genes to the next generation. An important aspect of non-verbal communication is the environment over which the subject is in control.
Most employees have a workspace that they can edit, add their own items, or organize according to their preferences. Many managers can decorate their offices and move furniture such as desks and chairs as they wish. In the 2008 bizmove.com article “Non-Verbal Communication,” the office environment is considered to be divided into personal and non-personal sections. Managers can control communication by controlling the environment in which they conduct interviews, meetings, etc. This, in turn, changes the comfort level of people in the area. As with other aspects of communication, standards of non-verbal communication vary from country to country and also between cultures in a given country. We have already learned that some non-verbal communication behaviors seem to be somewhat innate because they are generally accepted. Two of these universal signals are the “eyebrow flash” of recognition when we see someone we know, and the open hand and palm gesture that signals that a person wants something or needs help.
Judith N. Martin and Thomas K. Let`s summarize how unique nonverbal communication is: nonverbal communication receives less attention than verbal communication as part of our daily lives. Learning more about nonverbal communication and becoming more aware of the use of nonverbal cues through our own and the use of nonverbal cues can help us be better relationship partners and professionals. In addition, learning about cultural differences in non-verbal communication is important for outbound travelers, but also because of our increasingly multinational business world and the increasing diversity and frequency of intercultural communication within our own borders. I group head movements and posture because they are often used to recognize others and communicate interest or attention. In terms of head movements, a nod is a universal sign of recognition in cultures where the formal bow is no longer used as a greeting. In these cases, the nod of the head essentially serves as an abbreviated bow. An innate and universal head movement shakes its head back and forth to signal “no”. This non-verbal signal begins at birth, even before a baby has the ability to know that it has a corresponding meaning. Babies shake their heads from side to side to reject their mother`s breast, then shake their heads to refuse attempts at spoon feeding.
Allan Pease and Barbara Pease, The Definitive Book of Body Language (New York, NY: Bantam, 2004), page 232 This biological movement then remains with us to be a recognizable signal of the “no”. We also move our heads to show interest. For example, a head up usually indicates a committed or neutral posture, a head tilt indicates interest and is an innate gesture of submission that exposes the neck and unconsciously causes people to trust us more, and a downside down signals a negative or aggressive attitude. Allan Pease and Barbara Pease, The Definitive Book of Body Language (New York, NY: Bantam, 2004), pp. 232-34 It was Melanie Klein in particular who demonstrated this field of study through her introduction to the concept of projective identification. The importance that the post-Klein movement attached to the process of counter-transmission is well known. Because instead of being seen as an obstacle to therapy, counter-transfer has been treated as a fundamental tool for working with the patient, regardless of age. Wilfred Bion, through concepts such as the “mother`s daydreaming ability” and “alpha function,” has done much to improve our understanding of those primitive levels of communication that come into play in group dynamics and in the minds of psychotic subjects. Bion`s model was then used to study the development of the infant`s mental life.
One aspect of nonverbal communication that helps convey these precise and symbolic meanings is “context integration.” The idea that many children in Native American communities are closely involved in community efforts, both spatial and relational, that help foster nonverbal communication because words are not always necessary. When children, as active participants, are intimately connected to the context of the business, coordination is based on a common reference that helps to enable, maintain and promote non-verbal communication. [74] The idea of “contextual integration” makes it possible to be non-verbal communication as a learning tool within the Athabaskan and Cherokee American Indian communities of Alaska Indians. .