Body Language Cues

Body language is a type of non verbal communication that involves the use of body postures, gestures and movement of the eyes. Generally humans display and understand these body language cues unconsciously. Although these statistics are considered to be misinterpretations of the original research conducted by Albert Mehrabian, it is normally stated that 93% of the human communication consists of body language cues and only 7% of the actual communication relates to the words themselves. Other researchers suggest that nearly 60-70% of all communication rely on body language cues.

Body language cues often provide a sense of the attitude and emotional state of a person. For instance, emotional states such as aggression, boredom, attentiveness and pleasure can be seen by the body language cues represented by an individual. The study of body language cues and expressions is known as kinesics and is often employed in fields such as law enforcement when interrogating individuals. Professions trained in kinesics can identify and interpret body language cues to determine whether a person is lying or not.

Different body language cues convey different meanings and ideas. For example, crossing one’s arms across the chest indicates that the individual is unconsciously constructing an invisible barrier between himself/herself and the others. This is considered to be one of the most primary and powerful body language cues represented by humans. If the overall company which one is in is friendly, this pose will convey the idea that the individual is considering deeply about the discussed items. However, if confrontational situations, this is seen as a sign of opposition.

Eye contact is also one of the most powerful forms of body language. Consistent eye contact indicates that the individual has positive ideas about the speaker. However, it can also indicate that the individual also does not trust the other enough take his/her eyes off the other. Lack of eye contact normally conveys a negative feeling and this is considered to be a sign of lying. Nevertheless, certain individuals with anxiety disorders are generally unable to maintain eye contact without discomfort. In addition to these, there are some other body language cues that convey specific meanings. For instance, hands on hips relate impatience while one hand rubbing the other hand softly indicates that the individual is self comforting.

Body language cues are an integral part of human communication and humans convey loads of information unconsciously through these body language cues. It is indeed interesting to know that more information is conveyed from one’s body language cues rather than from the actual words.