Title
Body
Language
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Accompanying
Materials
Accompanying Materials

3 pairs of scissors

3 glue sticks

1 set of blue cue cards
Contents may be subject to change depending upon availability.
Items of equivalent value may be substituted where necessary.
Body Language
Definition of Body Language
Body language refers to:
• posture – including postural echo, open and closed
postures;
• gestures – body, facial and hand;
• touch.
If you choose to ignore body language then your
ability to communicate is severely limited.
Reds v Blues Fans Photo
Looking at the photograph below, which team has just
scored – the reds or the blues?
What did you base your decision on?
1. Posture
1. Posture
• Look around your class and observe people’s posture.
• What do you think it reveals about their frame of mind?
If someone is slumped at their desk do they look energised
and wide awake or tired and fed up?
Do crossed arms and legs indicate a willingness to listen or
do they imply defensiveness?
Are some people ‘copying’ the body language of the person
they’re talking to?
Different Types of Posture (i) Open
Different types of posture:
(i)
Open Posture
An open posture has the shoulders back, often with the
arms and legs uncrossed – look at the photographs on
the next screen.
This implies self confidence and being relaxed and
comfortable.
Open Posture Photos
(ii) Closed
(ii)
Closed Posture
A closed posture has the shoulders more stooped with
the arms across the body – look at the photographs on
the next screen.
This is defensive body language and suggests a lack of
self-confidence and being nervous.
It can also be seen as aggressive.
Closed Posture Photos
(iii) Postural Echo
(iii)
Postural Echo
This is when your body language copies (or echoes) the
body language of the person talking to you.
It implies that you are ‘on the same wavelength’ as the
other person: either because you are happy with each
other or because you are unhappy with each other.
Sales people often use this tactic to make you feel
comfortable.
Postural Echo Photos
Cultural Differences in
Posture
Consider the following cultural differences in posture:
• Bowing (not done in the UK; shows rank in Japan).
• Slouching (rude in most Northern European areas).
• Hands in pocket (disrespectful in Turkey).
• Sitting with legs crossed (offensive in Ghana and
Turkey).
• Showing the soles of the feet (offensive in Thailand and
Saudi Arabia).
2. Gestures
2. Gestures
Gestures are used all the time to communicate – waving
to someone or pointing in a certain direction.
There are three different types of gestures:
• body gestures;
• facial gestures;
• hand gestures.
Most people use gestures when speaking.
What sort of gestures do you use regularly?
(i) Body Gestures
(i)
Body Gestures
For example ‘the peacock’ is a body gesture which
involves ‘puffing out’ the chest (appropriately named
after the behaviour of a peacock). This gesture
denotes a feeling of being superior.
Consider the following body gestures:
• shrugging the shoulders;
• putting hands on hips;
• jumping up and down;
• squatting.
(ii) Facial Gestures
(ii)
Facial Gestures
Examples include:
• nodding the head;
• shaking the head;
• rolling the eyes;
• winking.
(iii)
Hand Gestures
(iii) Hand Gestures
Hand gestures can be performed either by one or both
hands.
Start to observe other people when they are speaking and
take note of their hand movements – do they shake hands
when they first meet?
Can you work out when a person is being defensive about
what they are saying or when they are enthusiastic about
their subject matter?
Watching politicians give speeches or answer questions
from a news reporter is often a good source of observing
hand movements.
What do these hand
gestures mean to you?
And these?
Using Hands – Pointing
Some gestures are universal (the same in every culture)
but many gestures can mean different things in different
cultures and countries.
Even simple things like using your hands to point and
count differ between cultures. For example:
Pointing:
• In the USA and the UK pointing is usually done with the
index finger, but in many Asian cultures pointing with the
index finger is considered to be rude.
• In Germany pointing is with the little finger.
• In Japan the entire hand is used to point.
Using Hands – Counting
Counting:
• In the UK and in Germany the thumb signifies
number 1.
• In Japan number 5 is signified by the thumb.
• In Indonesia the middle finger is used to signify
number 1.
Activity 1 – Body Language
Activity 1 – Body
Language Part 1
Part 1 – Scenarios
Get into pairs – A and B – and act out the following
scenarios without speaking:
• A is flirting with B.
• B is annoyed with A.
• A is scared of B.
• B is pleased with A.
What do you notice about your body language in these
different scenarios?
Part 2 – Cue Cards
Activity 1 Part 2
Stay in pairs.
Use the blue cue cards.
A takes a card and acts out the emotion on the cards,
without speaking. B has to guess what the emotion is.
B takes a different card and acts out the emotion without
speaking. A has to guess what the emotion is.
Continue to do this until all eight cue cards have been used.
Activity 2 – Examples of Posture
What do you think the following postures signify?
1.
Hands on knees.
2.
Hands on hips.
3.
Hands locked behind the back.
4.
Hands locked behind the head.
5.
Sitting with a leg over the arm of the chair.
6.
Legs and feet pointed in a particular direction.
7.
Arms folded.
Activity 2 - Examples
of Posture
Answer Sheet:
Answer sheet for
Activity 2
1.
Hands on knees - indicates readiness.
2.
Hands on hips - indicates impatience or anger.
3.
Hands locked behind the back - indicates self-control.
4.
Hands locked behind the head - indicates confidence.
5.
Sitting with a leg over the arm of the chair - indicates
indifference.
6.
Legs and feet pointed in a particular direction - indicates
the direction where more interest is felt.
7.
Arms folded – indicates putting up a barrier.
Activity 3 - How well can you
read Body Language?
Activity 3 – How well can you read Body Language?
Look at the photos on the following slides.
What impression do you have of the state of mind of the
people?
Man with head in hands
Woman shouting
Man hitting head
Woman biting fingers
Man scratching head
Boy under slide
Man with hand on chin
Woman with hands on hips
Man with raised finger
Woman exclaiming at computer
Man punching air
Man resting head on hand
Activity 4 – Create a Collage
Activity 4 - Collage on Body
Language
Work in small groups and create a collage entitled:
This is what your body language says about you.
You could take photos of your friends (with their permission), cut
up magazines, use the internet or draw the following:
• different facial expressions;
• different types of body language;
• different types of gestures.
For each one you need to describe what they represent and
what they mean.
3. Touch
3. Touch
• The study of touching is referred to as ‘haptics’.
• Touch is probably the most primitive form of social
communication.
• It is widely used by young children and by many animal
species.
• Touch is governed by many social rules in our different
societies and it is important to abide by these rules.
• Touching can be self-focused – for example, twisting hair
round a finger.
• Or it can be other-focused – for example, touching
someone’s shoulder when comforting
them.
Experimental Studies with Implications for Society
Look at the four research studies on the following
slides and consider these questions:
 How might the results of all of these studies be
related to our society?
 Should certain groups of people pay particular
attention to the results? For example, waiters and
waitresses, counsellors, sales people. If so, why?
Note: When experimenters are carrying out research into non-verbal
communication they often have people working with them,
known as confederates. The people who are subjects in
their experiments don’t know until afterwards that these
confederates are part of the experiment.
(i) Lynn & Mynier (1993)
(i) Lynn & Mynier 1993 AQA KEY
STUDY
Aim:
To examine the the effect of waiter / waitress position when
taking customers’ food orders on the size of tip given at the
end of the meal.
Procedure:
Waiters / waitresses either stood to take orders or squatted
(regarded as a gesture) at the side of the table. Squatting
meant that their face was closer to the customer and
therefore eye contact was better.
Findings:
Lynn & Mynier 1993 (2)
It was found that those waiting staff who squatted at the
table to take food orders received a larger tip than those
who stood to take the food order.
Conclusion:
Squatting to take food orders has a positive effect on tipping.
Consider: What would you do if you had a part-time job as
a waiter / waitress?
Lynn, M. & Mynier, K. Effect of server position on restaurant tipping. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 1993, 23(8),
678-685.
(ii) Fisher, Rytting & Heslin (1976)
(ii) Fisher, Rytting & Heslin 1976 AQA
KEY STUDY
Aim:
To examine the effect of touch on the attitude of female
student library users.
Procedure:
Library users were split into two groups:
1. Those who received a brief ‘accidental’ touch in a nonintimate context by a library assistant (confederate)
returning their library card to them.
2. Those who did not receive an ‘accidental’ touch when
their card was returned.
Findings:
Fisher, Rytting & Heslin 1976 (2)
The first group, when asked by researchers, rated the library
as significantly more favourable than those in the second
group.
Curiously, none of the students were aware of having been
touched!
Conclusion:
Touch can have a positive, but unconscious, effect on
people’s attitudes.
Consider: Would the results have been the same with all
male students?
Fisher, J.D., Rytting, M. & Heslin, R. Hands touching hands: affective and evaluative effects of an interpersonal touch.
Sociometry, 1976, 39, 416-21.
(iii) McGinley, Lefevre & McGinley 1975 AQA
KEY STUDY
(iii) McGinley, Lefevre & McGinley (1975)
Aim:
To examine the effects of open and closed posture during
conversations.
Procedure:
In an appropriate social situation individuals were
approached by a confederate who began to talk to them.
The confederate either adopted an open posture or a
closed posture during the conversation. Individuals were
asked afterwards for their views on the confederate.
Findings:
McGinley, Lefevre & McGinley 1975 (2)
Individuals said that when the confederate showed an open
posture they appeared more friendly and more attractive.
When the confederate showed a closed posture they
appeared less friendly and less attractive.
Conclusion:
Posture can determine how friendly or attractive a person
appears to other people.
Consider: How could this be useful in an interview situation?
McGinley, H., LaFevre, R. & McGinley, A. (1975) The influence of communicator's body position on opinion change in
others. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 31 (4), 686-690.
(iv) McGinley 1975
(iv) McGinley 1975 AQA
KEY STUDY
Aim:
To examine the effects of postural echo during
conversations.
Procedure:
In an appropriate social situation individuals were
approached by a confederate who began to talk to them.
The confederate either echoed the posture of the person
being spoken to or did not echo their posture. Individuals
were asked afterwards for their views on the confederate.
Findings:
McGinley 1975 (2)
Individuals felt more comfortable when the confederate
used postural echo and reported that they had got on well
together. Individuals felt less comfortable when postural
echo had not been used and reported that their
conversation seemed more awkward.
Conclusion:
Using postural echo gives an impression of being more
friendly.
Consider: How might sales people use this research?
Credits
With thanks to
Victoria Carrington
Contact
© Uniview Worldwide Ltd 2011
Web: www.uniview.co.uk
Material in this presentation
forms part of the Non-Verbal
Communication PsyKit (code
1650).
Email: sales@uniview.co.uk
Tel: 0151 625 3453