Body movement and gestures
 Talk to the hand
 “Oh no you dint!”
 The snap (in Z
formation)
 Expressions related
to posture, gait
 “grow a spine”
 walking with a “spring
in your step”
 “stand up for yourself”
 “stand up straight”
 “hold your head high”
 “don’t slouch.”
 “stand still”
 In Western culture, an
upright, yet relaxed body
posture, is associated with
confidence, positivity, high
self esteem (Guerrero &
Floyd, 2006).
 Power walk
 Shuffling
 Runway model
walk
 Sashay
 Swagger
 Arms swinging vs.
not swinging
 “Light in the
loafers”
 Gait, posture and
victimization
 “A weak walking style
sends a cue of
vulnerability to a wouldbe mugger or attacker.”
(Gunn,s Johnson, &
Hudson, 2002)
 “Confident walkers rank
near the bottom of
potential targets of
crime”(Ivy & Wahl, 2009).
 Nonverbal indicators of Liking
 Forward lean
 Body and head orientation
facing the other person
 Open body positions
 Affirmative head nods
 Moderate gesturing and
animation
 Close interpersonal distances
 Moderate body relaxation
 Touching
 Initiating and maintaining eye
contact
 Smiling
 Mirroring (congruent posture)
 Nonverbal indicators of
dislike
 Indirect, oblique body
orientation
 No eye contact, or eye
contact of short duration
 Averted eyes
 Unpleasant facial
expressions
 Relative absence of
gestures
 Body rigidity, bodily
tension
 Incongruent postures
1.
inclusiveness/noninclusiveness
The degree to which one’s body
position includes or excludes
someone else.
Inclusiveness indicates liking,
interest in the other person.
2.
face to face/parallel
The degree to which people face
each other, square on, versus at
an angle or side by side.
A square on position indicates
mutual involvement, some level
of intimacy.
3.
congruence/incongruence
The degree of mirroring,
matching, mimicry
 Posture and
Dominance





Taking up space
Arms akimbo
Maintaining gaze
Pointing at someone
Violating another’s
personal space
 Studies on “Gaydar”
demonstrate that
people can
distinguish another’s
sexual orientation at
better than chance
odds.
 This does not mean
“Gaydar” is infallible.
 When speaking before a
group:
 Stand straight, yet relaxed
 Don’t slouch
 Don’t lean on or hide
behind a podium
 Don’t look frozen, wooden
 Avoid nervous pacing
 Movement should be
purposeful
 Movement should
complement or punctuate
the verbal message
 What are
these people
conveying
with their
bodies?
 Are these couples
getting along?
 Humans have
uniquely expressive
hands.
 The meaning of a
gesture depends on
its context
 flipping someone the
“bird” could be serious
or playful.
 Gestures may be
conflicting
 Yawning while saying
you are not tired.
 Looking involved but
saying, “I don’t care,”
 Emblems are used
intentionally.
 They have verbal
equivalents
 They have a clear,
consistent meaning
within a particular
culture




Cross my heart
Shame on you
Peace sign
I’m crazy
 Illustrators are used
intentionally.
 Illustrators are tied to
speech.
 They reinforce or
supplement what is being
said.
 Illustrators are most
common in face-to-face
interaction
 Illustrators are so habitual,
people use them when
talking on the phone
 Examples of illustrators
 Two palms held up signify “I
don’t know.
 Wagging a finger while making
a point
 Rolling one’s eyes in disbelief
 “For example” gesture
 Just a pinch
 Hitting one’s fist for emphasis
 A double head nod
 Pointing when giving
directions
 I caught a fish this big.
 After you
 Affect displays may or
may not be intentional
 Affect displays convey
feeling and emotion
 They are often
communicated via
facial expressions
 They can be difficult to
interpret
 Interpreting affect
displays:
 Look at the face to
determine the emotion
 Look at body cues to
determine the strength
or intensity of the
emotion.
Are these people expressing
the same emotion, in differing
degrees, or different emotions
altogether?
 Regulators are primarily
unintentional
 They regulate turn-taking
behavior
 Conversational give and
take depends on
regulators





Types of turn-taking
Turn-requesting cues
Turn maintaining cues
Turn yielding cues
Turn denying cues
 Regulate the ebb and
flow of conversation
 Adaptors are usually
unintentional.
 Adaptors include
self-touching
behaviors
 Adapters signal
nervousness,
anxiousness,
boredom
 Generally speaking,
adapters are
perceived negatively
 However, adaptors
may be perceived as
more genuine,
authentic
 Examples of adaptors







Fiddling with one’s hair
Chewing one’s fingernails
Tapping one’s foot or leg
Biting one’s lips
Scratching one’s arm
Wringing one’s hands
Clenching one’s jaw
 Hair twirling is
an adaptor, but
does it always
mean the same
thing?
 Object adaptors
include:
 Tapping a pencil
 Drumming one’s
fingers
 Adjusting one’s
clothing
 Playing with jewelry
 Adaptors when
students take tests




Hair twirling
Scratching
Ear pulling
Forehead rubbing
 What do people do
when
 they are ending an
interpersonal
conversation?
 they are getting ready
to leave class?
 they are ending a
phone conversation?
 Does it depend on:
 the communication
context?
 the nature of the
relationship?
 cultural
considerations?