Kinesics

Kinesics

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Kinesics

Communication is a way in which people interact and intermingle with each

other. People show gestures and emotions through facial expressions and body language.

Human can make 20,000 facial expressions according to estimation of Physiologists. It is

observed that there is greater chance of leakage of emotions is through facial expression

but at most time people master the art to control their emotions. This introduces us to

another leakage terminal which is through kinesics means body movements without

touching others. A study shows that humans are capable of around 700,000 body

movements and physical signs. The chief focal point of analysis are four key areas which

are subject’s spatial axis, pacifying behavior , territorial behaviors and departure from

subject norms. (Birdwhistell, 1970, Pei, 1965)

Whenever communication takes place interpersonal communication is a must as it

takes is face to face; kinesics is key component used to judge the behavior and matching

of words to understand the hidden meanings of words spoken. When observing the

kinesics, the points of observations should be postures, lower body cues, hand display,

arms and the torso. Kinesics is used as mean of detector of deception and persuasion. It is

effective mean today used in mass communication to detect deception by politicians. It is

used as means of motivation and persuasion in corporate world. (Kraut, 1978)

The gestures are integral to kinesics as this is the way to judge optimistic and

pessimistic view of people. It helps to know the hidden meaning behind the words. The

gestures consist of two types which may be speech dependent and speech independent.

The gesture and their relative meaning differs culture to culture, for instance when

Chinese bow they show a welcoming gesture whereas in some cultures it is related to

religious rituals. (Knapp & Hall, 2006)

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Part 1 - Kinesics:

Communication is integral to social beings like humans. It acts as backbone to the

actions and is expression of emotions. Communication is to speak up in a personally

effectual and communally suitable manner. Whenever one talks he is sending messages

to other people which are received, decoded and then responded through feedback. These

messages are decoded in considerations to norms, believes, culture and customs of

specific area. Communication is generally categorized as verbal and non verbal

communication. Verbal communication is oral or written communication; when oral it

will be affected by pitch, volume, tone and speed of speaking while written

communication is effective by use of right vocabulary, grammar, style and preciseness of

language. Communication can be through language of signs and symbols, touch, body

and eyes, speaking, sounds, music etc. Speaking is classified as interpersonal and public.

Non verbal communication is through physical movements which are by touch, eyes,

signs and symbols. Its advanced form may also include music and dancing as well.

(Adler, Rosenfeld and Proctor II ,2008)

Here in this paper the part of focus will be interpersonal communication which is

verbal and non verbal. It is interaction of people face to face in a crowd. The

interpersonal communication requires skills such as conflict management, listening and

assertion. The communication is transferred and exchange through channels which are

direct or indirect. The meaning is derived from situational analysis in context of events

occurred in some time in past. It can be related to sounds, colors, writings’ and repeated

vocabulary used to define some parameter. The context of communication can be

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physical milieu, situational milieu, cultural and linguistic backgrounds, developmental

progress (maturity) or emotional state, complementary or contrasting roles.

The channels of communication need forms of media to transmit it through to be

useful, informative and effective. The three basic forms of media are linguistic, iconic

and kinesics. Linguistic media consists of words; iconic media comprise symbolic

representation and kinesics media consists of non verbal communication and physical

movements showing expressions, gestures, etc. Whenever two people communicate

exclusive of dialogue, using body language or facial expressions as an alternative, it is

non-verbal communication or kinesics. Few people are capable to converse easy

communication whereas others are able to correspond full conversations using kinesics.

Kinesics involves knowing what the other person is thinking by non-verbal gestures or

kinesics. (Adler, Rosenfeld and Proctor II ,2008)

Ray Birdwhistell introduced this term in 1952. He wanted to study how people

speak through their gestures, movement, postures and stance. He was an anthropologist

who studied the kinesics by filming in different situations and analyzing diverse intensity

of communication not observed before. Birdwhistell believed that all body movements

have meanings as there are naturally occurring unintentionally; it’s a paralanguage which

can be evaluated like conversation. Evidential group movements by kineme are used

interchangeably without distressing the collective meaning and is alike a phoneme.

(Knapp 1972:94-95)

According to Birdwhistell’s estimate of social interaction only 30 to 35

percentage of interaction is word based and rest is conducted by other means of

expression. There are functions of kinesics which are emblems, illustrators, affect

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displays, and regulators. Emblem is the possible substitute for phrases and language.

Illustrators comprise and strengthen verbal messages, affect displays is show of emotions,

regulators is controller of communication and adapters are the discharge of worry.

Kinesics is an essential component of non-verbal message conduct. The

movement of the body, separate parts, expresses many detailed connotations and the

analysis might be ethnicity hurdle. Many movements are passed out at a subliminal or

optimal knowledge level, kinesics movements carry a major peril of being

misapprehended in an intercultural interactions circumstances. It was in use even when

human beings had not learned to speak. They used gestures, emotion facial expressions,

body movements’ and signs to communicate. This type of communication is as affective

today as it was thousands of years ago. Today interviewers use it as mean of deception to

know the authenticity of information flow. It is one of the most significantly used ways of

persuasion and motivation today. Spatial Axis in monitoring subject, take note of their

orientation in relation to you represents desire to leave ongoing communication and is

most notable when questioner is “turning up the heat”. Pacifying Behaviors touching face

(nose, ears, and mouth) is often done to soothe or distract oneself and may represent the

thought “I don't like what I'm hearing”. Behaviors are often gender-specific; women often

touch the base of the neck or necklaces whereas men often touch nose/upper lip or

necktie and not the same as posture of deep thought (Rodin’s “the thinker”). Territorial

displays can be signs of comfort or aggression (also, in teenagers can be sign of

disrespect). Emotional expressions by Ekman postulate that there are four customs for

people to communicate emotions which are full, micro expression, restricted and slight.

The numerous users of kinesics are politicians, scientists, interviewers, and business

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personnel. Their basic aim is to qualitative use of information and to make the

communication more effective, efficient and meaningful. (Ekman, 2007)

It is noticeable factor that these subconsciously performed acts are divergent in

cultures. The one act might be something good in one culture and that act might be

insulting in other. Kinesics is muscular and skeletal shift of body includes all events,

substantial or physiological and automatic reflexes. It is kind of a modification to

language of conversation. It is value addition which is intangible and is more effective

and burly in reaction as facial expressions and body moves are visual in nature and more

memorable and meaningful.

Part 2: It is a saying that actions speak louder than word this is what kinesics do.

The smile is the most universal facade of emotions as it conceals appearance in lower

face of anger, disgust, sadness, and fear so need to look for ‘real’ smile in the eyes that is

crows’ feet and restricted visibility of eyes due to space between eyebrows and upper

cheeks contracting. It is more directive information. Posture is one of essential parts in

kinesics which has three basic positioning of lying down, bent and standing. It is

communication through body stance. It differs culture to culture. The kinesics can be tool

used as detective as it can interpret from different generally known motions of body that

whether a person is lying or telling the truth. Oculesics and haptics also relate to kinesics

as the first is eye positioning during communication and latter is physical contact

displaying emotion. The examples of kinesics with its different types are elaborated here.

Emblem also has a verbal counterpart for instance use of sign of victory as “V” through

index and middle fingers symbolizes victory in Britain whereas it’s an insult in Australia.

Illustrators use hand waving as a sign to show the intensity of what is said. Affective

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display can be visible in President Obama and President Sarkozy meeting when President

Obama clenched jaw as sign of sorrow. The example of adapters can be arms akimbo

standing style which means show of power and dominance. Arms behind back and

pointing fingers also show power and high status. (Monsivais-Martinez, 2008)

Certain emotions may be manifested in similar ways which may lead to confusion

in attempting to analyze responses. Contempt, Resentment, and Anger each have similar

facial profiles that could be confused by an inexperienced observer. When thumbs point

to mouth in Spain it relates to drinking as similar in shape to porrón vessel. The "live

long and prosper" sign consists of the a raised hand, palm outward, fingers extended, with

the index and middle finger kept close together, and the ring and pinky finger close

together, with a 'V' shaped space between them, and the thumb sticking out alone. The

“V” is associated with the phrase "Live long and prosper," and derives from Star Trek,

where it is used as a salute by the fictional humanoid group of Vulcan’s. The "thumbs

up" gesture is identified as pollice recto, "thumbs down" is pollice verso. Probably the

existing gestures are indistinguishable to the gestures performed in ancient Rome. The

present account was popularized by a extensively reproduced scholarly painting by the

19th century artist Jean-Léon Gérôme, whose Pollice Verso portrays a

triumphant gladiator footing over a fallen foe, looking up into the stands for the judgment

of the masses. The superman moves of Neo and fights of Neo and Smith in Martix, the

movement of Optumus Prime and decepticions in transformers are one of best examples.

When holding the backs of the wrists touching the jaw line and then shaking one's

fingers. It is used usually to say "well aren't you clever?" in Scotland. The 'timeout'

gesture was initiated in American sports - a 'T' formed with the hands, its used where a

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brief recess in play is called for making substitutions etc. Nowadays this gesture is used

in the US and in Britain to quiet children, or calm participants in a fiery dispute. The

identical gesture may be used to ask for the check when dining at a café in Japan. Biting

one's thumb was a previous rude British sign. In Romeo and Juliet, Sampson bites his

thumb at the Montagues (Act1, Scene1) in William Shakespeare's play.

Conclusion:

People show gestures and emotions through facial expressions and body

language.. When observing the kinesics the points of observations should be postures,

lower body cues, hand display, arms and the torso. Communication is integral to social

beings like humans. Communication is generally categorized as verbal and non verbal

communication. Communication can be through language of signs and symbols, touch,

body and eyes, speaking, etc. Non verbal communication is through physical movements

which are by touch, eyes, signs and symbols. The three basic forms of media are

linguistic, iconic and kinesics. Whenever two people communicate exclusive of dialogue,

using body language or facial expressions as an alternative, it is non-verbal

communication or kinesics. Few people are capable to converse easy communication

whereas others are able to correspond full conversations using kinesics. Kinesics involves

knowing what the other person is thinking by non-verbal gestures or kinesics. Illustrators

comprise and strengthen verbal messages, affect displays is show of emotions, regulators

is controller of communication and adapters are the discharge of worry. Kinesics is an

essential component of non-verbal message conduct. Around the world probably 75% of

communication is non verbal which is based on mostly body moves, the kinesics.

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Appendix:

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Biography:

Adler, Rosenfeld and Proctor II (2008) Interplay: The Process of Interpersonal

Communication / eleven edition/ ISBN13: 780195379594ISBN10: 0195379594

Birdwhistell, R. (1970). Kinesics and context: Essays on body motion communication.

Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Ekman, P. (2007). Emotions Revealed, Second Edition: Recognizing Faces and Feelings

to Improve Communication and Emotional Life. Owl Books, New York.

Kraut, R.E. (1978). Verbal and nonverbal cues in the perception of lying. Journal of

Personality and Social Psychology, 36, 380-391

Pei, M. (1965). The story of language (2nd ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott.

Monsivais-Martinez, P. (2008). The daily beast media gallery: Obama in Asia. Retrieved

March 16, 2010, from

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-

stories/2009-11-18/obamas-bad-trip/#gallery=973;page=12

Ekman, P. (1976). Movements with precise meanings [Electronic version]. Journal of

Communication, 26, 14-26.

Knapp, M. L., & Hall, J. A. (2006). Nonverbal communication in human interaction.

Belmont, CA: Thompson Publishers.

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