Body and gesture language: human psychology by behavior and facial expressions

Each person during a conversation uses nonverbal signals with which he subconsciously complements or refute what was said. Such signals are involuntary, but with proper training you can learn to control them and recognize the facial expressions of other people.

The psychology of human gestures and facial expressions studies the features of using gestures, various combinations, and the possibility of preventing an emotional reaction. By understanding the main types of reactions and learning to distinguish them, a person will be able to determine whether his interlocutor is telling the truth, his real emotions.

The meaning of gestures

In the human psyche, the meaning of non-verbal signals - gestures and facial expressions - lies in the sphere of the unconscious. People may not pay attention to their own and others' attempts to convey information, but they subconsciously recognize them. To read messages more accurately, it is necessary to study their meaning in accordance with the cultural environment to which the interlocutors belong.

Despite the common meaning of most facial reactions, in some cultures common gestures may have the opposite meaning. Thus, nodding your head usually means agreement, but in some cultures it means denial.

Body language varies depending on the speaker's gender, age, social status and other personal characteristics. Communication using gestures is limited: movements can only convey basic emotions, but it is impossible to show the subtleties of attitude. Therefore, body language is used to complement and enhance the emotional coloring of speech. The conscious use of gestures and control of facial expressions is the result of a volitional effort, aimed mainly at the desire to hide a lie.

Body language and sign language should not be confused. Unlike unconscious muscle reactions, sign language is a full-fledged linguistic unit used for normal communication. The use of sign language allows people with hearing and speech impairments to communicate and socialize successfully.

Gesture processing in the brain

Scientists have long known that recognition of speech and written characters occurs in the same parts of the brain, since both methods of communication between people are subject to certain rules of grammar and have the same vocabulary inherent in them.

Modern research conducted by scientists from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders of the United States aimed to find out how certain lobes of the brain are associated with the processing of human gestures that are not directly related to language, but carry a meaning that is understandable to everyone and without the need to translate it into language of words and letters. Two types of gestures were used - pantomimes, with the help of which people imitate objects or actions, and gestures, emotionally and abstractly symbolizing the messages that people exchange when communicating. Scientists have found that human gestures, like spoken words or written symbols, are processed by the same parts of the brain - the left inferior frontal gyrus (Broca's area) and the posterior middle temporal gyrus, the posterior superior temporal sulcus and the superior temporal gyrus (Wernicke's area). This may indicate the evolutionary prerequisites for the emergence of language and speech among human ancestors. Because these parts of the brain have long been known to scientists as speech centers involved in recognizing words and selecting the most appropriate meanings for them from the stock available in the brain. Today, scientists believe that these areas of the brain are responsible for identifying the meaning of any new sign received. If this theory is correct, then our modern speech centers, according to Dr. Allen Brown, are the product of the evolution of these lobes of the brain, capable of processing the meaning of both words and gestures.

Scientific research

Representatives of Ancient Rome already possessed the study of body language and the desire to characterize gestures. The science formed on the basis of the observations of researchers was called kenesics. The greatest contribution to its development was made by:

J. Balwer. He created a fundamental work devoted to gestures, in particular, hand movements.
I. F. Lavater. He studied physiognomy and conducted a comparative analysis of emotions and gestures.
G. K. Lichtenberg. He published several works in which he examined Lavater’s ideas in detail, calling them superficial and far from reality.
C. Bell. He studied the nervous system, studied the correspondence of facial features to the emotions experienced. He deduced a pattern between emotional reaction and muscular activity.
C. Darwin. Studied the correspondence of facial expression to emotional reaction.
F. Bacon. I came to the conclusion that there is a special body language that is understood by all peoples of the world.
F. Lowen. In his book on the psychology of the body, he outlined the basics of psychosomatic problems

Psychologists and sociologists believe that body language can become a universal means of communication between people of different social groups.

Basic terms and concepts

For a more detailed understanding and study of the psychology of facial expressions and gestures, let us turn to the basic concepts.

A gestural refrain is a repeated action, a movement that always means the same thing.
Dictionary of psychoanatomy symbolism - deciphering non-verbal communication. Using this dictionary you can understand what a particular gesture means. It is only necessary to learn the interpretation by examples, since the same gesture can have different meanings.
Ergonomics of facial expressions and gestures is a section that talks about the ability to adapt nonverbal communication to solve certain issues. Studying this section makes it possible to positively influence a person’s subconscious. Fraudsters especially like to use this method.

Main body segments

When assessing the meaning of posture and movements, you need to pay attention to the segment of the body that gives signals. Each department is responsible for a specific issue:

eyes - an expression of fear associated with personal relationships;
mouth - difficulties in communication, fear of rejection;
neck - negative emotions, anger, aggression;
chest - suppression of emotional reactions, restraint, self-control;
diaphragm - social anxiety, volitional efforts, feeling of satisfaction;
stomach area - feeling of danger, external threat;
pelvis and groin area - true feelings, intimate interest.

When assessing the reaction of individual body segments, it is always necessary to compare the movements as a whole. Warning should be caused by desynchronization of movements of different departments: a person cannot control his body and it betrays his deception.

Gestures of closedness, isolation

For a full psychological assessment of a person based on body movements and gestures, it is necessary to distinguish between shyness and purposeful secrecy. He speaks about reluctance to communicate, fear and hostility:

Crossing your arms over your chest. While sitting, a person can also cross their legs with their knee forward. This indicates a desire to fence off with armor, to be as far as possible from the interlocutor, distrust and hostility.
Tightness, hands on knees. A defensive posture, the desire to quickly end the conversation.
Stomping, tapping fingers, throwing objects from hand to hand. The desire to divert attention from oneself, to avoid a negative reaction.

For many people, secretive postures are comfortable, and they unconsciously adopt them when talking with trusted people. But during business communication they should be avoided so as not to cause misunderstanding.

Characteristics of nonverbal communication between people: examples of situations

Nonverbal means of human communication
Compared to verbal communication, human body language is unique and carries more than half of the information. Due to the fact that nonverbal communication needs interpretation, it is worth identifying the main characteristics of nonverbal means of communication between people using examples of situations.

Emotionally expressive movements - gestures, facial expressions, gait, posture:

The interlocutor is open if his hands are turned palms up, his shoulders are straightened and not tense, his gaze is straight and natural.
This state reveals friendliness and sincerity in the interlocutor and inspires trust.
In case of deception, a person hides his hands in his pockets, rubs his eyes, scratches his nose, without looking into the eyes of the interlocutor.
If a person covers part of his body with his arms crossed on his chest, trying to take up as little space as possible, this indicates his closedness, isolation, and self-defense.
Absent-minded – blinks eyes frequently.
A thoughtful, concentrated person rubs his chin, scratches his head, pinches his nose.
If the interlocutor lowers his eyebrow, holds his chin with one hand and his elbow with the other, you can recognize him as a critic.
A positive and interested person will tilt his body and head forward and lightly touch his cheek with his hand.
If the interlocutor covers his mouth with his hand, it means he is holding back his feelings or showing distrust or disagreement.
Propping your head with your hand indicates boredom and indifference on the part of your interlocutor.
Feeling irritated, the interlocutor becomes nervous and makes a lot of unnecessary gestures, touches his hair, and draws.

Tactile contact - handshakes, pats, touches:

If the interlocutor shakes hands with both of his hands, he will show his sincerity and friendliness.
A handshake with cold palms speaks of excitement, while a handshake with sweaty hands speaks of worry.
A pat on the shoulder or back will demonstrate masculine strength, friendship and willingness to help.
Hugs often mean friendship, affection, falling in love and a surge of emotions.

Eye contacts - gaze direction:

Visual contact is one of the important communication processes.
The eyes are capable of receiving a large amount of information, impressions and conveying different expressions during a conversation.

Distance:

When determining distance, it is important to take into account factors such as age, gender, nationality, social status and the nature of the relationship.
Maintaining personal distance is an important factor in life.

This classification of nonverbal means may vary in the process of communication under appropriate circumstances. To establish interpersonal contacts, it is necessary to correctly use means of non-verbal communication.

Gestures to help recognize lies

The main thing that any student of body language strives for is the ability to detect lies in the speech of the interlocutor. They say about dishonesty:

Frequently touching the face, scratching the forehead and nose, covering the mouth with the hand. A person literally tries to stop himself from telling a lie, to cover his face, avoiding a direct condemning gaze.
Stroking, scratching the neck. Talks about lies caused by fear or misunderstanding. Such gestures are often demonstrated by subordinates when talking with their boss.
Touching the earlobe. During communication, touching the ears means that the person does not believe in the information he heard, but tries not to show it.
Quick, frequent smiles, licking lips. It means excitement, a desire to hide deception.

The discrepancy between gestures and spoken words indicates a lie, but individual characteristics must be taken into account. Perhaps the dissonance is caused by anatomical features and is a consequence of the disease. Also characteristic is the discrepancy between movement and words among foreigners who do not know the language well and try to supplement words with gestures.

Gestures that express a person’s state, his attitude to the situation and its participants.

“I'm tired” - one or both hands cover the face, ears or eyes - an attempt to concentrate, covering the main organ of perception in order to concentrate. It refers to the leading way for a person to perceive information. If smells play a big role in your life, in such a situation you will most likely cover your nose.
"What's next?" – low landing, hands clasped on the knee – wait-and-see position.
“I don’t want to see this” - scratching the eyes - an attempt to ignore what is happening, I’m afraid to look you in the eyes, avoiding responsibility. At the same time, a person who is unsure of himself may tug at his eyebrow.
“I don’t want to hear this” - scratching the ears - an attempt to ignore what is happening, I’m afraid to hear something unpleasant, self-defense. A more hidden version of this gesture is fingering the hair near the ear.
“I don’t want to say this” - covering your mouth with your hand, rubbing your chin - unwillingness to continue the conversation or a forced lie.
“I don’t want to discuss this” - cutting off the edge of the palm - an attempt to end the conversation, close the topic. A person who does not feel they have the right to control the conversation may “brush off” unwanted conversation in a less obvious manner.
“I don’t want to do anything” - hands behind my back - unpreparedness for activity or unwillingness to take part in what is happening.
“I don’t want to have anything to do with this” - the hand is extended, palm forward, with the hand perpendicular to the floor, an arc is drawn in front of itself, erecting a protective barrier - the person is afraid to take part in what is happening.
“Don’t attack”, “don’t touch me” - both hands, palms forward at chest level - fencing, self-defense.
“I don’t agree” - movement of the back of the hand forward, the hand moves in a horizontal plane from itself to the interlocutor or slightly to the side - discarding what is unnecessary.
“No” - hand forward with a raised palm, dynamic tense movement - keep your distance, protection of personal space, a hard “no” that leaves no doubt.
“I have a different opinion” - the hand is raised almost like in a school lesson, the palm is slightly turned - disagreement and attracting attention.
“I don’t like what you’re doing” - “wagging a finger” - the index finger is raised vertically, the rest are bent, the hand moves back and forth - indicates a position of superiority, often used by adults in relation to children; fist - in relation to adults, “if you don’t stop, I will attack.”
“Well, and?..” - “hands on hips” - an expectant and threatening position.
“Honestly” - one or both hands pressed to the chest - “I am completely sincere”, “from the bottom of my heart.”
“Don’t worry” - hands at chest level, palms forward, as if moving forward and returning back with sharp pulsating movements - “we’ll do everything now.”
“You try” - one or both hands indicate the direction for action, while the palms are straightened, the fingers are closed - “if you think what I’m doing is wrong, you can do it yourself.”
“Continue” - the hand is positioned horizontally in front of you, across the body, with the back of the palm facing the interlocutor, intense circular movements are made with the hand - “I can’t remember or think of it,” “help me continue the thought or listing.” This gesture should not be confused with another that illustrates speech. In the first case, the gesture is used during a pause in speech, and in the second, the rhythm of the movements corresponds to the speed of naming the listed concepts.
“Well, I’m sorry, it happened this way” - the arms are lowered down at an angle to the body, the hands are turned with the palms facing the interlocutor, the fingers are spread apart; sometimes accompanied by a raising of the shoulders - in this state the person does not feel remorse or embarrassment, since he did everything he could, and if something did not work out, then it is not his fault.
“That’s it” - arms crossed above the head - a person feels free from obligations, since he did everything he could.

There are gestures that indicate that a person is in a state of thoughtfulness. Let's look at some of them.

If a person scratches his head, then he is thinking about how to solve the problem quickly and at the least cost.
The person scratching the upper, parietal part of the head strives to get out of the current situation in the most successful way.
A person stroking or rubbing his forehead is taking a thorough and responsible approach to solving the problem that has arisen.

In infants, old people and terminally ill people there is a gesture of impotence and helplessness - the thumb is bent into the palm and covered with all the other fingers. If such a gesture occurs in completely viable people, it speaks of a depressed state, recognition of one’s own defeat, and inability to influence the current situation.

Introverted people are characterized by another “infantile” gesture – a thumb in the mouth. In a more hidden version, the finger can be pressed to the lip or chin. But in any case, this gesture indicates that the person is self-absorbed, seeks to escape reality, and is in a state of deep thought.

Don't forget that sometimes our hands end up where something hurts. Therefore, a hand pressed to the ear does not necessarily indicate an unwillingness to listen to the interlocutor, and a person constantly rubbing his forehead may simply be suffering from a migraine. Thus, we again want to draw your attention to how wrong our hasty conclusions can be.

By observing the people around you, you yourself can add to the list of gestures. Surely in your social circle there are specific gestures that we have not described. Take a closer look at them. In what cases are they used, what do they mean? Try to understand what such gestures can say about the person who uses them. This way you can learn a lot of new things about your friends, because every gesture hides not only what the interlocutor wanted to tell us, but also what he wanted to hide from us.

Gestures warning of aggression

It is important to recognize gestures of aggression and threats in a timely manner - this makes it possible to prevent a conflict in time and get away from the direct line of attack of the interlocutor. An aggressive attitude manifests itself:

Clenching your fists. The interlocutor speaks in a calm tone, his posture is relaxed, but his hands are constantly clenched into fists - a clear signal of pent-up anger.
Fists resting on the surface of the table, hips or pressed to the waist - a direct threat, readiness to attack.
Hands hidden behind back. The person is literally trying to control himself and not show aggression.
Pursed lips, tightly clenched jaws. They express contempt and dissatisfaction with the interlocutor.
Scratching the back of the neck and the back of the head. Anticipation of attack, demonstration of readiness for defense.

If during a conversation a person twitches his upper lip, flares his nostrils, squints his eyes, he is ready for open confrontation, demonstrates superiority over his opponent, and threatens.

Advice from psychologists

An experienced psychologist is able to read the gestures and facial expressions of even a very secretive person and assess his emotional state regardless of verbal information. For people unfamiliar with the subtleties of nonverbal cues, it can be difficult at first to monitor two channels of information simultaneously. You can start with the following techniques:

note the movements that a person reproduces most often and compare them with spoken words;
ask your interlocutor leading and clarifying questions, ask the same information several times;
do not look directly at the interlocutor, look away so as not to arouse suspicion;
having caught a person in a lie, do not immediately express complaints, do not interrupt the story - perhaps the first conclusions will turn out to be incorrect;
develop observation skills, learn to compare information.

Special books from which you can glean theoretical information and constant practice will help you learn to understand body language. To learn to read different people, you should constantly train your ability to study emotional reactions, movements, and other nonverbal signals. It is important to compare signals and identify a common series of symbolic gestures. This will help you recognize body signals without thinking in the future.

How to recognize gestures?

To get a complete picture of the correspondence of gestures and facial expressions to a person’s words, you need to evaluate the meaning of all movements:

Gait. By the way the interlocutor enters the room, you can assess the degree of confidence and self-esteem: a long step, a confident gait - purposefulness and ambition, a shuffling gait - lack of will and aspirations, a slow, imposing gait - narcissism and demonstrativeness.
Hand position while moving and sitting. Elbows pressed to the body indicate isolation, unsociability; broad gestures, waving your arms when talking - openness, sociability. Touching your interlocutor is a desire to enter the zone of closest trust, a desire to subjugate.
Direction of view. The position of the eyes shows how interested the interlocutor is in the conversation and the desire to defend his point of view. A downward gaze means the person is telling the truth; an upward gaze means he makes it up as he goes along.
Posture. A straightened neck and a raised chin indicate a person’s general confidence; a bowed head is a sign of humility and timidity.
Body direction. A body leaning forward means interest in the conversation, sympathy for the interlocutor, a desire to reduce the emotional distance, and gain trust.

If a person often changes position during a conversation, his opinion is unstable. He is ready to accept someone else's point of view and submit to his interlocutor.

Gestures that decorate our speech

Try to hide your hands behind your back and talk about the most joyful event in your life. How will your story turn out? Can you convince others that you have caught a truly gigantic pike without spreading your arms as wide as you can reach? Will your interlocutor believe that your daughter was born with huge blue eyes if you don’t show with your hands how she batted her long eyelashes?

Gestures help make speech visually richer

Many people around us primarily perceive the world around them through their eyes, so speech that is not supported by visual images makes less of an impression on them than it could. Of course, you can record every significant event in life on photo or video tape, so that you can then impress your interlocutors with the resulting footage. But do we always have this opportunity? Apparently not. So it turns out that a story that is not flavored with a good dose of gestures can turn out to be as insipid as a children's book without illustrations.

By the presence or absence of gestures included in this group, we can judge how confident a person is, whether he is emotional, whether he really wants to share something important with us, or whether he is simply filling in a pause in the conversation. In this sense, gesticulation is very close to facial expressions. Unfortunately, in our society, people control their own gestures just as tightly as they control their facial expressions.

Male and female gestures

During a conversation, women tend to gesticulate more often if the subject of discussion is pleasant to them. When discussing unpleasant things or talking with an unpleasant interlocutor, women instinctively strive to move away, shrink, and become smaller. They press their hands, bow their heads, turn away. Expressing interest, women try to come closer, their gestures are open, their palms are turned towards the interlocutor.

Men are less likely to express irritation through gestures. It’s easier to assess their mood through their posture: a relaxed posture speaks of trust, openness, and a desire to continue the conversation. Hunching, squeezing your shoulders, putting your hands in front of you is forming a kind of barrier from an unpleasant interlocutor.

Expressing affection using gestures

By studying body language and gestures, a person can easily understand interest in intimate and romantic relationships. The body movements of women who attract the attention of men are actively expressed:

demonstration of the wrists, turning the inside of the palms up;
shaking hair, twirling a curl on a finger;
licking, biting lips;
touching the thighs, ankles;
pointing the toes of the shoes towards the man.

A man, showing interest in a relationship with a woman, subconsciously tries to demonstrate his best qualities:

stretches up, straightens his shoulders;
constantly adjusts his tie, cuffs and shirt collar;
runs his hands over his thighs and knees.

In representatives of both sexes, interest in intimate relationships is revealed by a searching gaze. It glides along the figure of the attractive person from top to bottom, lingering at the neckline and hip level.