kinesics

Week 3 Overview

  • Course Code: CMN2132

  • Focus: Kinesics (study of human body movements)

Key Concepts

Movement and Communication

  • Different types of movement convey various meanings.

Questions for Reflection

  • Personal experiences with body language.

  • Impact of bodily movements on lasting impressions (e.g., musical artists).

  • Count and identify gestures in surroundings.

Birdwhistell's Sources of Bodily Movements

  • Significant bodily movements include:

    • a) Total head

    • b) Face

    • c) Neck

    • d) Trunk

    • e) Shoulder-arm-wrist

    • f) Hand

    • g) Hip-joint-ankle

    • h) Foot

Key Hand Gestures

  • Important gestures include:

    • Ok, L-sign, loopy, tsk-tsk, money, naughty, thumbs-up, peace, victory, horns.

    • Others: shrug, choking, gun to head, hung, oscillating hand movements (indeterminate), comme ci/comme ca, point, go ahead.

    • Many gestures are culture-dependent.

    • Effectiveness of gestures in communication.

Nature vs. Nurture

Key Questions

  • How do anxiety and relaxation affect movement usage?

  • Potential of facial expressions to communicate.

  • Benefits of gestures for users vs. receivers.

  • Relationship of gestures to verbal communication.

  • Situations where gestures may replace language.

  • Identifying which gestures reveal truth.

Gender Differences

Questions for Discussion

  • Differences in gesturing between men and women: learned or inherited?

  • Observation: relaxed men use fewer gestures than women.

Expressing Dominance Through Movement

  • Exploration of how body movement conveys dominance.

Important Terms

Definitions

  • Parentese: speech variation used with infants.

  • Arbitrary codes: arbitrary signifiers for specific meanings.

  • Emblems: gestures that have specific, discrete meanings independent of speech (e.g., yes, no).

  • Illustrators: gestures that complement verbal communication.

Nonverbal Code Components

  • Allokines: 20,000 movements possible in facial expressions.

  • Nonverbal immediacy: appearing more open and approachable.

Synchrony in Communication

Types

  • Speech-dependent vs. speech-independent communication.

  • Self-synchrony: matching speech with gestures.

  • Interactional synchrony: mimicking the behaviors of others (e.g., postural congruence).

    • Emotional contagion noted.

Mimicking Behavior

  • Matching and mirroring behaviors in interactions.

  • Awareness varies by individual and context.

    • Mimicking out-group members may reduce prejudice.

Gestures and Communication Functionality

Functions of Gestures

  • Gestures that are non-redundant, specific, and connected to speech help:

    • Forecast upcoming words.

    • Aid memory retention.

    • Enhance clarity and structure speech.

    • Visualize thoughts.

Notable Researchers in Kinesics

Key Individuals

  • Ekman: pioneering work on facial expressions.

  • Mehrabian: studies on nonverbal communication.

  • Eibl-Eibesfeldt: focus on human behavior and gestures.

  • Birdwhistell: six general principles of kinesics.

  • Morris: categories of action regarding gestures.

Birdwhistell's Six Principles of Kinesics

  1. Interdependence of the five senses (visual, aural, gustatory, olfactory, and tactile) with verbal communication.

  2. Variation in kinesic communication influenced by culture and microcultures (e.g., different codes in Black vs. White Americans).

  3. No universal body language; nurture influences kinesic behavior.

  4. Redundancy theory is inapplicable to kinesic behavior; gestures complemented rather than reinforced.

  5. Kinesic behavior is more primitive and less controllable compared to verbal communication.

  6. Accurate interpretation of non-verbal codes requires contextual comparison.

Ekman and Friesen's Cumulative Structure of Kinesics

  1. Emblems: gestures with specific meanings (e.g., offensive gestures).

  2. Illustrators: gestures that complement speech, enhancing the message.

  3. Regulators: gestures that control conversation flow.

  4. Adaptors: nervous behaviors linked to comfort or anxiety (e.g., fidgeting).

  5. Affect displays: expressions of emotions like fear, happiness, and sadness.

Interactional Regulatory Gestures

Concepts and Examples

  • Regulators noted during greetings and conversation:

    • Salutations and body orientation leading to approach.

    • Final approach includes facial expressions and open body posture.

Linguistic Gesture Markers

  • Gestures occur at significant speech moments to mark transitions or boundaries.

  • Postural shifts also serve as markers in communication.

Gesture Frequency

  • Higher frequency of gestures in face-to-face interaction:

    • Influenced by enthusiasm, complexity of ideas, and conversational dominance.

    • Linked to cognitive abilities and cultural backgrounds.

Additional Hand Gesture Types

  • Hand gestures linked to speech referents and speaker relationships:

    • Related to unpredictable punctuations/interactive gestures.

Wallbott's Indicators of Emotional States

  • Gestural indications associated with emotions:

    • Cold anger: lateral hand/arm movements.

    • Hot anger: elevated shoulders, open hands.

    • Shame: upper body collapse.

    • Sadness: also upper body collapse.

    • Fear: forward-leaning shoulders.

Indicators of Liking in Communication

  1. Forward leaning postures.

  2. Direct body and head orientation towards the other person.

  3. Open body positioning.

  4. Affirmative nodding.

  5. Animated gestures and moderate proximity.

  6. Relaxed body language, initiating contact, maintaining eye contact, and smiling.

  7. Postural mirroring as a sign of rapport.

Portfolio Exercise: Reflection Questions

  • Discuss observations on gestures between genders, past experiences with body language mishaps, movement significance, and personal gestural tendencies related to Wallbott’s or liking indicators.