Body Language

A few of the recent News Alerts have dealt with body language. One talked about the body language of prominent public figures, trying to determine how sincere they are, while another talked about dance as a form of expression. The first one mentioned that each person will look in a certain direction when trying to remember something. It is possible to discover what this direction is for any given person through a process called norming--asking that person a few questions that require him or her to remember something and watching which way he or she looks. Beyond this description of eye movement, neither article had much scientific merit, but the articles did get me thinking about body language.

Looking into the subject further, I found that there's quite a lot of information on the web about body language. Any given body part, such as the eyes, has a tremendous amount of body language associated with it. Direct eye contact suggests sincerity in our culture, while in some other cultures it can suggest disrespect. A rapid blinking of the eyes can show confusion or insecurity, can reveal that someone just came out of a dark room or just woke up, or can be used as a flirtatious gesture. Rapid redirecting of the eyes can show that someone is nervous or alert. I once heard that in addition to looking in a certain direction when trying to remember something, as the one News Alert already mentioned, each individual looks in a certain direction when trying to visualize something.

I even found an article at http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/155816/body_language_and_eye_contact_what.html claiming that "there is research to show a change occurs in the eyes, in the glow and "light", [sic] when mood changes. In other words, for individuals who are happy and content, there is a certain glow in their eyes that can not be ignored. Conversely, for those who are depressed and saddened, the glow or "light" of the eyes tends to be faded from sight." I'm rather sceptical about the validity of this statement, and I couldn't find any sign of the actual research supporting it. It seems likely to me that people's eyes appear slightly brighter when they are happy because they are more attentive and thus their eyes are slightly wider open and will thus reflect more light. I don't see any scientific reason why eyes would actually glow.

Of course, a great deal of body language deals with parts of the body other than the eyes. Often one emotion will manifest itself in symptoms all over the body. Unfocused eyes, extended and crossed legs, tapping fingers, fidgeting, and yawning are all signs of boredom. I wonder how much of this body language is instinctual and how much of it is learned.

I've heard that the specific words we use only account for about twenty percent of what we communicate. Of course, intonation of words probably accounts for a large portion of the rest, but body language probably also plays a significant role as well. I've also heard that facial expressions express the same emotions across nearly all cultures. A smile is a universal language of welcome.