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Nonverbal communication (NVC) is usually understood as the process of sending and receiving wordless messages. Such messages can be communicated through gesture; body language or posture; facial expression and eye contact; object communication such as clothing, hairstyles or even architecture; symbols and infographics; prosodic features of speech such as intonation and stress and other paralinguistic features of speech such as voice quality, emotion and speaking style^{[citation needed]}.

Scholars in this field usually use a strict sense of the term "verbal", meaning "of or concerned with words," and do not use "verbal communication" as a synonym for oral or spoken communication^{[citation needed]}. Thus, sign languages and writing are generally understood as forms of verbal communication, as both make use of words — although like speech, both may contain paralinguistic elements and often occur alongside nonverbal messages. Nonverbal communication can occur through any sensory channel — sight, sound^{[citation needed]}, smell, touch or taste. Nonverbal communication is also distinguished from unconscious communication, which may be verbal or non-verbal. Also, non-verbal communication comes in many forms at the same time. For example, a person's dress, tone of voice^{[citation needed]}, attitude, and movement all contribute to the communication going on in a certain situation.

Contents 1 Studying nonverbal communication 2 Object communication 3 Haptics 4 Oculesics 5 Vocalics 6 Suprasegmentals 7 See also 8 Further Reading 9 External links

[edit] Studying nonverbal communication

The first scientific study of nonverbal communication was Charles Darwin's book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872). He argued that all mammals show emotion reliably in their faces. Studies now range across a number of fields, including kinesics, linguistics, semiotics and social psychology. Proxemics refers to how people use and interpret space.

While much nonverbal communication is based on arbitrary symbols which differ from culture to culture, a large proportion is also to some extent iconic and may be universally understood. Paul Ekman's influential 1960s studies of facial expression determined that expressions of anger, disgust, fear, joy, sadness and surprise are universal.

[edit] Object communication

The most common form of object communication is clothing. The types of clothing that people wear are often used to determine their personality, though this is considered a form of stereotyping. For example, it is common for people to give preference to those they consider attractive. A physically attractive person may be more likely to be hired for a job or to be helped than someone less attractive. A good example of clothing as object communication is the uniform.

[edit] Haptics

Haptics is the study of touching as nonverbal communication. Touches that can be defined as communication include: Handshakes, holding hands, kissing (cheek, lips, hand), back slap, "high-five", shoulder pat, brushing arm, etc. Each of these give off nonverbal messages as to the touching person's intentions/feelings. They also cause feelings in the receiver, whether positive or negative.

[edit] Oculesics

Oculesics is the study of the role of eyes in nonverbal communication. Studies have found that people use their eyes to indicate their interest. This can be done through eye contact. For example, when a professor is giving a lecture, a student may communicate disinterest by reading a magazine instead of looking at the professor's presentation.

[edit] Vocalics

Vocalics is the study of nonverbal cues of the voice. Things such as tone, pitch, accent, and volume can all give off nonverbal cues. It's possible to learn about an individual's personality, mood, and culture with the information given by their voice^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Suprasegmentals

A segment in spoken language is an individual consonant, vowel, tone, or stress that makes up a word.

[edit] See also

• Unconscious communication (comprising a large portion of nonverbal communication)
• Head bobble
• Shrug
• Metacommunicative competence
• Intercultural competence
• Communication

[edit] Further Reading

• Manusov, Valerie, Patterson, Miles L. (2006). The SAGE Handbook of Nonverbal Communication. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications, 527 & xxvii. ISBN 1-4129-0404-8.
• Manusov, Valerie, Trees, April R. (September 2002). "'Are You Kidding Me?': The Role of Nonverbal Cues in the Verbal Accounting Process". The Journal of Communication 52 (3): 640-656.

[edit] External links

• Asemic Magazine is an Australian publication devoted to nonverbal forms of writing.
• Nonverbal Communication Study
• JAFFE Database Freely available database of facial expression images
• Facial Expression Resources Page Links to research groups and other resources concerning facial expression perception, recognition and synthesis.cs:Neverbální komunikace

da:Kropssprog de:Nonverbale Kommunikation hr:Jezik Tijela nl:Lichaamstaal ja:ボディー・ランゲージ pl:Mowa ciała pt:Comunicação não-verbal