research about body language

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Article Contents

Introduction, the power of non-verbal communication, in academic settings, the role of body language in interviews and evaluations, cultural considerations, the impact of body language on collaboration, declarations.

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Unspoken science: exploring the significance of body language in science and academia

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Mansi Patil, Vishal Patil, Unisha Katre, Unspoken science: exploring the significance of body language in science and academia, European Heart Journal , Volume 45, Issue 4, 21 January 2024, Pages 250–252, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehad598

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Scientific presentations serve as a platform for researchers to share their work and engage with their peers. Science and academia rely heavily on effective communication to share knowledge and foster collaboration. Science and academia are domains deeply rooted in the pursuit of knowledge and the exchange of ideas. While the focus is often on the content of research papers, lectures, and presentations, there is another form of communication that plays a significant role in these fields: body language. Non-verbal cues, such as facial expressions, gestures, posture, and eye contact, can convey a wealth of information, often subtly influencing interpersonal dynamics and the perception of scientific work. In this article, we will delve into the unspoken science of body language, exploring its significance in science and academia. It is essential to emphasize on the importance of body language in scientific and academic settings, highlighting its impact on presentations, interactions, interviews, and collaborations. Additionally, cultural considerations and the implications for cross-cultural communication are explored. By understanding the unspoken science of body language, researchers and academics can enhance their communication skills and promote a more inclusive and productive scientific community.

Communication is a multi-faceted process, and words are only one aspect of it. Research suggests that non-verbal communication constitutes a substantial portion of human interaction, often conveying information that words alone cannot. Body language has a direct impact on how people perceive and interpret scientific ideas and findings. 1 For example, a presenter who maintains confident eye contact, uses purposeful gestures, and exhibits an open posture is likely to be seen as more credible and persuasive compared with someone who fidgets, avoids eye contact, and displays closed-off body language ( Figure 1 ).

Types of non-verbal communications. 2 Non-verbal communication comprises of haptics, gestures, proxemics, facial expressions, paralinguistics, body language, appearance, eye contact, and artefacts.

In academia, body language plays a crucial role in various contexts. During lectures, professors who use engaging body language, such as animated gestures and expressive facial expressions, can captivate their students and enhance the learning experience. Similarly, students who exhibit attentive and respectful body language, such as maintaining eye contact and nodding, signal their interest and engagement in the subject matter. 3

Body language also influences interactions between colleagues and supervisors. For instance, in a laboratory setting, researchers who display confident and open body language are more likely to be perceived as competent and reliable by their peers. Conversely, individuals who exhibit closed-off or defensive body language may inadvertently create an environment that inhibits collaboration and knowledge sharing. The impact of haptics in research collaboration and networking lies in its potential to enhance interpersonal connections and convey emotions, thereby fostering a deeper sense of empathy and engagement among participants.

Interviews and evaluations are critical moments in academic and scientific careers. Body language can significantly impact the outcomes of these processes. Candidates who display confident body language, including good posture, firm handshakes, and appropriate gestures, are more likely to make positive impressions on interviewers or evaluators. Conversely, individuals who exhibit nervousness or closed-off body language may unwittingly convey a lack of confidence or competence, even if their qualifications are strong. Recognizing the power of body language in these situations allows individuals to present themselves more effectively and positively.

Non-verbal cues play a pivotal role during interviews and conferences, where researchers and academics showcase their work. When attending conferences or presenting research, scientists must be aware of their body language to effectively convey their expertise and credibility. Confident body language can inspire confidence in others, making it easier to establish professional connections, garner support for research projects, and secure collaborations.

Similarly, during job interviews, body language can significantly impact the outcome. The facial non-verbal elements of an interviewee in a job interview setting can have a great effect on their chances of being hired. The face as a whole, the eyes, and the mouth are features that are looked at and observed by the interviewer as they makes their judgements on the person’s effective work ability. The more an applicant genuinely smiles and has their eyes’ non-verbal message match their mouth’s non-verbal message, they will be more likely to get hired than those who do not. As proven, that first impression can be made in only milliseconds; thus, it is crucial for an applicant to pass that first test. It paints the road for the rest of the interview process. 4

While body language is a universal form of communication, it is important to recognize that its interpretation can vary across cultures. Different cultures have distinct norms and expectations regarding body language, and what may be seen as confident in one culture may be interpreted differently in another. 5 It is crucial for scientists and academics to be aware of these cultural nuances to foster effective cross-cultural communication and understanding. Awareness of cultural nuances is crucial in fostering effective cross-cultural communication and understanding. Scientists and academics engaged in international collaborations or interactions should familiarize themselves with cultural differences to avoid misunderstandings and promote respectful and inclusive communication.

Collaboration lies at the heart of scientific progress and academic success. Body language plays a significant role in building trust and establishing effective collaboration among researchers and academics. Open and inviting body language, along with active listening skills, can foster an environment where ideas can be freely exchanged, leading to innovative breakthroughs. In research collaboration and networking, proxemics can significantly affect the level of trust and rapport between researchers. Respecting each other’s personal space and maintaining appropriate distances during interactions can foster a more positive and productive working relationship, leading to better communication and idea exchange ( Figure 2 ). Furthermore, being aware of cultural variations in proxemics can help researchers navigate diverse networking contexts, promoting cross-cultural understanding and enabling more fruitful international collaborations.

Overcoming the barrier of communication. The following factors are important for overcoming the barriers in communication, namely, using culturally appropriate language, being observant, assuming positive intentions, avoiding being judgemental, identifying and controlling bias, slowing down responses, emphasizing relationships, seeking help from interpreters, being eager to learn and adapt, and being empathetic.

On the other hand, negative body language, such as crossed arms, lack of eye contact, or dismissive gestures, can signal disinterest or disagreement, hindering collaboration and stifling the flow of ideas. Recognizing and addressing such non-verbal cues can help create a more inclusive and productive scientific community.

Effective communication is paramount in science and academia, where the exchange of ideas and knowledge fuels progress. While the scientific community often focuses on the power of words, it is crucial not to send across conflicting verbal and non-verbal cues. While much attention is given to verbal communication, the significance of non-verbal cues, specifically body language, cannot be overlooked. Body language encompasses facial expressions, gestures, posture, eye contact, and other non-verbal behaviours that convey information beyond words.

Disclosure of Interest

There are no conflicts of interests from all authors.

Baugh AD , Vanderbilt AA , Baugh RF . Communication training is inadequate: the role of deception, non-verbal communication, and cultural proficiency . Med Educ Online 2020 ; 25 : 1820228 . https://doi.org/10.1080/10872981.2020.1820228

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Danesi M . Nonverbal communication. In: Understanding Nonverbal Communication : Boomsburry Academic , 2022 ; 121 – 162 . https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350152670.ch-001

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Cortez R , Marshall D , Yang C , Luong L . First impressions, cultural assimilation, and hireability in job interviews: examining body language and facial expressions’ impact on employer’s perceptions of applicants . Concordia J Commun Res 2017 ; 4 . https://doi.org/10.54416/dgjn3336

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Body Language Analysis in Healthcare: An Overview

Rawad abdulghafor.

1 Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Information and Communication Technology, International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 53100, Malaysia

Sherzod Turaev

2 Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, College of Information Technology, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, Abu Dhabi P.O. Box 15556, United Arab Emirates

Mohammed A. H. Ali

3 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia

Associated Data

Not applicable.

Given the current COVID-19 pandemic, medical research today focuses on epidemic diseases. Innovative technology is incorporated in most medical applications, emphasizing the automatic recognition of physical and emotional states. Most research is concerned with the automatic identification of symptoms displayed by patients through analyzing their body language. The development of technologies for recognizing and interpreting arm and leg gestures, facial features, and body postures is still in its early stage. More extensive research is needed using artificial intelligence (AI) techniques in disease detection. This paper presents a comprehensive survey of the research performed on body language processing. Upon defining and explaining the different types of body language, we justify the use of automatic recognition and its application in healthcare. We briefly describe the automatic recognition framework using AI to recognize various body language elements and discuss automatic gesture recognition approaches that help better identify the external symptoms of epidemic and pandemic diseases. From this study, we found that since there are studies that have proven that the body has a language called body language, it has proven that language can be analyzed and understood by machine learning (ML). Since diseases also show clear and different symptoms in the body, the body language here will be affected and have special features related to a particular disease. From this examination, we discovered that it is possible to specialize the features and language changes of each disease in the body. Hence, ML can understand and detect diseases such as pandemic and epidemic diseases and others.

1. Introduction

Body language constitutes one of the languages of communication. The types of languages are classified into verbal and non-verbal languages. Body language includes non-verbal language, where the movements and behaviors of the body are used instead of words to express and convey information. Body language may involve hand movements, facial expressions and hints, eye movements, tone of voice, body movements and positions, gestures, use of space, and the like. This research will focus on interpretations of the human body language, classified under kinesiology.

Body language is entirely different from sign language, a complete language—like verbal language—with its own basic rules and complex grammar systems [ 1 , 2 ]. On the other hand, body language does not contain grammatical rules and is usually a language belonging to or classified according to cultures [ 3 ]. Interpretations of body language may differ from country to country and from one culture to another. There exists some controversy over whether body language can be regarded as a universal language for all people. Some researchers have concluded that most communication among individuals involves physical symbols or gestures since the interaction of body language here facilitates speedy information transmission and understanding [ 4 ]. According to [ 5 ], body language speaks more and better content than verbal language. When, for example, an individual speaks over the phone to someone about an inquiry, the information becomes mysterious due to the physical language’s restrictions. However, an individual sitting directly in front of an audience has fewer restrictions and does not have an audience. The information with body language is more easily transmitted and received, even more so if the speaker is standing, allowing more freedom of movement. Thus, it follows that body language enhances communication. This work attempts to prove that body language enhances workplace positivity.

Several experiments were performed in [ 6 ] on facial expressions and body movements affected by human emotions. The study has shown that facial expressions and body movements can accurately determine human emotions. It also proved that combining facial features and activities with body movements is essential for analyzing human expressions. Three different stages of experiments were conducted to determine whether it is necessary to combine the two expressions or not. It was confirmed that it is essential to connect them for identification. Reading someone’s eyes should also not be ignored. It is considered an important factor in expressing and understanding human emotions. We are generally able to know what others want from their eye movements. For that, eye language has many effects. According to [ 7 ], the expansion and tightness of the eye size are affected by emotions and allow the observer to convey specific additional information. The human eye blinks, on average, 6 to 10 times per minute. However, when someone is attracted to someone else, the number of blinks is fewer. Study [ 8 ] discovered that human feelings could be identified and defined through body position. For example, when a person feels angry, they will push their body forward to express dominance over the other person, and their upper body is tilted and no longer upright. On the other hand, if someone feels intimidated by the opponent, they signal submission by retreating backward or moving their head back. Additionally, a person’s emotional state can be determined from their sitting position. Someone sitting on a chair with half of their upper body and head slightly tilted forward indicates attentiveness and eagerness to follow what is being said. However, sitting with legs and hands crossed suggests that they do not wish to engage and feel uncomfortable with what is being said or the person saying it [ 5 ].

Body language analysis is also essential to avoid confusion in a single movement’s meanings and purposes that carry more than one meaning. For example, the expressive movement of a person may be due to a physical handicap or a compulsive movement rather than an intentional one. Furthermore, a particular movement in the body of someone may not mean the same to another. For example, a person may rub their eyes due to itchiness and not fatigue. Foreign cultures also need careful analysis due to their social differences. Although most body movements are universal, there are also movements specific to each culture. This may vary from country to country, region to region, and even social group.

Pandemic and epidemic diseases constitute a global risk factor responsible for the death of millions of people worldwide. The ability to detect and treat casualties is limited, primarily due to the lack of human and technical resources. When patients are not physically accessible, remote diagnosis is required. All pandemic and epidemic diseases are characterized by distinct body movements affecting the face, shoulders, chest, and hands. AI technology has shown positive results in some reading of these gestures. Hence, the idea is to use body language to detect epidemic diseases early and provide treatment. It should be noted that the primary and vital catalyst for the proposal of this study is the COVID-19 disease, which is presently terrorizing the whole world. As researchers in information technology and computer science, we must play our part in rapidly detecting this disease.

This paper aims to study the previous literature and identify body language expressions that indicate disease. Body language is defined as certain expressions, movements, and gestures that point to the physical and emotional state of the bearer. Certain parts of the body can express different characteristics or feelings. Some studies have demonstrated the presence of certain emotional conditions as reflected in particular facial expressions (e.g., joy, sadness, surprise, and anger). Regarding the relationship between diseases and body language, it is known that diseases affect the body parts and qualities and are reflected in the movements and expressions of parts of the body. Different diseases affect different body parts and can be measured, identified, and used for diagnosis.

Hence, this paper is proposed to study some diseases that can be diagnosed by identifying and measuring the external movements of the body. In addition, this paper discusses the findings of previous studies to demonstrate the usefulness and contribution of AI in detecting diseases through body language. One of the biggest obstacles to treating COVID-19 patients effectively is speedy diagnosis. However, the large number of cases exceeds the capacity of most hospitals. Hence, AI offers a solution through ML. ML can detect disease symptoms as manifested in the patient’s body language and can be used to generate correct readings and predictions.

Therefore, the main contribution of this paper is to show the potential use of analyzing body language in health care. The importance of body language analysis in health care and patient body language analysis using AI will be discussed in the following sections. The added tables list previous studies that used ML to identify symptoms through body expressions. The findings demonstrate that a patient’s body language can be analyzed using ML for diagnostic purposes.

2. Methodology

The methods used to review in this work are as follows (also see Figure 1 ): first, the importance of body language analysis is highlighted to prove that the body movements can be read and analyzed to produce outcomes that are useful for many applications; second, body language analysis in health care is presented to show the importance of body language in medical diagnosis in research; third, ML is used successfully to identify characteristic symptoms; fourth, Table 1 show studies that used ML as a diagnostic tool and include the used algorithms. Each topic was discussed separately, as detailed in the following sections.

Some Studies of AI Methods for Body Language Elements to Identify the Symptoms.

The Review Stages.

3. The Importance of Body Language Analysis

AI is one of the most significant technological developments, increasing in popularity and being used in all application areas. One of the most important of these applications is the use of AI in healthcare. Health is the most important human factor for life on this planet. Recently, the use and applications of AI in healthcare have played a significant role in helping doctors discover diseases and improve human health. The use of AI in health depends on the appearance of some symptoms on parts of the body. These symptoms affect and are reflected in the movements and expressions of the body, which are manifested as body language. From this point, these features of body language can be used to classify disease symptoms by detecting them in ML. In this section, we want to explain the importance of using body language by artificial intelligence. There are features that appear in body language that AI can analyze to solve many problems in many applications. For example, facial expressions can be analyzed to know human feelings and benefit from them in psychotherapy or examine subjects’ emotions in the study. Another example is analyzing the movements of the hand, shoulder, or leg, and using them to discover valuable features in medicine, security, etc. From this point, we want to show that body language has many benefits and applications, so this is important. Therefore, we want to suggest that body language can also be used to detect infectious diseases such as COVID-19 using ML.

Now, it is feasible to employ this technology in healthcare systems. Pandemic and epidemic diseases are considered an intractable matter that inferiorly affects human health, regarded as peoples’ most valuable asset. Additionally, the biggest worry is that new pandemics or epidemics will suddenly appear and become deadly, such as COVID-19, which has claimed nearly a million lives so far. This stimulates us to develop AI technologies to help detect the disease’s external symptoms by analyzing the patients’ body language. This work deals with general studies that prove the importance of body language processing in various fields.

Every computer user interacts with the device via mouse and keyboard. Currently, researchers are developing a computer system for interaction and response through body language such as hand gestures and movement. In [ 8 ], a comprehensive survey was completed evaluating the published literature recommending the visual interpretation of hand gestures when interacting with computing devices and introducing more advanced methods to analyze body language rather than mouse and keyboard movements. The study of [ 9 ] considered the problem of robot accuracy recognition. It proposed a fusion system to identify the fall movement types and abnormal directions with an accuracy rate of 99.37%. A facial coding system was developed in [ 10 ] to measure and analyze facial muscle movements and identify facial expressions. A database was created with a series of 1100 images. The system analyzed and classified facial creases and wrinkles to match their movements. The results showed that the performance improved, reaching 92%. Combining facial features and movements with body movements is essential for analyzing individual expressions. Three different experiments were conducted to determine whether facial expressions and body language should be combined and concluded in the affirmative. Another study [ 11 ] focused on deep learning techniques to identify emotions revealed in facial expressions. This research used pure convolutional neural network techniques to prove that deep learning using these neural networks successfully recognizes emotions by developing cognition, significantly improving the usability. A new model was invented in [ 12 ] that detected body gestures and movements with a pair of digital video images, which supplied a set of vector monitors with three dimensions.

The first study showed the relationship between the contraction of the internal muscles of the face and the facial movements as established by Hjortsjo 1970 [ 13 ] to develop a coding system by identifying the minor units of facial muscle movements and then drawing coordinates that defined the facial expressions. The recognition of people’s emotions has merited much attention. However, the issue of detecting facial emotions and expressions of speech, especially among researchers, is still problematic. The work presented in [ 14 ] offered a comprehensive survey to facilitate further research in this field. It focused on identifying gender-specific characteristics, setting an automatic framework to determine the physical manifestation of emotions, and identifying constant and dynamic body shape comments. It also examined recent studies on learning and emotion by identifying gestures through photos or video. Several methods combined speech, body, and facial gestures were also discussed to identify optimized emotions. The study concluded that the knowledge of a person’s feelings through overtones was still incomplete.

4. Body Language Analysis in Healthcare

A coding system was created to classify the facial expressions by analyzing more than 1100 pictures at work [ 10 ]. Three ways to classify facial expressions were compared: a method for analyzing image components in the gray field, measuring wrinkles, and a template for creating facial movements. The accuracy of performance of the coding system for the three roads was 89%, 57%, and 85%, respectively, while when assembling the methods, the performance accuracy reached 92%. Online learning is challenged by knowing students’ participation in learning processes. In work [ 15 ], an algorithm is introduced to learn about student interactions and see their problems. In this algorithm, two methods were used to collect evidence of student participation: the first method involved collecting facial expressions using a camera, and the second involved collecting hand movement data using mouse movements. The data were trained by building two groups; one group collected facial data with mouse data, and the second was without the mouse. It was discovered that the first group’s performance was better than the second group’s by 94.60% compared to 91.51%. Work [ 14 ] commented on recognizing facial and speech gestures that may provide a comprehensive survey of body language. It provided a framework for the automatic identification of dynamic and fixed emotional body gestures that combined facial and speech gestures to improve recognition of a person’s emotions. Paper [ 16 ] defines facial expressions by matching them with body positions. The work demonstrated that the effects and expressions are more evident when the major irritations on the face are similar to those highlighted in the body. However, the model produces different results according to the dependence on the properties, whether physical, dimensional, or latent. Another significant finding in the study is that expressions of fear bloom better when paired with facial expressions than when performing tasks.

In [ 17 ], the authors stated that the medical advisor must exhibit exciting communication qualities that make the patient feel comfortable making a correct decision. They advised doctors to know how to use facial expressions, eyes, hand gestures, and other body expressions. It was mentioned that a smile is the most robust expression that a doctor can use to communicate with their patients, as the doctor’s smile makes the patient feel comfortable. The patient’s sense of comfort makes them appear confident, and they answer the doctor’s questions with clear responses, credibility, and confidence. In addition, communicating with the eyes is very important to help the patient, as the lack of this from the doctor may suggest that the doctor does not care about them. The research in [ 18 ] concludes that the doctor’s appropriate nonverbal communication positively impacts the patient. Objective evidence has shown that the patient improves and recovers better and faster when the doctor uses a smile and direct eye communication with the patient compared to those who do not use a smile and direct eye with the patient. It was also concluded that patients who receive more attention, feeling, sensation, and participation by the doctor respond better to treatment, as the tone of voice, movement of the face and body, and eye gaze affect the patient. Clint [ 19 ] reported his first day on the job in the intensive care unit. He felt fear and anxiety on that day as the unit was comprehensive and informative. Clint was asking himself, “is it worth working in that unit?” He had a patient with her sister next to her. The patient glimpsed Clint’s nervousness and anxiety but did not dare ask him, so she whispered that the nurse was nervous to her sister. Then, her sister asked Clint, “you are worried and anxious today; why?” What is there to be so nervous about? Clint thought to hide his nervousness and anxiety and restore confidence; he smiled and replied, “I am not nervous.” However, sometimes, we have to ask our patients ridiculous questions that make us tense. Here, Clint states that he noticed from the patient’s looks that he could not persuade her to hide his stress. Clint made it clear that patients are affected by their body language and facial expressions. They can know their cases through their body language. From here, Clint realized that he was wrong. As anxiety and stress began on his patient, his condition may increase for that reason.

In one of Henry’s articles [ 20 ], he wrote that treating a patient with behaviors and body language has a more significant impact than using drugs. The work [ 21 ] concluded that non-verbal language between a doctor and their patient plays a vital role in treating the patient. The doctor can use non-verbal signals sent from the patient to collect information about the condition of the disease to help them decide on diagnosis and treatment. The research summarized that the non-verbal technique used by the doctor toward the patient affects them in obtaining information and helping them recover from the disease. For example, eye gaze, closeness to the patient, and facial and hand gestures to appear relaxed. The research suggests that there is a positive effect on the use of non-verbal cues on the patient. It is recommended that doctors be trained in incorporating non-verbal cues as a significant way of dealing with patients to speed up their treatment.

5. Patient’s Body Language Analysis Using AI

Different AI methods and techniques have been used to analyze patients’ body language. We briefly discuss some studies conducted so far in this area. More specifically, focusing on facial recognition, a pimple system was introduced in [ 22 ] to analyze facial muscles and thus identify different emotions. The proposed system automatically tracks faces using video and extracts geometric shapes for facial features. The study was conducted on eight patients with schizophrenia, and the study collected dynamical information on facial muscle movements. This study showed the possibility of identifying engineering measurements for individual faces and determining their exact differences for recognition purposes. Three methods were used in [ 23 ] to measure facial expressions to define emotions and identify persons with mental illness. The study’s proposed facial action coding system enabled the interpretation of emotional facial expressions and thus contributed to the knowledge of therapeutic intervention for patients with mental illnesses.

Many people suffer from an imbalance in the nervous system, which leads to paralysis of the patient’s movement and falls without prior warning. The study [ 24 ] was targeted to improve early warning signs detection and identification rate using a platform (R). Wireless sensor devices were placed on the chest and waist. The collected data were converted to an algorithm for analysis that extracted them and activated if there was a risk. The results showed that the patient at risk engaged in specific typical movements, which indicated an imminent fall. The authors further suggested applying this algorithm to patients with seizures to warn of an imminent attack and alert the emergency services.

In research [ 25 ], a computational framework was designed to monitor the movements of older adults to signal organ failures and other sudden drops in vital body functions. The system monitored the patient’s activity and determined its level using sensors placed on different body parts. The experiments show that this system identifies the correct locations in real-time with an accuracy of 95.8%. Another approach based on data analysis was presented in [ 26 ] for an intelligent home using sensors to monitor its residents’ movements and behaviors. This system helps detect behaviors and forecast diseases or injuries that residents may experience, especially older people. This study is helpful for doctors in providing remote care and monitoring their patients’ progress. The target object capture setup model proposed in [ 27 ] is based on the candidate region–suggestion network to detect the position grab of the manipulator combined with information for color and deep image capture using deep learning. It achieved a 94.3% crawl detection success rate on multiple target detection datasets through merging information for a color image. A paper [ 28 ] under review deals with the elderly and their struggle to continue living independently without relying on the support of others—the research project aimed to compare automated learning algorithms used to monitor their body functions and movements. Among the eight higher education algorithms studied, the support conveyor algorithm achieved the highest accuracy rate of 95%, using reference traits. Some jobs require prolonged sitting, resulting in long-term spinal injury and nervous disease. Some surveys helped design sitting position monitoring systems (SPMS) to assess the position of the seated person using sensors attached to the chair. The drawback of the proposed method was that it required too many sensors. This problem was resolved by [ 29 ], who designed an SPMS system that only needed four such sensors. This improved system defined six different sitting positions through several machine-learning algorithms applied to average body weight measurements. The positions were then analyzed and classified into any approach that would produce the highest level of accuracy, reaching from 97.20% to 97.94%. In most hospitals, medical doctors face anxiety about treating patients with mental illness regarding potential bodily harm, staff risks, and hospital tool damage. The study [ 30 ] devised a method to analyze the patient’s movements and identify the risk of harmful behavior by extracting visual data monitoring the patient’s movements from cameras installed in their rooms. The proposed method traced the movement points, accumulated them, and extracted their properties. The characteristics of the movement points were analyzed according to spacing, position, and speed. The study concluded that the proposed method could be used to explore features and characteristics for other purposes, such as analyzing the quality of the disease and determining its level of progression. In the study [ 31 ], wireless intelligent sensor applications and devices were designed to care for patient health, provide better patient monitoring, and facilitate disease diagnosis. Wireless sensors were installed on the body to periodically monitor the patient’s health, update the information, and send it to the service center. The researchers investigated the multi-level decision system (MDS) to monitor patient behaviors and match them with the stored historical data. This information allowed the decision makers in the medical centers to give treatment recommendations. The proposed system could also record new cases, store new disease data, and reduce the doctors’ effort and time spent examining the patients. The results proved accurate and reliable (MDS) in predicting and monitoring patients.

The study of [ 32 ] proposed the Short Time Fourier Transform application to monitor the patient’s movements and voice through sensors and microphones. The system transmitted sound and accelerometer data, analyzed the data to identify the patient’s conditions, and achieved high accuracy. Three experiments were conducted in reference [ 33 ], which involve the recognition of full-body expressions. The first experiment was about matching body expressions to incorporate all emotions, where fear was the most difficult emotion to express. At the same time, the second experiment focused on facial expressions strongly influenced by physical expression and, as a result, was ambiguous. In the last experiment, attention was given to expressions of the tone of a voice to identify emotional feelings related to the body. Finally, it was concluded that it was essential to pool the results of the three experiments to reveal true body expression.

A valuable study was conducted at the MIT Institute [ 34 ] to develop a system that detects pain in patients by analyzing data on brain activities using a wearable device to scan brain nerves. This was shown to help diagnose and treat patients with loss of consciousness and sense of touch. In this research, researchers use several fNIRS sensors specifically on the patient’s front to measure the activity of the frontal lobe, where the researchers developed ML models to determine the levels of oxygenated hemoglobin related to pain. The results showed that pain was detected with an accuracy of 87%.

The study [ 35 ] considered the heartbeat as a type of body language. Checking a patient’s heartbeat constitutes a crucial medical examination tool. The researcher suggested a one-dimensional (1D) convolutional neural network model CNN, which classified the vibrational signals of the regular and irregular heartbeats through an electrocardiogram. The model used the de-noising auto-encoder (DAE) algorithm, and the results showed that the proposed model classified the sound signals of the heart with an accuracy of up to 99%.

6. Discussion

We can conclude from this study that reading and understanding body language through AI will help automatically detect epidemic diseases. Counting epidemic patients is a significant obstacle to detecting every infected person. The most prominent example that is evident now is COVID-19 sufferers. All the developed, middle, and developing countries of the world have faced a significant problem examining the disease due to many infected people and the rapid spread. Thus, infections increased significantly, making it difficult to catch up to detect. We suggest conducting a study to determine the movements and gestures of the body with epidemic diseases, such as those with COVID-19. Indeed, the epidemic disease will have unique and distinct movements in some body parts. The thermal camera to detect high body temperature certainly plays a significant role in indicating a patient with a disease. Still, it is difficult to determine what kind of disease is affected, and secondly, there may be a patient with epidemic disease, but their temperature may not have significantly increased. Thirdly, it may be revealed that the high temperature of an epidemic may be delayed, and the patient is in a critical stage of treatment. We focus in this study on the interest in studying the body language of some epidemics, especially COVID-19, which changed our lives for the worse. We have learned a harsh lesson from this deadly enemy: not to stand still. We must help our people, countries, and the world defend and attack this disease. Hence, we propose studying the use of body language using AI. We hope to collect and identify body parts’ gestures that characterize the epidemic in the upcoming studies on which we are currently working.

Table 1 indicates some studies that have used ML to discover disease and symptoms through gestures, hands, and facial expressions. This table concludes that the CNN algorithms are the most common and efficient methods of identifying disease symptoms through facial expressions and hand gestures. Some studies indicate that analyzing other body parts is also helpful in identifying some types of diseases using different ML algorithms, such as SVM and LSTM. It appears to us here that combining the proposed CNN algorithm with a new proposed algorithm to determine facial expressions will lead to high-quality results for detecting some epidemic diseases. It is essential first to study the symptoms that characterize the epidemic disease and their reflection on body expressions and then use the algorithm to learn the machine that has a higher efficiency in identifying these expressions.

The studies in Table 1 are classified as follows:

• (1) Studies on medical diagnosis using AI for analyzing body language.
• (2) Studies on medical diagnosis using electronic devices and AI for analyzing body language.
• (3) Studies on COVID-19 diagnosis using other methods.

This study aims to survey research using ML algorithms to identify body features, movements, and expressions. Each movement is affected by the disease, and each disease is characterized by a distinct and different effect on the body. This means some body parts will undergo certain changes that point to a specific disease. Thus, we propose that ML algorithms capture images of body movements and expressions, analyze them, and identify diseases. This study surveyed a selection of existing studies that use different ML algorithms to detect body movements and expressions. Since these studies do not discuss this epidemiology method, this study seeks to document the use of ML algorithms in discovering epidemics such as COVID-19. Our survey analysis concludes that the results achieved indicate the possibility of identifying the body movements and expressions and that ML and convolutional neural networks are the most proficient in determining body language.

From an epidemiological, diagnostic, and pharmacological standpoint, AI has yet to play a substantial part in the fight against coronavirus. Its application is limited by a shortage of data, outlier data, and an abundance of noise. It is vital to create unbiased time series data for AI training. While the expanding number of worldwide activities in this area is promising, more diagnostic testing is required, not just for supplying training data for AI models but also for better controlling the epidemic and lowering the cost of human lives and economic harm. Clearly, data are crucial in determining if AI can be used to combat future diseases and pandemics. As [ 91 ] previously stated, the risk is that public health reasons will override data privacy concerns. Long after the epidemic has passed, governments may choose to continue the unparalleled surveillance of their population. As a result, worries regarding data privacy are reasonable.

7. Conclusions

According to patient surveys, communication is one of the most crucial skills a physician should have. However, communication encompasses more than just what is spoken. From the time a patient first visits a physician, their nonverbal communication, or “body language”, determines the course of therapy. Bodily language encompasses all nonverbal forms of communication, including posture, facial expression, and body movements. Being aware of such habits can help doctors get more access to their patients. Patient involvement, compliance, and the result can all be influenced by effective nonverbal communication.

Pandemic and epidemic illnesses are a worldwide threat that might kill millions. Doctors have limited abilities to recognize and treat victims. Human and technological resources are still in short supply regarding epidemic and pandemic conditions. To better the treatment process and when the patient cannot travel to the treatment location, remote diagnosis is necessary, and the patient’s status should be automatically examined. Altering facial wrinkles, movements of the eyes and eyebrows, some protrusion of the nose, changing the lips, and the appearance of certain motions of the hands, shoulders, chest, head, and other areas of the body are all characteristics of pandemic and epidemic illnesses. AI technology has shown promise in understanding these motions and cues in some cases. As a result, the concept of allocating body language to identifying epidemic diseases in patients early, treating them before, and assisting doctors in recognizing them arose owing to the speed with which they spread and people died. It should be emphasized that the COVID-19 disease, which horrified the entire world and revolutionized the world’s life, was the significant and crucial motivator for the idea of this study after we studied the body language analysis research in healthcare and defined the automatic recognition frame using AI to recognize various body language elements.

As researchers in information technology and computer science, we must contribute to discussing an automatic gesture recognition model that helps better identify the external symptoms of epidemic and pandemic diseases to help humanity.

Acknowledgments

First author’s research has been supported by Grant RMCG20-023-0023, Malaysia International Islamic University, and the second author’s work has been endorsed by the United Arab Emirates University Start-Up Grant 31T137.

Funding Statement

This research was funded by Grant RMCG20-023-0023, Malaysia International Islamic University, and United Arab Emirates University Start-Up Grant 31T137.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, R.A. and S.T.; methodology, R.A.; software, R.A.; validation, R.A. and S.T.; formal analysis, R.A.; investigation, M.A.H.A.; resources, M.A.H.A.; data curation, R.A.; writing—original draft preparation, R.A.; writing—review and editing, S.T.; visualization, M.A.H.A.; supervision, R.A. and S.T.; project administration, R.A. and S.T.; funding acquisition, R.A. and S.T. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Informed consent statement, data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Body Language

Microexpressions

Reviewed by Psychology Today Staff

Body language is a silent orchestra, as people constantly give clues to what they’re thinking and feeling. Non-verbal messages including body movements, facial expressions, vocal tone and volume, and other signals are collectively known as body language.

Microexpressions (brief displays of emotion on the face), hand gestures, and posture all register in the human brain almost immediately—even when a person is not consciously aware they have perceived anything. For this reason, body language can strongly color how an individual is perceived, and how he or she, in turn, interprets others’ motivation , mood, and openness . It's natural to mirror; beginning as soon as infancy, a newborn moves its body to the rhythm of the voice he hears.

Body language is a vital form of communication, but most of it happens below the level of conscious awareness. When you wait for a blind date to arrive, for instance, you may nervously tap your foot without even realizing that you’re doing it. Similarly, when you show up to meet your date, you may not consciously perceive that your date appears closed-off, but your unconscious mind may pick up on the crossed arms or averted gaze. Luckily, with knowledge and a little practice, it is possible to exert some measure of control over your own body language and to become more skilled at reading others.

The face is the first place to look , arching eyebrows might indicate an invitation of sorts, and smiling is another indication that the person welcomes you. And is the person standing or sitting close to you? If so, then there is interest. Plus, open arms are just that: Open.

If a person repeatedly touches your arm, places a light hand on your shoulder, or knocks elbows with you, the person is attracted to you and is demonstrating this with increased touch. People interested in each other smile more, and their mouths may even be slightly open. Engaging in eye contact is another indication. A person who leans towards you or mirrors your body language is also demonstrating interest.

A common form of body language is mirroring another person’s gestures and mannerisms; mirroring also includes mimicking another person’s speech patterns and even attitudes. This is a method of building rapport with others.  We learn through imitating others, and it is mostly an unconscious action.

When you want to persuade or influence a person, mirroring can be an effective way to build rapport. Salespeople who use this with prospective clients pay close attention to them and they listen, observe, mimic with positive results.

People who are attracted to one another indeed copy each other’s movements and mannerisms. In fact, many animals mirror as well. That is why cats circle each other, and why chimpanzees stare at each other before intercourse.

If you tilt your head while looking at a baby, the baby relaxes. Why is that? The same applies to couples who are in love, tilting the head exposes the neck, and perhaps shows vulnerability. The person with a tilted head is perceived as more interested, attentive, caring, and having less of an agenda.

Eye blocking , or covering your eyes, expresses emotions such as frustration and worry. And sometimes the eyelids shut to show determination, while sometimes the eyelids flutter to show that you have screwed up and feel embarrassed.

When you’re stressed out, touching or stroking the neck signals a pacifying behavior. We all rub our necks at the back, the sides, and also under the chin. The fleshy area under the chin has nerve endings and stroking it lowers heart rate and calms us.

The hands reveal a lot about a person. When you feel confident, the space between your fingers grows, but that space lessens when you feel insecure. And while rubbing the hands conveys stress, steepling the fingers means that a person feels confident.

In many cultures, a light touch on the arm conveys harmony and trust. In one study, people in the UK, the US, France, and Puerto Rico were observed while sitting at a coffee shop. The British and the Americans hardly touched, and the French and the Puerto Ricans freely touched in togetherness.  

To make others feel comfortable while standing, crossing your legs will show you are interested in what the other person has to say. It also means, “Take your time.” The standing crossed legs will help you say that you are comfortable with the other person.

Fidgety hands mean anxiousness or even boredom and keeping your arms akimbo may telegraph arrogance. Crossing the arms and legs is, no doubt, a closed position. Whereas sitting with open arms invites the other person in. If you are sitting and want to appear neutral, it’s best to hold your hands on your lap, just like the Queen of England.

Shake hands firmly while making eye contact, but do not squeeze the person’s hand—your goal is to make someone feel comfortable , not to assert dominance. It is important to be sensitive to cultural norms: if you receive a weak handshake, it may be that the person comes from a background in which a gentle handshake is the norm.

Most people think that crossed arms are a sign of aggression or refusal to cooperate. In fact, crossed arms can signal many other things, including anxiety, self-restraint, and even interest, if the person crossing their arms is mirroring someone who is doing the same.   

For the most part, yes. All primates demonstrate behaviors including the freeze response and various self-soothing behaviors, such as touching the neck or twirling the hair in humans. We know that many non-verbal behaviors are innate because even blind children engage in them. Still, some behaviors are mysteries. 

In males, wide shoulders and narrow hips are associated with strength and vitality; this is reflected in everything from the form of Greek statues to padded shoulders in men's suit jackets. How one hold's one's shoulders conveys dominance and relative status within a hierarchy. 

Freezing in place, rocking back and forth, and contorting into a fetal position are all known as " reserved behaviors ," as they are used only when a person experiences extreme stress. Facial expressions alone can signal this state, such as pursing or sucking in the lips, often seen when a person is upset or feels contrite. 

As social animals, we evolved to display emotions, thoughts, and intentions, all of which are processed by the brain's limbic system. Because these reactions precede and at times even override conscious deliberation, body language is uniquely capable of revealing how a person feels--but only if another person is schooled in what these gestures indicate. 

Do healthcare professionals hold anti-fat attitudes? Talking openly about body size and shape is important to preventing weight-based discrimination.

Can you be too self-aware? To be an effective leader, it's important to get the balance right.

Neurodiverse individuals face conflicting expectations about emotional expression. Gus Walz's story reveals the bias and challenges around being authentic.

You’re not playing poker; you are connecting. To build a relationship, you need to ditch the poker face and show us what you are feeling.

People lie, but how do you know that they are? You may not be able to trust everyone, but trust yourself. You are the best lie detector on the planet.

Loneliness is destructive and a gateway to the development of more serious disorders, like anxiety and depression. As we lose the nonverbal skills of connecting, loneliness makes gains.

The CALM method helps us navigate life’s disruptions by capturing external details, attuning to inner sensations, labeling emotions, and moving into aligned action for growth.

Find out how to take advantage of interoception to elevate your emotional state.

One of the most debated areas of intent is decoding whether or not someone is lying. An enormous amount of human effort has gone into increasing our ability to detect liars.

Learn the relational skills to improve your intimate relationship.

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• Published: 01 March 2006

Towards the neurobiology of emotional body language

• Beatrice de Gelder 1 , 2 , 3  

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume  7 ,  pages 242–249 ( 2006 ) Cite this article

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People's faces show fear in many different circumstances. However, when people are terrified, as well as showing emotion, they run for cover. When we see a bodily expression of emotion, we immediately know what specific action is associated with a particular emotion, leaving little need for interpretation of the signal, as is the case for facial expressions. Research on emotional body language is rapidly emerging as a new field in cognitive and affective neuroscience. This article reviews how whole-body signals are automatically perceived and understood, and their role in emotional communication and decision-making.

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Acknowledgements

Preparation of this manuscript was partly funded by a grant from The Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) and by the MIND Foundation, the Martinos NMR-MGH Center, Harvard Medical School and Nederland Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO)-Dutch Science Foundation. I am very grateful to my collaborators in the joint studies reviewed here, to J. Van den Stock for assistance with the manuscript and to anonymous reviewers who provided valuable suggestions.

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• MAY 14, 2024

How To Read Body Language: Examples, Types & Meaning in 2024

by Imed Bouchrika, Phd

Co-Founder and Chief Data Scientist

Many situations in our day-to-day lives entail the use of nonverbal communication. According to Phutela (2015), nonverbal communication, such as body language and facial expressions, greatly affects social environments and the communication process.

Nonverbal communication can be perceived in different forms. A person who waves their hands and gestures while speaking might be perceived as enthusiastic or passionate about the subject. Meanwhile, a posture that is curled inward may suggest anxiety or fear. Reading these cues enables the person perceiving them to respond appropriately and foster stronger relationships. As such, our research team has created a guide on body language. This article will discuss the different types of nonverbal cues for various body parts to help you perceive them in various situations.

Body Language Explained Table of Contents

What is body language, physical expressions of body language, perception of body language, facial expressions, body posture, physical distance, applications of body language.

Nonverbal communication comprises a major part of the communication process. According to Tipper et al. (2015), in the course of everyday life, people pick up information about others’ thoughts and feelings through body posture, mannerisms, and gestures. In the 1970s, psychology professor Albert Mehrabian also suggested that during communication, the total impact of a message can be largely attributed to nonverbal communication (Pease & Pease, 2006).

The importance of body language as a form of nonverbal communication is also evident in the number of studies exploring the science behind body language and its perception. The following sections discuss a number of these studies to provide a background on body language and its mechanisms.

Body language can refer to a wide range of movements and expressions that provide nonverbal cues to someone who is perceiving another. On occasion, body language can reveal the truth of the matter. If someone says, “It’s fine," in response to a situation but frowns as they say it, then it is likely that they may still be bothered or worried. Body language can also enforce verbal statements — a fist made during a rousing speech can suggest determination or a bowed head can suggest reverence or humility

According to Atkinson et al. (2004), the movement of the body or its parts has a substantial impact on the way humans communicate. For instance, the face and body can display emotional cues that regulate social behavior (De Gelder, 2004), part of body language meaning. Slaughter et al. (2004) also explained that reading and processing signals based on the positioning of body parts allow people to detect others’ intentions, motivations, and internal states.

Tipper et al. (2015) further explained that although there is extensive research into the brain systems involved in the perception of body movement, hand gestures, eye movements, and facial expressions, there is little understanding of how the brain understands or reads body language. Thus, a body language definition is required.

Processing body posture information involves more than visual perception and requires the use of abstract abilities (Tipper et al., 2005). As such, reading body language means not just recognizing socially relevant visual information but also attributing meaning to the information. Most of the process for nonverbal communication occurs below the level of conscious awareness (Body Language, n.d.). Barrett et al. (2007), for instance, concluded that observers can process emotional information without being aware of it.

There have also been studies that provide direct and indirect evidence for recognition or understanding of stimuli even in the absence of visual awareness, such as in blind patients reliably guessing the emotions conveyed by facial and bodily expressions presented in their blind field (de Gelder et al., 1999).

Various parts of the body can be used to indicate nonverbal signals in the communication process. Below are common types of body language, body language examples, and their interpretations.

Facial expressions form an integral part of body language, so much so that photographs of faces are the most common stimuli for studies of emotion perception (Atkinson, 2004). Atkinson further states that responses to facial expressions of emotion are highly consistent. In support of this finding, Ekman (2009) explains that certain facial expressions have a universal meaning.

For instance, a person typically smiles when he or she is happy, and their faces convey more energy in general. Meanwhile, the lack of a smile is usually taken as a sign of sadness. A person who is afraid will often have raised eyebrows and a taut brow, with a mouth that hangs slightly open (The Body Language of Fear, 2020).

According to a 2008 study by Todorov et al., slightly raised eyebrows and a small smile make up the most trustworthy facial expression.

According to Cherry (2019), taking note of eye movements during conversations is a natural and important part of communication. The scientific study of eye movement, eye behavior, gaze, and eye-related nonverbal communication is referred to as oculesics.

When a person looks directly into the eyes during a conversation, it indicates that he/she is paying attention and expressing interest in what the other person is saying. On the other hand, a person who frequently looks away and breaks eye contact during conversation indicates that he or she is distracted or uncomfortable. According to D’Agostino (2013), such behavior also signifies that the person is trying to conceal his or her true feelings or intentions.

Cherry (2019) also suggested that people blink more rapidly when they feel uncomfortable or distressed. On the other hand, infrequent blinking may indicate that the person is intentionally trying to control their eye movements (Marchak, 2013). On a more subtle note, pupil size can also convey certain emotions. For instance, Jiang et al. (2017) suggested that highly dilated eyes can indicate interest or even arousal.

In 2011, Cruz found that cultural differences are present in interpretations of eye behavior as body language. For instance, in the Anglo-Saxon culture, a lack of eye contact indicates a lack of confidence or truthfulness. In Latino culture, however, using direct, prolonged eye contact can be taken as a challenge or romantic interest.

How Gaze Affects Truth Perception

Aside from smiling, people can also use their mouths to convey a number of emotions (Cherry, 2019). Pursed lips, for instance, can be an indicator of distaste or disapproval. Sometimes, people also bite their lips when they are worried or stressed. A downturned mouth can also be an indicator of sadness or disapproval.

Whole-body posture conveys affect-specific information (Atkinson et al., 2004). Characteristic body movements and postures indicate specific emotional states. This has long been recognized and exploited by actors, directors, and dramatists (Roth, 1990 cited in Atkinson et al., 2004).

According to research by Mondloch et al., (2013), body postures are more easily and accurately recognized when the emotion is compared to a different or neutral emotion. For instance, a person who feels angry would have a dominant posture that suggests approach, compared to a fearful person who would have an avoidant posture.

A number of studies have explored the implications of posture on body language. For instance, Vacharkulksemsuk (2016) explained that an open posture, with the trunk of the body kept open and exposed, indicates positive emotions of friendliness and willingness. Meanwhile, hiding the trunk of the body and keeping the arms and legs crossed can be an indicator of unfriendliness, anxiety, and hostility. These are strong body language examples that law enforcement officers are trained to react to.

As another example, Cherry (2019) suggested that a person who sits up straight is focused and paying attention. Sitting with the upper body hunched forward, on the other hand, implies that the person is indifferent or bored.

The Arms and Legs

The positioning of the arms and legs can also indicate emotions. For instance, crossed arms can indicate defensiveness or a desire for self-protection (Foley & Gentile, 2010). Standing with hands placed on the hips can also be an expression of aggressiveness or indicate that a person feels ready and in control. Crossed legs can also be an expression for a need for privacy and indicate a feeling of being closed off.

Gestures also make up a large part of nonverbal communication and, as such, have been extensively studied. According to Kurien (2010), gestures are movements made with body parts, including hands, arms, fingers, legs, and the head. For instance, crossed or folded arms can demonstrate insecurity and a lack of confidence.

Pease & Pease (2006) explain that certain gestures are considered to have a universal meaning. One such gesture is the shoulder shrug, which demonstrates a lack of understanding.

However, while there are gestures with universal meanings, what does body language mean when culture dictates the meaning for a number of gestures? For instance, while it is acceptable to point using one’s index finger in certain cultures, this gesture of pointing is considered aggressive or offensive for people who share Hindu beliefs (Black, 2011).

In another example of cultural differences among hand gestures, the “thumbs up" gesture is acceptable in countries like Germany, France, South Africa, and the United States. However, the same gesture is insulting in Iran, Bangladesh, and Thailand, where it is the equivalent to showing the middle finger (Black, 2011).

Touch can also be used as a nonverbal means of communication. Haptics is the scientific study of touching and how it is used to communicate. For instance, meaning can be gleaned from the physical contact of handshakes, holding hands, and high fives (Haptics: The Use Of Touch In Communication, 2013). The meaning varies depending on the length of the touch and the location on the body where the touching takes place.

What is body language in communication via touch? A 2006 study by Hertenstein et al. also found that people are able to accurately interpret distinct emotions from watching others communicate via touch.

According to Cherry (2019), the amount of physical space between individuals can also communicate information. Proxemics refers to the study of measurable distances between people as they interact with one another.

According to Edward T. Hall, who coined the term proxemics in 1966, there are four levels of social distance that can be observed in different social situations.

• Public distance (12 to 25 feet). This is used in public speaking situations, such as when professors hold classes or when professionals give presentations at work.
• Social distance (4 to 12 feet). Acquaintances often interact with each other at this distance. At a social distance, a person may feel comfortable addressing a coworker or another person they know fairly well.
• Personal distance (1.5 to 4 feet). This level of physical distancing can be observed in individuals who are family members or close friends. It can also indicate the level of intimacy between the involved people.
• Intimate distance (6 to 18 inches). This level displays the smallest amount of physical space between two people and often indicates high levels of comfort and intimacy between individuals.

Although body language can be an involuntary phenomenon, this form of nonverbal communication is widely used today, especially by individuals pursuing careers in art . There have also been studies suggesting how to read body language, as well as documentation on the application and use of body language in different situations and environments.

For instance, according to Kellerman (1992), kinesic behavior is essential to second-language acquisition, particularly in achieving discourse and sociolinguistic competencies in the said language, as well as in performing linguistics jobs . Kellerman explains that a conscious ability to recognize and perform kinesic behavior is necessary for achieving fluency in a second language.

Kret & de Gelder (2013) also studied body language and its perception among violent offenders. The findings of the study indicate that violent offenders have difficulties processing congruences in emotions when aggressive stimuli are involved. Moreover, the study found that violent offenders have a possible bias towards aggressive body language.

Body language can also be a useful aid in a classroom management plan when used as nonlinguistic output for guiding students and paired with verbal methods. In 2014, Tai observed three ways body language affected teaching:

• The intuitive nature of body language can lead to a deeper understanding of vocabulary and individual words. This is evident when teachers exemplify the meaning of individual words, such as when a teacher imitates a laughing person when teaching the word “laugh."
• The communicative nature of body language can contribute towards an environment that is more conducive to learning. According to Tai, this environment is more holistic and productive for the acquisition of new knowledge.
• Because of its suggestive nature, body language can be used to create opportunities to gain additional information about a concept or word.

Pitfalls of Using Body Language

While the the science of body language is widely accepted and body language can be useful, there are certain gestures that convey negative emotions in a given context (Negative Body Language: Examples & Signs, 2016). These gestures are best avoided by people who want to be more mindful of what their bodies are communicating with others. Below are some examples of these gestures and how to explain body language.

• Checking the time. Looking at a watch can indicate that a person is unwilling to be in his current situation and that he or she has more important things to do.
• Poor posture. Poor posture often indicates a lack of confidence or assertiveness. One such example of poor posture is slouching.
• Fidgeting, picking at something, tapping fingers. Having restless or fidgety fingers can demonstrate disapproval and boredom. Likewise, tapping one’s fingers can indicate impatience or stress.

Key Insights

• Nonverbal Communication Significance: Nonverbal cues such as body language and facial expressions significantly impact social interactions and the communication process.
• Forms of Body Language: Various forms include facial expressions, eye movements, body posture, gestures, touch, and physical distance, each conveying different emotional states and intentions.
• Facial Expressions: Universally recognized expressions include smiling for happiness and frowning for sadness, with specific facial cues indicating emotions like fear and trustworthiness.
• Eye Movements: Eye contact, blinking patterns, and pupil size provide insights into a person’s attentiveness, discomfort, or emotional state, with cultural variations in interpretation.
• Body Posture: Postures like open trunk or crossed arms communicate friendliness or defensiveness, respectively, and affect perceptions of emotions and intentions.
• Gestures: Hand and body movements can indicate various emotions or states, with cultural differences influencing their meanings.
• Touch and Proxemics: Touch and physical distance in interactions communicate different levels of intimacy, comfort, and relationship dynamics.
• Applications: Body language aids in language acquisition, classroom management, and understanding behaviors in various professional and social contexts.
• Pitfalls: Negative body language gestures, such as checking the time or fidgeting, should be avoided to prevent conveying disinterest or impatience.

1. What is the significance of body language in communication? Body language plays a crucial role in communication, often conveying more information than verbal cues. It can reveal true feelings, reinforce verbal messages, and help build stronger relationships by enabling better understanding of others' emotions and intentions.

2. How can facial expressions impact the perception of emotions? Facial expressions are key indicators of emotions. For example, a smile generally signifies happiness, while a frown indicates sadness. Consistent facial cues, like raised eyebrows for fear or slight smiles for trustworthiness, help observers accurately interpret emotional states.

3. Why is eye contact important in conversations? Eye contact signifies attention and interest. Direct eye contact suggests engagement, while frequent breaks in eye contact may indicate discomfort or distraction. Rapid blinking can signal distress, and pupil size changes can reflect emotional responses.

4. How does body posture influence communication? Body posture conveys specific emotions and attitudes. Open postures, such as an exposed trunk, indicate friendliness, whereas closed postures, like crossed arms, suggest defensiveness or hostility. Posture also affects how others perceive a person's confidence and engagement.

5. What role do gestures play in nonverbal communication? Gestures enhance communication by providing additional context and meaning. Some gestures have universal interpretations, such as shoulder shrugs indicating confusion, but cultural differences can affect their meanings. Understanding these nuances is important for effective communication.

6. How does touch communicate different messages? Touch, studied under haptics, varies in meaning based on duration and location. Handshakes, hugs, and high fives convey different levels of intimacy, approval, or camaraderie. Interpreting touch correctly depends on the context and relationship between individuals.

7. What is proxemics, and how does it affect interactions? Proxemics studies the use of physical space in communication. It identifies four social distance zones: public, social, personal, and intimate. These distances reflect the relationship between individuals and their comfort levels in different interactions.

8. How is body language used in professional and educational settings? In professional settings, body language aids in interpreting behaviors and intentions. In education, it helps create a conducive learning environment and aids in teaching by providing nonverbal cues that complement verbal instructions. It is also crucial in second-language acquisition for achieving fluency.

9. What are some common pitfalls of body language? Negative body language, such as checking the time or fidgeting, can convey disinterest, impatience, or lack of confidence. Being aware of these gestures and avoiding them helps maintain positive interactions and effective communication.

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The truth about reading body language

By Ramin Skibba/Undark

Posted on Oct 8, 2020 8:00 PM EDT

Ramin Skibba is an astrophysicist turned science writer and freelance journalist who is based in San Diego. This story originally featured on Undark .

Last week, tens of millions of people tuned into the first debate between President Donald J. Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. Similar viewership is expected for the next two contests—assuming they go ahead following Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis last week—as well as for Wednesday’s vice presidential debate in Salt Lake City. Along with listening to the candidates’ words, many viewers of the closely watched political spectacles will also pay attention to the debaters’ demeanor, posture, tics, and gestures.

Body language can exude confidence or awkwardness, charisma or anxiety. In recent years, it has also become the subject of a small cottage industry premised on the idea that nonverbal cues can reveal important truths about people in high-stakes situations. News outlets like The Washington Post and Politico interview consultants and bring them on as columnists to analyze speakers’ body language after debates and diplomatic meetings between world leaders. On YouTube, self-appointed experts claiming to read public figures’ expressions sometimes garner millions of views .

Some of this analysis explores how body language can influence audiences. Other times, pundits try to explain what public figures are thinking or feeling based on subtle cues. After Trump and Biden’s first debate, for example, one analyst told The Independent , a British newspaper, that when Biden looked down at his lectern as Trump spoke, it “could be interpreted as submission to the attack” or a sign of self-control.

This work has a more consequential side: Many police departments and federal agencies use body language analysis as a forensics technique, claiming that these tools can help assess people’s intentions or truthfulness. Body language consultants, an Intercept investigation reported in August, have trained federal and local “law enforcement across the country.”

Psychologists and other researchers agree that body language can convey certain emotional states. But many bold claims haven’t been backed by scientific evidence. For instance, claims that a single gesture reliably indicates what a person thinks or desires—that maintaining eye contact for too long means a person is lying, that a smile without crinkles around the eyes isn’t a genuine one, or that a pointed finger with a closed hand is a display of dominance.

“Nonverbal communication in politics is extremely important because it creates impressions among the public, and this can influence whether people trust a politician,” says Vincent Denault, a communication researcher at the University of Montreal.

But when it comes to pundits commenting about body language in the media, “what you see is often more entertainment than science,” he says. “It can contribute to misinformation.”

Modern research on body language —often called nonverbal behavior—began in the 1960s and ’70s with studies that aimed to demonstrate the universality of facial expressions of emotion. That work was inspired, in part, by Charles Darwin’s neglected study from a century earlier, “The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals,” according to David Matsumoto, a San Francisco State University psychologist and director of Humintell, a company that provides body language trainings and does research for companies and government agencies.

Since then, researchers have examined how parts of the brain seemingly react to particular facial expressions, and how infants begin to imitate facial and hand gestures. But scientists have also mapped the complexities and subtleties of body language, which can sometimes be challenging to decipher despite its ubiquity.

For researchers like Denault, the scope of nonverbal communication has expanded to include anything beyond a person’s spoken words. A speaker might make an impression by shrugging their shoulders, scratching their nose, tapping their foot, rolling their eyes, or wiping sweat off their face, as Richard Nixon famously did in one of his 1960 presidential election debates against John F. Kennedy. A person’s clothes, their Zoom background, and their tone, pauses, and “uhs” and “ums” while speaking all count as nonverbal cues that can shape a viewer’s perceptions.

While many experts caution that body language is complex and context-dependent, for years a small class of consultants and specialists have been applying body language research in myriad scenarios, including career coaching, work presentations, and airport screenings.

“I help people influence and persuade others around how trustworthy and credible their message is by helping them with their specific nonverbal communication,” says Mark Bowden, a body language consultant and author of the book Winning Body Language , a guide for corporate and political clients. He focuses on where a person faces their body and how much space they take up, as well as their gestures.

Some analysts also claim to be able to use those signals to interpret hidden motivations and emotions. For example, some news stories feature analysts explaining that the positioning of Donald Trump’s hands during speeches indicates that he believes in what he’s saying, or that when people touch their faces it’s a clear sign of nervousness .

But, Denault said, “associating ‘states of mind’ to specific gestures, or concluding that this gesture will have this effect on the public, without any nuance, is dubious.”

Still, analysts like Bowden and Joe Navarro, a former FBI agent and the author of What Every Body is Saying , a book about interpreting nonverbal behavior, have made careers in part out of those kinds of insights.

Navarro, who has analyzed politicians’ body language for Politico and written for CNBC about how to read the body language of someone wearing a protective mask during the COVID-19 pandemic, says that he has a particular method for assessing speakers like the presidential candidates. “I record it and then watch it with the sound off,” he said. “I look for behavior that stands out: these discomfort displays, the furrowing of the forehead and the glabella, the area between the eyes, or the pursing of the lips or the ventilating by pulling their shirt collar.” As an example, he argues that it’s easy to spot Donald Trump’s lip movements when he reacts to a question he apparently doesn’t like.

While the work of Navarro and other analysts can attract large audiences, many experts are unsure whether their methods are as reliable as claimed.

“Our facial expressions convey certain types of emotional states,” Matsumoto says. So do some motions, like a shrug. “But there’s a lot of noise, too,” he says. “People do all kinds of things with their bodies.” For example, a person’s raised eyebrow could be express disbelief—but it might also signal discomfort or surprise. The same hand gesture could mean different things in different cultures.

Denault and Matsumoto are both skeptical of those making strong conclusions based on body language observations. Because of all the ambiguities, even perceptive observers can’t infer a person’s thoughts or intentions based on their nonverbal behavior alone, Denault argues.

Dawn Sweet, a University of Idaho communication researcher, agrees. “There’s not likely to be a single behavior diagnostic ever to be found” for someone lying or acting aggressively, she says.

Sweet and her fellow researchers often look at a person’s body language and spoken words together, since they’re usually communicating the same things. The researchers also examine the context of a person’s behavior and learn more about the speaker, since it matters if the behavior is typical for them or a deviation.

Sweet cites an earlier analysis of dozens of studies involving more than 1,300 estimates of 158 possible signs of deception. These studies focused on body language cues that people sometimes associate with lying, like fidgeting or avoiding eye contact. The studies found that cues like these have either no links or only weak links to lying. No one has a giveaway like Pinocchio and his nose.

For that reason, some researchers, like California State University, Fullerton psychologist Iris Blandón-Gitlin, simply avoid looking at such nonverbal cues altogether. “My research is focused mostly on understanding what people are saying,” she says. In general, she finds that lying takes effort, and liars tend to tell more simplistic stories, with fewer details.

Asked about these kinds of concerns, Navarro defends his methods. “Nonverbals are quicker to observe, and they’re authentic and very accurate,” he says. He points to the role of body language in understanding what a baby is feeling before it’s able to talk, and in whether one feels safe in the presence of potentially threatening behavior. People even pick mates based on nonverbal cues, he says. But he agrees that some kinds of behavior can be more reliably interpreted than others and that nonverbal behavior is not effective for conclusively detecting deception.

Despite these expert reservations, body language analysis has also been used in criminal cases , with police, federal agents, and prosecutors using the techniques to try to determine whether a suspect is telling the truth, or whether someone convicted of a crime feels remorse.

But, like many other kinds of forensic science, body language analysis has been shown to be unreliable. The technique could unjustly sway judges and jurors in trials, says Denault, who describes some of these judgments as pseudoscience. Unsupported claims about body language, he says, may seem to offer simple solutions to the complex challenge of evaluating testimony, but evidence-based research doesn’t really provide easy answers.

That said, if security and justice professionals and other officials focus on vetted findings that have scientific consensus, Denault argues that research on nonverbal behavior could still benefit them, for example, by helping police officers behave in a way that puts suspects at ease and helps build rapport.

Whether assessing the behavior of a politician or a suspect, Sweet cautions that people easily jump to conclusions that merely confirm their preconceptions. A person might look uncomfortable, nervous, or fearful at a given moment, but observers rarely know why. An observer might think they’re noticing a telling gesture that reveals information about what another person is thinking, when they’re really just finding a reason to justify an initial belief that the person is lying or aggressive.

Matsumoto warns people not to trust every media analyst they see or read who invokes body language. “There’s a lot of great information a person can get from nonverbals,” he says. “But you have to be careful.”