Psychology can simply be defined as the scientific study of our behavior and mind. This field of study has the potential to help millions of individuals by letting those individuals have a better understanding of their own mind and behavioral tendencies. There are also many specific branches of this particular field. And some of those branches that are included in the entire field of psychology consist of Cognitive Psychology, Behavioral Psychology, Social Psychology, Environmental Psychology, Organizational Psychology, and many other types of psychology. Out of all these branches of psychology which are mentioned above, the field of Social Psychology certainly holds a very significant position. This field includes the concept of nonverbal cues or communication. Nonverbal communication is also known as NVC and can also be defined as a type of nonlinguistic transfer of information that can take place through other means like tactile, visual, auditory, and physical or kinesthetic channels.
Social Psychology and Nonverbal Communication
This field of social psychology is often defined as the study of people’s behavior, feelings, and thoughts which might be influenced by the actual or imagined presence of other individuals in their own surrounding. This field takes a rather scientific viewpoint to investigate and form certain specific patterns or laws regarding the individual’s behavior, thoughts, and feelings. There are also many subtopics that are often included in this specific field of psychology. But one of the biggest focuses in this entire field is on the functioning of nonverbal cues.
There have also been a large number of researches that have been conducted in this domain and majority of those researches tend to point to the fact that a significantly large amount of our everyday conversations tend to take place through the means of nonverbal cues. There are also many theories around the topic of how an individual can develop his or her nonverbal skills. However, the focus of this essay writing piece will be on the different forms of nonverbal communication. And some of those different means or forms of nonverbal communication are mentioned below.
Facial Expressions
Facial expressions are one of the biggest forms or means through which a significantly large part of our everyday nonverbal communication takes place. There are also a large number of theories which have been explored in many types of essay writing pieces that suggest that the facial expression of an individual to give better insight into their true feelings better than the lingual forms of communication can. According to various studies, the facial expressions for various emotions can differ from one culture to another; however, the facial expression for being sad, happy, fearful, and angry is constant throughout the entire world. Facial expressions are also one of the most common forms of nonverbal communication that exists throughout the entire globe.
Gestures
The topic of Gestures is also one of the most common topics of nonverbal cues that have been explored by many types of essay writing pieces. And there are even workshops held all across the globe that aim at improving the nonverbal skills for the purpose of business, public speaking, and various other forms of activities. According to a number of different scientific theories, gestures can both be deliberate and unintentional. Some of the most common gestures include pointing, waving, or trying to indicate some numeric value by using fingers. Though, there are also various gestures that are specific to different cultural groups. This is also one of the most common topics that an individual can find in any social psychology book.
Paralinguistic
Paralinguistic is one of those nonverbal skills that can be defined as the type of verbal communication that is quite different from using the actual semantic language. There are also a number of different theories that surround this topic but most of those theories state that the various factors of verbal communication or speech can also be used to transfer some kind of message or information. Some of those factors of verbal communication include the pitch, the tone, loudness, or inflection of the voice. For example, if there is a public speaker who is giving a seminar on how to enhance the nonverbal skills of an individual. So, if that public speaker uses a loud or strong voice then that immediately sends across a message of authority and confidence to the entire public. However, if that same public speaker talks in a hesitant tone then that sends across an entirely different message of lack of interest or enthusiasm to the entire public. This is one of those topics that have often been debated in a number of essay writing pieces. This is also one of the most commonly used forms of nonverbal communication that is discussed in many social psychology books.
Posture and Body Language
Postures and body language is considered one of the most important nonverbal cues in the field of psychology by a number of different theories. According to those theories, posture and body language of an individual can help indicate both the attitude and the overall feeling or emotion of an individual. For example, a leg crosses posture might indicate defensiveness while a more relaxed posture might point to openness. There are also many essay writing pieces written on this particular topic. There are also many seminars on nonverbal skills that talk about the importance of this particular nonverbal skill.
Proxemics
Proxemics can often be defined as the kind of personal space that any individual might often feel the need to maintain from the other individual that he or she might be with at that moment. According to various theories in social psychology, it is stated that the amount of space that an individual might need to maintain from the other individuals could be influenced by cultural expectations, societal norms, and familiarity with that other individual, various situational factors, personality characteristics, and many other factors. For example, if an individual has only recently met somebody then they are more likely to maintain a larger distance with that person in comparison to the distance that the same individual might maintain with somebody that he or she has known for many years. There are also many types of essay writing topics that tend to suggest that kind of distance individuals often like to maintain in a public or a private setting.
Eye Gaze
In the field of social psychology, there are a number of theories surrounding the topic of eye gaze. Eye gaze is a type of nonverbal cue that can indicate a range of emotions including hostility, attraction, interest, and many other emotions. According to some researchers, it is also said that eye gaze can also help an individual in determining if the other person is telling the truth or the lie. There are also many particular essay writing pieces that revolve around these types of nonverbal skills topic.
Appearance
Appearance is one of the most obvious nonverbal cues that we use every single day of our lives. There are also many factors that come under the topic of appearance and some of those include the color, the clothing, or even the hairstyle of an individual. Individuals also tend to have a number of different reactions to the kind of color of clothing that some other individual might be wearing. This is also one of the reasons behind why thousands of job seekers every year are suggested to dress appropriately for their job interview. There are also many seminars and workshops that are organized to enhance the nonverbal skills of any particular individuals.
These are all the major types of nonverbal communication that individuals tend to use every single day of their lives from all across the globe.
Conclusion
Nonverbal cues or communication play a very important role in an individual’s everyday life. There are also many different kinds of nonverbal cues or communication. And some of those nonverbal cues include gestures, paralinguistic, facial expression, body language and posture, eye gaze, proxemics, and appearance.
References
McLeod, S. (2011). What is Psychology?. Retrieved December 19, 2018, from https://www.simplypsychology.org/whatispsychology.html
McLeod, S. (2007). Social Psychology. Retrieved December 19, 2018, from https://www.simplypsychology.org/social-psychology.html
Cherry, K. (2018). Types of Nonverbal Communication. Retrieved December 19, 2018, from https://www.verywellmind.com/types-of-nonverbal-communication-2795397
Types of Nonverbal Communication. (2007). Retrieved December 19, 2018, from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-introductiontocommunication/chapter/types-of-nonverbal-communication/
Kinds of Non-Verbal Communication. (2010). Retrieved December 19, 2018, from https://thebusinesscommunication.com/kinds-of-non-verbal-communication/
Nonverbal Communication. (2010). Retrieved December 19, 2018, from https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/nonverbal-communication.html
Books
University of Minnesota. (2016). Communication in the Real World: An Introduction to Communication Studies. Retrieved from https://open.lib.umn.edu/communication/
Schmitz, A. (2012). A Primer on Communication Studies. Retrieved from https://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/a-primer-on-communication-studies/index.html
Wikis
Social Psychology. (2018). Retrieved December 19, 2018, from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_psychology
Nonverbal Communication. (2018). Retrieved December 19, 2018, from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonverbal_communication
Psychology. (2018). Retrieved December 19, 2018, from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychology