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University Daily Kansar, November 30, 1981
Body language reveals more than meets the eye
By MICHAEL FLYNN Staff Reporter
It's Saturday night, your friends are across the bar and you're left standing alone in a swarm of people. You don't know a soul, but you have seen some interesting people walk by and you feel conversation might help pass the evening.
Who is it going to be?
The two triggers, in the corner, the loud person you can hear halfway down the bar, or the woman who hold your gaze when she walked by a few minutes ago? Who would be receptive, who would give the crushing brush-off? Checking their nonverbal behavior may provide the chees you need.
Nonverbal communication, or body language as it is often called, has been defined in many different ways.
Researchers supporting the old school of thought say it is any message sent between a sender and a receiver,留意 of the intent.
MORE RECENT research groups classify nonverbal communication as only those messages that are intentionally sent and then received as the same message, without any change of meaning in the process. More simply, body language pertains to any form of communication. Researchers estimate that as much as 80 percent of our communication is on a nonverbal level.
The study of nonverbal exchange has recently become a popular subject of books and films. But the topic has been researched as early as the 1920s, when children were exposed to the emotional levels detected by children in their mothers' speech. And in the 1930s, psychologist William Alport conducted studies in England concerning the voice and its relation to personality status and personality traits.
But according to Kenneth Johnson, professor of Communication Studies, the recent interest in body language began in the 1960s.
"About that time, there started to be
a wide-spread following in nonverbal communication, and more college-level courses became available on the subject. Johnson's course is relatively young, there are no real theories about non-verbal communication yet.
HOWEVER, researchers are trying to develop these theories from two different frameworks, be said. One framework is based on the other developed patterns. The other focuses on the physiological functions of the body. In the latter, the left side of the brain is thought to control analytical behaviors, nonverbal behaviors. Johnson said.
Whichever theory you follow, he said, nonverbal communication must be viewed as an entire process. One must understand what happens when they relate to what is being said.
often, people forget both verbal and nonverbal messages must be considered for the other, and receive only part of the intended message, Johnson said.
IT IS DANGEROUS to assume that a certain gesture always means the same thing. One must be aware of other cues, and you must also properly assess the woman's message.
It is easier to understand the complexities of body language when the components are viewed separately. According to Johnson, researchers divide the area into six broad categories including personal expression, eye contact, gestures, posture, touch, and distance.
PERSONAL APPEARANCE
One look at the billion dollar cosmetic industry, the current hair styling advertisements or the number of clothing store customers and it is obvious that people are concerned about the way they look. Appearance is the most easily recognized nonverbal signal in our society.
Johny Molley, author of "Dress for Success," writes that clothes serve three different functions. First, they say something about our emotions. How
we feel affects what we wear, and what we wear affects the way we feel. Second, clothes can reveal something about our behavior, he says. When you dress up you feel more important and purposeful, and so you act that way. And finally, clothes can differentiate us from other groups.
CONTACT
WEARING BLUE JEANS conveys certain messages and associations that are completely different from those times when you are wearing a suit and tie. Go to a nice restaurant in jeans on one occasion and well-dressed at another time. The difference in the seating and service will convince you that your appearance influences the way others act toward you.
FACIAL EXPRESSION AND EYE
"Your lips tell me 'no, no,' but there's 'yes,' yes in your eyes." This old song shows the contradictions that can be found in the face. Probably the most expressive part of a person's body, the face can also be the most uncomfortable. Informal, Happiness, surprise, fear, anger, sadness, disgust, contempt, interest, bewilderment, and determination are a few of the feelings that can be shown by expressions. While the face can express so much, it also can be controlled to a great degree, makes it difficult to tell what a person thinks, purely by his expression.
The eyes can also reveal several kinds of messages. Looking directly at the speaker signals an interest in what he is saying, while looking away shows a lack of attention to what is happening "look at the eye," and "making eyes at someone" are says reflecting the importance of eye contact in our culture.
NOT ONLY DO THE eyes and the tissue around them express nonverbal messages, but even the pupils communicate. E.H. Hess and J.M. Poll of the University of Chicago, measured the amount of pupil dilation in men and women. They took pictures. They found that men's pupils enlarged by as much as 18 percent
when looking at pictures of nude females. And women's pupils increased 20 percent when viewing pictures of nude men. Salespeople and others can use this type of information when trying to uncover people's preferences, Polli said.
GESTURES
Emblims are used in place of, or are interchangeable with words. A salute, giving someone 'the finger', or a pat on the back substitute actions for
Gestures rate second in importance to facial expressions as a means of nonverbal communication. But most people are unaware of how often they use their arms and legs when they speak. Like clothes, gestures can be divided into three main categories: emblems, illustrators and adapters.
Deliberate moves to amplify, clarify, or visualize what the speaker is saying are called illustrators. Waving to attract attention, or a nod of the head to turn the conversation over to someone else are common examples of illustrators. These actions are usually made consciously.
BELOW THE LEVEL of consciousness are the adapter kits. Fidgeting, rubbing, scratching and covering parts of the body with the person are important activities usually signal that the person is feeling nervous, anxious or impatient about something. Adapter gestures often include whatever the person is holding in his hand. For example, a crayon can be tapped on a book or desk.
POSTURE
Whether you are standing straight or slumping over, your posture says something about you. The more erect the spine, the more alert, conscious and ready for action a person is thought to be. When an older officer is required to stand at attention.
Phone fraud big in Kansas
Slumping or drawing the shoulders in is taken as a sign of introverted thought, or laziness.
Staff Reporter
By LILLIAN DAVIS
It's simple to do. Dial a long-distance number, charge the call to another number and preset, a free long-distance phone call.
Telephone fraud has increased in Kansas sevenfold since 1978, costing Southwestern Bell close to $500,000 in 1981, Dave Voge, assistant staff manager for security at Southwestern Bell said last week.
"It's a crime prosecutable by up to one year in jail and a $2,500 fine," Vogel said.
"It's just like shoplifting. The losses wind up on the taxpayer."
ALL TYPES OF people are using this tactic to keep their long-distance bills down, everyone from doctors to students. Youel said.
But so far Southwestern Bell's success rate at retrieving these lost dollars has been high.
"Many times it's just a matter of someone innocently transposing a number, so we bill them," Vogel said.
When this is not the case, the company checks to see how many times a certain number was called. If the number has been called, personnel officials write down and person to person who actually made the call.
"Usually people are really cooperative when we call," Vogel said. "Lots of times they are really
surprised that the person who called them would do this."
After determining who made the call, the company bills the call directly to that person's number, and uses the code to pay, they are taken to court.
"It's not that difficult to solve." Vogel said. "I may take us a couple of months to track down the source, but we will get them."
In college towns the fraud tends to rise as the student population moves in for the school year. Vogel said.
"It's an easy crime to commit because you don't feel like you're doing anything wrong," he said. "The operator can't see you and there aren't a lot of risks involved. It's safe."
SURPIRINGLY, Vogel said, the toll fraud at the University of Kansas was not as high as at some other colleges and junior colleges.
"If all other colleges had the amount of fraud KU had per student population, our fraud problem would not be as great," Voeel said.
"KU has a significant amount of
fur, but nothing that's alarming."
tradict; but in writing they decline to reveal actual figures for lawrence, citing a company policy not to compile city figures.
He added that telephone fraud varied greatly from semester to semester in a college town, as the phone公ation was continually changing.
Lawrence is obtaining phone service." Vogel said.
When the phone company cuts off a person's service because of a delinquent bill, many times the phone under the order the phone under another name.
The best way to deter fraud is arrest, Vogel said. The arrest is reported in the press and people are free from public notice about having a criminal record.
"The biggest fraud problem in
About a month ago, four Barton County Community College students were arrested in Garden City for charging $1,000 worth of long-distance telephone calls to a brokerage firm, Vogel said. Newspapers around the state ran the story.
"That had a real effect," Vogel said.
THE SYSTEM OF checking could be more difficult, but that would only hurt the majority of customers who are honest, he said.
Vogel explained that every third number call was not checked because of a lack of manpower and a decision not to make the customer wait while the check is being conducted.
"Can you name any other industry that operates on trust?" Vogel said. "We have lost relatively little, when you look at it that way."
"Why should we make each customer wait five minutes just to stop that 1 percent of long-distance calls that are frauds?" Vogel said.
Psychologist Albert Mehrabian has found that posture can be a key to how a person feels. Relaxed positions are assumed in non-threatening situations, while the more tense a person feels, the less relaxed the individual is. Mehrabian also concluded that the individual with the highest status will have the more relaxed stance in a confrontation. This can be seen in traffic court every day. The judge is very confident in his position of authority, while the speaker is positioned, as he tries to argue his case.
TOUCH
One of the most powerful but least used methods of body language in our culture is tactile communication, or touch. Touching is the earliest means of communication a child learns and it is essential to his development. In "Touching: The Human Significance of Touch," Rachel Garnett warns allergies, eczema, and other health problems can be traced to the child's lack of contact with his mother.
ADULTS MAY ALSO suffer from this lack of touch. Experiencing a loss of intense feelings of love, anger, friendship or fear can result from not having enough physical contact with others. Other than the handshake, adults seldom have any touch communication between themselves. Many times the desire for personal connection to touch and be touched by another human being. This does not necessarily involve a sexual relationship.
Another method of communicating nonverbally is through the use of distance. Each person has his own sense of space. When someone invades
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this territory, the person may become uncomfortable and defensive. To understand this point, the next time you are conversing with someone, begin to look at yourself, when you see herself and see how he reacts. Chances are very good that without being aware of it, he will back up until he is comfortable again. How you feel toward a person at a particular time determines how close you want to be to them.
Anthropologist Edward Hall has defined the four distances we commonly use. The first zone is known as intimate distance. It ranges from skin contact to 18 inches. By allowing someone to be this close to us, we are showing that we trust them. We have let them know that the intimate distance is used for comforting, caressing, protecting and lovemaking. Hall said.
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THE SECOND ZONE is personal distance From 18 inches to four feet is the range of this space. Couples usually
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maintain this distance in public, but may become alarmed if a member of the opposite sex comes this close to their partner. At four feet, Hall says, you are able to keep someone "at arm's length" and kind of communication that takes place.
Hall's third zone ranges from four feet to about 12 feet, and it is called social distance. This distance is most with respect to formal and impersonal situations.
Public distance is the widest zone in Hall's definition. It runs outward from 12 feet to about 25 feet. At farther than 25 feet, two-way communication is possible. This distance is used for public speaking, due to the large audience.
The above explanations of nonverbal techniques can be very useful in understanding the messages others are trying to express. And, by using these techniques in your own community you should be better able to express yourself.
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