Kinesika is ... What does kinesika study?

Speech occupies an important place in a person's life. After all, with her help people communicate, exchange information. But non-verbal communication also plays an important role. This region is studied by kinesics.

What it is

Kinesika is a science that studies the signals of non-verbal communication. What does non-verbal communication mean? This is facial expressions, postures, gestures. If one can control one's speech, then with other signals it's not so simple. Often it is through them you can determine the true meaning of what the interlocutor wanted to say.

In psychology, everything is interconnected, and often facial expressions and gestures provide more information about the interlocutor than his speech. If you study nonverbal communication kinesika, then other methods of information study more highly specialized psychological sciences. This type of communication is studied along with the kinesics of the proxemics - it explores the spatial relationships.

The creator of this technique

Ray Birvdistel, an American anthropologist, is the creator of kinesic science. It was he who decided to combine his research, as well as his colleagues' research, and, having analyzed them, came to the conclusion that most people use gestures in certain situations. In 1952 he published his monograph "Introduction to Kinesics: An Annotated System for Recording the Movements of the Hands and the Body."

This publication was the beginning of the kinesics. In his research, the scientist tried to create something similar to the catalog of gestures, in which the universal values of gestures and facial expressions for all peoples were described. During his travels, Birdwistel noticed that some nations have gestures that are used only between them, and with the guests they communicate in a completely different way. And it was then that the researcher asked about the relationship between speech and non-verbal signs.

Ray Birvdistel was one of the first to become interested in the question of the relationship between gestures and voice height. Thus, kinesika is not only a science of gestures, it covers a much larger area.

What information does gesturing have?

Despite the fact that studies on the topic of non-verbal communication have been conducted for several years, for most people the meaning of studying gesticulation remains unclear. Why should we study it?

1. Gestures complement information obtained by verbal means. With the help of them you can understand the emotional state of the interlocutor, his attitude towards the participants or the topic of the conversation.
2. With the help of gestures you can determine how emotionally close the issues discussed are for a person.
3. Usually the gesture appears before the phrase, so you can predict what the person wants to say.

What place does the look, posture and gait occupy in the nonverbal

Kinesika is also the study of the look, posture and gait, because this also applies to the area of non-verbal communication. And if the gestures and posture of a person to control the easiest, the look and gait - more difficult. Why is that?

Eye contact is considered very important when talking with someone. By its duration, it is always possible to determine whether a person is telling the truth, whether he is pleasant to the person or the subject of the conversation. If its duration a person can try to control, then the size of the pupils is not. Namely, they are a frequent reason, on which one can guess the true attitude.

Poses that a person takes during a conversation can tell interesting information about the interlocutor. If the gestures and facial expressions of a person from an early age are taught to control, then little attention is given to controlling the poses. By the position of the human body, you can determine whether he is ready to make contact or not, whether he is inclined to dominate and what his emotional state is.

According to the gait, the person's attitude to life, his physical and mental state is determined. In people who are confident in themselves and look at life with optimism, the gait is easy, the posture is straight, when walking they actively wave their arms. People who are depressed, tired, have a "heavy" style of movement. Their shoulders are hunched, and their hands are usually in their pockets.

Therefore, it is wrong to give preference to learning only one thing in the study of the region, in kinesics everything is interconnected, everything complements each other, helping to form a correct psychological portrait of a person.

The most common gestures

Kinesika is an area that studies non-verbal communication in all its diversity. Therefore, non-verbal signals can not always be interpreted from a single point of view. But there are gestures, which in all cultures have the same meaning:

• If a person touches the ear, then he does not like what his interlocutor says;
• The person propped his chin when he becomes bored;
• Crossed arms and (or) legs indicate that a person does not want to communicate;
• If a person touches his neck, he is embarrassed or not sure of himself;
• If a person covers his mouth with his hand, then he says false information;
• A man drumps his fingers on the table, looks at the clock or twitches his foot, then this is a sign of impatience;
• Rubbing glasses indicates that the interlocutor is reflecting.

The values of non-verbal signals are many, many more become when they are considered in combination with verbal information. Therefore, it is important not only to know what this or that nonverbal action means, but also how it can be explained in combination with other signals. This is what the science of kinesics is doing.