research states that people are not infallible in reading understated emotions through reading someone’s face, and solely observing facial expressions is not enough to fully determine the strength of an emotion or feeling. A study done at Princeton that was based on reading facial expressions only through photographs of faces proved that people were only 50% accurate in determining their emotions without being able to observe the rest of the body language. The increasing amount of information that we are discovering about body language is eye-opening to how complex and incredibly significant it really is.

The Significance of Body Language in Determining Someone’s Emotions

Body language is a vital factor to consider when acquiring information in order to analyze a specific person. Emotions are expressed through numerous means, but body language can be the most organic and inadvertent way of expressing oneself. Eye movements, hand gestures, and body movements for a large part are performed automatically without premeditation, and can be a great tool when analyzing someone and evaluating their true feelings and thoughts that may contradict the words that they are saying. In addition to using this knowledge to observe those around you, it’s also useful to use it to analyze your own behavior and how your body unconsciously communicates when you’re talking, and see if there is an accurate connection with how you are thinking or feeling at the time. It could very well end up that you discover that you tend to send mixed signals without even knowing it.

The use of body language evaluation can prove especially useful when feeling out somebody that you have been newly introduced to. Even if you have not yet had a conversation, you can immediately gather information about them just by noticing how they carry themselves, how they look at you and those around them, their face, and how much physical distance they keep between themselves and others. Body language analysis can also work in better understanding people that you are more familiar with, whether they are just acquaintances or people you have more intimate relationships with. For example, if you notice that a friend or coworker holds a certain stance or makes certain gestures or movements when they are nervous or insecure, you can better help them by intervening as soon as you notice it. You can use these new observations alongside what you already know about them to understand them even better, and can take note of repetitive actions or gestures that they do and the emotions

associated with them.

Elements that Impact Body Language

There is no set, universal definition that states that certain movements mean certain things. Just as different people have different ways of physically expressing themselves, whether intentionally or not, there are also very many cultural influences that affect how people physically communicate. Social standards differ from country to country. For example, in some cultures breaking eye contact is a sign of disrespect, where in another culture it could mean exactly the opposite. For a more specific example, in Finland, eye contact is a sociable and approachable gesture, whereas in Japan, direct eye contact is generally seen as expressing anger or hostility.

Restrictions

Although there is much more that goes into evaluating a person other than body language alone, it is an essential basis for it. There are numerous other factors that are discussed throughout the book that you can use in combination with body language analysis to get a full idea of what is going on inside of a person and what makes them who they are. It is something that you will find very useful and will benefit from looking out for it when you interact with people in the future, and you will become more knowledgeable and accurate in deciphering a person’s body language, no matter how delicate. In addition, you can also use these observational tactics on yourself to determine and better control how you physical react when communicating with other people to make sure that your body is relaying the same message as your words.

Proxemics

Proxemics, a term first described in the 1960s by the anthropologist Edward Hall, is described as how much distance people hold between themselves and others, and can be an accurate depiction of the standing of the relationships between them. Aside from that, it can also portray what a person is nonverbally communicating to the other person, either intentionally or unintentionally. Hall composed a list of distances that he associated with different relationship levels, which is as follows:

Intimate/deep relationships: 1.5 feet

Close friends and family: 1.5 – 24 feet

Acquaintances or casual relationships: 4 – 12 feet

Public speaking: 12 – 25+ feet

These of course are estimated measurements to get a basic idea of how to determine people’s relationships by how closely they stand to each other. One would assume that if two people have an extremely close proximity to each other (such as a few inches), they are most likely intimately involved; however, it is also possible even for people in a romantic relationship to talk to each other with ten feet between them. As is the same with all body language evaluations, the list is relative and needs to be considered alongside the context of the scenario in order to correctly assess the situation.

Oculesics

Oculesics is defined as the observation of a person’s eye movements and way of looking at people, and is another significant factor to consider when evaluating a person’s non-verbal communication. Oculesics is a factor that has two main subdivisions that can be observed in order to decipher a person’s eye movements in regards to their feelings and thoughts:

1.) The first subdivision under oculesics is that of a person’s pupil size and how they dilate and contract during interpersonal communication. This is a very subtle factor and often hard to notice, and is a little tricky given the fact that environmental factors can also influence pupil size (such as light or focus). Another reason that a person’s pupils can be affected by outside factors is if they are intoxicated, which is why police flash lights into people’s eyes upon confronting them if they are suspicious. Obviously, in order to really observe one’s pupils, you need to be within a relatively close proximity to the person’s face. One of the most notable changes in pupil size that you can notice is that there is a connection between pupil dilation and fear, nervousness, arousal, longing, or hostility. The reason for this is that when the fight-of-flight instinct kicks in, there is a rush of adrenaline into the bloodstream, which ensures that the pupils are at a sensitive peak in order to give the person the best chance to save themselves in a dangerous situation.

2.) Eye contact itself has a variety of subdivisions that communicate many different things, which are as follows:

Looking downwards: This can mean two completely different things across different cultures. In some countries looking downwards is a sign of respect or reverence, while in some other countries it can express fear or

guilt.

Looking upwards: This is an eye movement that can have a number of meanings that varies from person to person. Looking upwards can be an unintentional expression of boredom, or it could also be that the person is trying to recall something. On the other side, if a person is gazing up with their head facing slightly downwards, this could be sending a message of flirtation or arousal.

Side-to-side movements of the eyes : This is also an eye movement that can have many different interpretations. Moving the eyes quickly away to the side can suggest that a person is not being truthful, but it is important to keep in mind before accusing anyone that this is not always entirely the case. Looking to the side can also insinuate that a person is distracted (either by their own thoughts or environmental factors), or perhaps they have lost interest in the conversation and are losing focus. It could also be that a person is experiencing an auditory memory; if they look to the left, they could be trying to remember it, and if looking to the right, they are hearing the sound in their mind.

Gazing: Not the same as a stare, a gaze is holding prolonged eye contact with something or someone. A gaze generally expresses interest, and depending on the scenario, can also indicate arousal or desire. When a person is gazing, they usually don’t realize that they have been holding eye contact for an extended amount of time.

Staring: Staring is another form of persistent eye contact, but generally is accompanied with the eyes being widened and usually insinuates hostility or dishonesty. However, a stare can also exhibit fondness or interest. One of the most notable differences between gazing and staring is that staring is generally deliberately maintained, even if the person or other subject returns eye contact.

Glancing: Glancing generally indicates that a person has a secret or hidden longing for whatever or whomever they are glancing at. Some common examples are glancing at someone’s lips while talking to them, which could mean that they want to kiss the other person, or glancing at the refrigerator if a person is hungry. This eye movement in particular can prove especially helpful when analyzing someone’s body language when interacting with them, especially towards the end of your contact with them. When people are reaching the point where they are ready to leave, they will often glance at their phones or watches to see the time, or