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nonverbal communication

File:Understanding_in_Xian_0546.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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nonverbal communication

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Also known as non-verbal communication

process of communication through sending and receiving wordless (mostly visual) cues between people

AI overview

Nonverbal communication is how people send and receive messages without using words, mainly through visual signals like facial expressions, gestures, and body language. It matters because much of what we communicate to others happens through these wordless cues, which can reinforce, contradict, or even replace what we say aloud.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Research

39,586 papers

via PubMed

~40 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Understanding each other through hand and eye expression: the number two seen at a streetside vendor near the Bell Tower of Xi'an in China

Nonverbal communication is the transmission of messages or signals through a nonverbal platform such as eye contact (oculesics), body language (kinesics), social distance (proxemics), touch (haptics), voice (prosody and paralanguage), physical environments/appearance, and use of objects. When communicating, nonverbal channels are utilized as means to convey different messages or signals, whereas others interpret these messages. The study of nonverbal communication started in 1872 with the publication of The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin. Darwin began to study nonverbal communication as he noticed the interactions between animals such as lions, tigers, dogs etc. and realized they also communicated by gestures and expressions. For the first time, nonverbal communication was studied and its relevance noted. Today, scholars argue that nonverbal communication can convey more meaning than verbal communication.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “nonverbal communication” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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