Body Language Research Paper

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Throughout humankind, there are six universal expressions: happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, surprise, and anger (Lambert, 2008). These are all well-known feelings, with the meaning of them seen in the words, tone, and pronunciation of the person acting out the emotion. But, as Patti Wood, writer of Success Signals: A Guide to Reading Body Language, states, “Most communication experts now believe that almost 90% of what we say comes from nonverbal cues, which includes our body language”(Hatfield, 2011). As a definition, body language is “the conscious and unconscious movements and postures by which attitudes and feelings are communicated”(Chapman, 2011). In other words, it is the means by which humans convey information through conscious or subconscious gestures, bodily movements, or facial expressions (Hatfield, 2011). Thus, because of the subconscious and conscious interpretations of body language, it plays a vital role in the workplace, in criminal analysis, and in romantic relationships. Body language plays a major role in multiple aspects of the workplace (Morgan, 2002). Through the job application, business perspective, and cultural stages, the effect that body language has on interviewers, clients, and fellow businesspersons is profound. First, the right body language is needed to produce a lasting and memorable effect in the job application process (Morgan, 2002). First impressions are very important; an interviewer only has a few minutes to decide whether an applicant is a good choice for the job. Within those minutes, much is decided in the first few seconds of meeting. Even if an applicant says all the right things, has all the right answers, and even all the right credentials, bad body language can be a black cloud hanging over an interview. As an example, an assistant vice president at a bank in upstate New York, Angel Rose, was

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