Body language is a form of mental and physical ability of human non-verbal communication, which consists of body posture, gestures, facial expressions, and eye movements. Humans send and interpret such signals almost entirely subconsciously.
James Borg states that human communication consists of 93 percent body language and paralinguistic cues, while only 7% of communication consists of words themselves; however, Albert Mehrabian, the researcher whose 1960s work is the source of these statistics, has stated that this is a misunderstanding of the findings (see Misinterpretation of Mehrabian's rule). Others assert that "Research has suggested that between 60 and 70 percent of all meaning is derived from nonverbal behavior."
Body language may provide clues as to the attitude or state of mind of a person. For example, it may indicate aggression, attentiveness, boredom, relaxed state, pleasure, amusement, and intoxication, among many other clues.
Read more about Body Language: Understanding Body Language, Prevalence of Non-verbal Communication in Humans, Proxemics, Unintentional Gestures
Famous quotes containing the words body and/or language:
“Right now he’s suffering the cruelest tortures the Germans can devise. But he won’t talk—not as long as he can stand that punishment. And no human body can stand it too long—not even this wonderful, tough guy from Minnesota.”
—John Monks, Jr., U.S. screenwriter, Sy Bartlett, and Henry Hathaway. Gibson (Frank Lattimore? Walter Abel? Melville Cooper?)
“A language does not become fixed. The human intellect is always on the march, or, if you prefer, in movement, and languages with it.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)