What are the six major categories of nonverbal behavior? - ProProfs Discuss
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What are the six major categories of nonverbal behavior?

Asked by Patricia, Last updated: Oct 26, 2024

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11 Answers

Robert Hazlewood

Robert Hazlewood

Here to relax my mind a bit

Robert Hazlewood
Robert Hazlewood, Senior Executive, MBA, Louisville

Answered Oct 21, 2020

The six categories of nonverbal communication

• Body movement and posture: this refers to body perception of the people. How it affects the way people sit, walk or stand. The way you carry yourself around conveys lots of messages.

• Facial Expression: The human face is very expressive. It conveys lots of emotion. Facial expression is universal.

• Gestures: Gestures are our everyday nonverbal means of expressing ourselves. We can wave or move our hand in a certain way when arguing or pointing something out to people.

• Eye contact: the way you look at someone means a lot. There is a way to look at someone which depicts hostility, interest or hatred.

• Touch: the way we touch people to communicate untold feelings and emotions. A pat on the back could mean assurance, a warm hug, weak handshake etc.

• Space: Space can communicate intimacy, aggression, affection or dominance. Leaving much space during a conversation could mean you are not comfortable.

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M. Gomez

M. Gomez

Loves to pen down her thoughts on diverse topics.

M. Gomez
M. Gomez, Writer, Mass communication, Leeds

Answered Sep 30, 2020

There are different nonverbal behaviors that you can do that will still let the other person that you are communicating with to know what you are trying to convey. One of the most common nonverbal ways to communicate is through the facial expressions that you are making.

You can make some facial expressions that will let the other person know if you are happy with whatever is happening or not. Your body movement will also let you know if you like the person that you are talking to or not.

Another type of nonverbal communication is eye contact. Your posture will be able to tell people if you are confident or not.

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D. Gray

D. Gray

D. Gray
D. Gray

Answered Sep 28, 2020

When it comes to nonverbal behavior, there are six major categories. The first is eye contact. This involves two people locking eyes with one another. Eye contact can give off feelings of persuasion, as well as the attraction between two people.

The second behavior is gestures. This is related to the third type of behavior, which is movement. Gestures and movements are actions that the body makes, including clapping and talking. The fourth type of moment is facial expression.

This is things like smiling, which can insinuate that someone is happy, or winking, which could insinuate a person is flirting. The last type is the appearance, which includes things like how they are dressed and how they upkeep themselves.

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M. Jabrowsky

M. Jabrowsky

M. Jabrowsky
M. Jabrowsky, Bank Manager, Ohio

Answered Sep 28, 2020

The six major categories of nonverbal behavior are:

1. Eye contact
2. Gestures
3. Posture
4. Facial expressions
5. Body movements
6. Paralanguage

Maintaining eye contact is one of the major things that can help to easily and quickly get used to a stranger. It can indicate attention, involvement, or interest. Meanwhile, not making eye contact can mean inattentive, rude, or disinterested.

Posture majorly depends on the position you take while doing anything, majorly sitting or standing. Posture can depict assurance, confidence, strength, or on the other way round; weakness, lack of confidence, or uncertainty. Body movements in several manners can convey different meanings, and it is used by almost everybody, every day.

For example, the nodding of the head can simply indicate agreement. Being sarcastic in expression is a good example of paralanguage. Facial expression is another major category of nonverbal behavior -a means whereby you show what might be the state of your mind.

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C. Hughes

C. Hughes

Learning new things along with my music

C. Hughes
C. Hughes, Musician, MA, Bradford

Answered Sep 23, 2020

Eye contact, gestures, movement, posture, facial expressions are all responsible for a considerable part of non-verbal communication. The look on a person’s face will typically tell the tale. It is often the first thing you can see about the person, and it tends to have the most impact.

Non-verbal communication and behavior can differ among individual cultures. These include waving, pointing, and using fingers to indicate numeric amounts. Posture and movement can also convey a considerable amount of information.

Defense posture is the most common way people display non-verbal behavior, including arm crossing and leg crossing. The eyes also play an integral role in nonverbal communication, including looking, staring, blinking, and flirting. Just by glancing at a person, you can often determine their emotional state and how they choose to communicate.

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E. Jonathan

E. Jonathan

I like managing several people and leading them to a greater self, both in work life and personal life(in a Way)

E. Jonathan
E. Jonathan, Content Team Lead, Degree in Literature, Los Angeles, California

Answered Sep 20, 2020

You should realize that there are different categories that are under nonverbal behavior. Nonverbal behavior can be very useful when you are trying to communicate with some people without having to use words.

Some of the common categories are the following:

• Facial Expressions – This is the most common nonverbal behavior that is being used now. You can show sadness or happiness through the expressions that you will show.

• Body Movements – Using hand gestures or nodding will be considered as a body movement.

• Posture – This is another thing that you can use when you would like to show if you are confident or not.

• Eye Contact – This is another thing that you can do to communicate with other people. Through eye contact, you can show if you want people or not.

• Touch – Touching people will let you know if you like someone or not.

With all of these things in mind, you will become more familiar with the different nonverbal cues that are normally used by people to communicate.

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G. Woods

G. Woods

Traveler and writer by profession.

G. Woods
G. Woods, College student, Graduate, Southampton

Answered Sep 20, 2020

The correct answers to this question are Eye contact, gestures, movement, posture, facial expression, and personal appearance. Eye contact is locking eyes with another person. This can be done to get their attention or to show interest. Gestures and movement go hand in hand. These can including moving the hand while talking, pointing, or clapping. Facial expressions are used to express how we are feeling.

For instance, if a person is smiling, one will assume they are happy. If a person is frowning, one can assume they are upset about something. Lastly, personal appearance is how a person is dressed and kept.

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Christian Jackson

Christian Jackson

Christian Jackson
Christian Jackson, Content Developer, Austin

Answered Mar 18, 2020

There are different types of non-verbal behavior that are available. Facial expression is one of the nonverbal behaviors that you should know. There are various emotions that can be conveyed by human beings easily. Body movement is another nonverbal behavior. The way that a person moves will let you know if someone is comfortable or not. The gesture is another nonverbal behavior that you need to be familiar with. There are some gestures that will let you know if a person likes you or not. Eye contact is another thing that you need to be familiar with. It is through eye contact that you will know if a person may like you or hate you. Touch is another nonverbal gesture that you should notice. The more that a person likes you, the more that the person will feel the need to touch you. Lastly, space is another thing that you need to consider. The more space that a person wants from you, the more that a person may not like you.
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H. Ruby

H. Ruby

H. Ruby
H. Ruby

Answered Mar 12, 2020

Do you know that there are different types of nonverbal behavior that you can do right now? There are a lot of people who may not realize that they are already responding to the nonverbal cues that they usually get from other people.

Facial expressions are the first ones. People will respond depending on the expressions that they see. The second thing is the gestures. When people make gestures, people will usually know what they have to do next. Posture is also another nonverbal behavior.
People can tell if a person is confident or not based on his posture. Fourth is eye gazing. Staring and blinking will give the other people an idea about what you are thinking about. The fifth is appearance. The way that you look will always play a huge factor in how people will perceive you. Sixth, the clothes that you wear can also be considered as a nonverbal gesture.

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C. Marcus

C. Marcus

C. Marcus
C. Marcus, Content Developer, Washington

Answered Jan 09, 2019

When conducting a speech, it is just as important to conduct appropriate nonverbal behavior as verbal behavior when giving a speech. As a matter of fact, there are six major categories of nonverbal behavior. These behaviors can be practiced in the mirror prior to giving a speech or presentation in front of an audience to perfect them.

These categories include eye contact, gestures, movement, posture, facial expression and personal appearance. Gestures refer to the hand movements and slight body movements in order to refer to something. It may be pointing or another gesture.

Another behavior is posture. Posture means to stand up straight so that you are not slumped over while delivering a presentation. Eye contact is also important because it requires you to look at the audience members instead of reading from a card.

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patricia08

patricia

patricia08
Patricia

Answered Oct 03, 2018

Eye contact,gestures,movement, posture,facial expression, personal appearance
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