Nonverbal Communication
Nonverbal communication has been referred to as "body language" in popular culture ever since the publication of Julius Fast's book of the same name in 1970. However, researchers Mark Knapp and Judith Hall (1997, p. 5) have defined nonverbal communication as follows: "Nonverbal communication refers to communication effected by means other than words." This definition does not exclude many forms of communication, but it implies that nonverbal communication is more than body language. However, determination of the exact boundaries of the field is a point of contention among scholars.
Nonverbal communication is an area of study that straddles many disciplines—sociology, psychology, anthropology, communication, and even art and criminal justice. Each of these fields tends to focus on a slightly different aspect of nonverbal communication. For example, psychology might focus on the nonverbal expression of emotions; anthropology might focus on the use of interpersonal space in different cultures; and communication might focus on the content of the message. However, there is more overlap among these fields than divergence.
The History
It appears that all cultures have written or oral traditions expressing the importance of nonverbal communication to understanding human beings. Over thousands of years, Chinese culture has developed a set of rules about how to judge the character and personality of an individual byobserving the size, shape, and relative positions of the nose, eyes, eyebrows, chin, cheeks, and forehead.
