Studying Human Behaviour

Studying human behaviour
Imagine the perfect way to send a few hours de-stressing and unwinding. What comes to your
mind?
Well, even writing that first line my mind is already bringing up the image for me and it looks like
this. A warm sunny day and I'm sitting outside a cafe with my latte just watching the world go by.
This is not just a dream it's something I do quite often because for me now it could be considered
home work!
Where did my interest in human behaviour stem from? Well I have Desmond Morris to thank. In the
1970s he was responsible for the book "The naked Ape" and that started it all for me. Originally,
like a lot of other school boys I'm sure, lured by the references to sexual behaviour I found I was
being drawn in.
Fast forward some 20 odd years and now around halfway through my Police career I found myself
on a specialist interviewing course and met another major influence on my life Professor Eric
Shepherd. A clinical psychologist Eric had been contracted to modernise police interviewing skills
and my relationship with him which spans over 15 years crystallised my interest (Some may say
obsession) with human behavioural analysis.
I still to this day find the subject fascinating and the beauty of it for me is the fact I continue to learn
every single day. I believe in lifelong learning and my classroom is the world around me.
However there is a frustrating side to my "hobby" and that is the amount of misinformation and bad
advice masquerading as fact out there. Body language is sexy, it makes good copy, it sells and
there are those who have no concerns about dumbing it down and pushing it out there.
So, that's why I started the group. To try and educate, inform and share my passion with other
likeminded individuals. Although the group is called body language learning it is really about
communication in all its forms. I promote a multi-channel approach to behavioural assessment so
here is my philosophy and I emphasise it is my personal take not written in stone I'm not an expert
1. Facial Expressions
Facial expressions account for a significant
proportion of nonverbal communication.
This is because the face is the focal point in
conversation. It is widely reported now that
there are 7 universal facial expressions and in fact there are courses out there promoting this. I
don't buy into it but what I accept and promote is using these 7 expressions as groups into which
we can place all other expressions. We can actually produce over 3000 facial expressions which
are either Macro, micro, subtle or blended.
2. Gestures.
Gestures such as waving, pointing, are common non verbal cues you will see being used in
conversations every day. Other gestures are arbitrary and related to culture.personally I do not put
too much emphasis on gestures and see them as a point of reference to help evidence other
behaviour I have observed
3. Paralinguistics
The sounds we make which are not words. I call it the RSVP that being rhythm, speed, volume
and pitch As a life coach and NLP Practitioner I know the power of emphasis and tone especially
when I am conducting hypnotic relaxation techniques.
4. Body Language and Posture
Popularised by the media and in some questionable texts we are awash with
over-interpretation of arm and leg-crossing, nose touching etc. While these
nonverbal behaviors can indicate feelings and attitudes, research suggests that
body language is far more subtle and less definitive that previously believed.
5. Proxemics
We all know about "personal space," which is influenced by many things including the social and,
cultural contexts, personality and level of familiarity.
6. Eye Gaze
For me the eyes tell so much and are a primary source of information in my assessments, blink
rate, pupil dilation, gaze and eye direction can when taken alongside other cues from speech and
body movement provide a vast amount of information.
7. Haptics
There has been a substantial amount of research on the importance of touch in infancy and early
childhood. Touch can be used to communicate affection, familiarity and agreement.
8. Appearance
We way we look says a lot about us. The type and colour of clothing, hairstyles, and other factors
affecting appearance are all a type of nonverbal communication. It is widely reported that different
colours can evoke different moods. We all make mainly subconscious decisions based on how
someone looks.Just think of all the subtle judgments you quickly make about someone based on
his or her appearance.
Researchers have found that appearance can play a role in how people are perceived and even
how much they earn.
So there we have it those are the elements that I believe make up our human behavioural patterns.
The important thing to remember is that contrary to some I believe we all have our own body
language which is unique to us as an individual. Therefore to correctly assess and make decisions
we have to first obtain a sample of that individuals normal behaviour so that we can assess it in a
like for like situation.
Next we need to introduce a stimulus which would encourage an emotional response. An example
may be simply asking how someone felt about an emotive subject and watching how they respond.
Finally it has to be understood that individual cues mean little in isolation and we should therefore
always seek out clusters of behaviour. Most importantly what you see must be taken in context as
this can change everything.
So there we have it my views on the subject it will take me my whole life to really know this stuff
and every Country I visit provides me with more information and learning. If there is one thing I
have learned it is this human beings are individuals and unique and trying to analyse their
behaviour is an art. So don't ever think that the body language learning group is all one way I'm
learning as much from it as you. So thanks for educating me.
Bob Pointer

Studying Human Behaviour

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