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Words exchanged between people are tremendously influential in the kinds of relationships they develop and the impressions they form of each other. Another very important element of interpersonal perception is the behavior that accompanies our communication (Hall, Coats, & LeBeau, 2005; Weisbuch, Seery, Ambady, & Blascovich, 2009). Nonverbal behavior and communication form the foundation of human social behavior (Ambady & Weisbuch, 2010) and are essential to the smooth functioning of nonhuman primate societies, such as chimpanzee groups (Preston & de Waal, 2002). In this section we’ll talk about two categories of nonverbal communication: body language and emotional expression, both of which provide information to other people about what we are thinking, feeling, and intending.

Nonverbal behavior includes any perceptible social behavior that is extra linguistic and not primarily intended to manipulate the physical world (Ambady & Weisbuch, 2010; Depaulo & Friedman, 1998). Paul Ekman broke down nonverbal communicative behaviors into five categories, each with a different communicative function: emblems, illustrators, manipulators, regulators, and emotional expressions (Ekman, 2004). Emblems are gestures that have a direct linguistic translation into one or two words or a phrase. A great example of an emblem is the fist pump, which many athletes, like golfer Tiger Woods, display to convey a celebratory Yeah! Other examples include elements of sign language and gestures such as the “OK” signal or the Y-shaped peace sign. Illustrators are gestures that help to illustrate what is being said, and they typically accompany rather than replace words. Pointing to an object or holding one’s hands a certain distance apart to convey a particular size are illustrators.

The third type of nonverbal behavior consists of regulators, which help to guide interactions between people. For instance, nodding one’s head can represent “mm-hmm,” and turning one’s head and body away from one conversation partner to signal that it is time for him to stop talking and to yield the floor to another conversation partner. Ekman calls his fourth category adaptors and describes them as behaviors that, while they may have once been performed to fulfill a bodily need or to manage emotions or interpersonal contacts, have evolved to serve a communicative function. For instance, children may learn to self-groom in order to improve their appearance, but as adults may engage in the same behavior even when grooming is not intended. Thus scratching one’s head may become a symbol for deep thinking, whereas wiping the forehead can suggest a tiring thought or situation (Ekman, 2004). The final category is affective displays or emotional expressions and is the subject of the next section.