Body language

How fluent are you in reading body language? Can you read the way people walk or talk? Did you know that one's creativity could be explored through meditation practices?

Did you know that you are carrying a virtual map in your head that just tells you where to go if you want to go to the cafeteria or your physics class?

What are your views on visiting psychologists? You think you need to be "mad" to do it?

These questions and many others were covered during the University of Middlesex Dubai's Second UAE General Psychology Conference held last week at the Dubai Knowledge Village.

The annual event brought together more than 200 students from six colleges and high schools. Participants included Fujairah Women's College, Sharjah Women's College, Emirates International School, American School of Dubai, Jumeirah College and the English College.

The conference aims to introduce students to psychology's different fields through speeches by keynote speakers from Middlesex University in the UK and local professionals.

Topics covered during the conference included: how to be fluent in body language, virtual reality in psychology, psychology in health and psychology in action.

"The conference is an opportunity for students to get an idea of what psychology is like and what it is about. What we did this year was discuss different topics. For example we covered issues such as how to survive a trauma and achieve growth, motivation and creativity," said Dr Annie Crookes, psychology lecturer, subject co-ordinator and conference organiser.

She added that next year there will be concentration on other psychology-related issues such as forensic and sports psychology.

"We generally choose the topics according to what is new at the time. However, sports psychology is an interesting subject, especially since it does not exist here and it is interesting to explore," she said.

The one-day event met with students' approval. Descriptions such as "interesting", "pretty sweet idea" and a "good event" were the comments from students.

"I think it is good because you get an idea of what the field is about. It is more helpful than going to a university fair," said Oliver Miocic from the American College of Dubai.

The session on How to be Fluent in Reading Body Language proved to be a top favourite among the students.

"Yeah I liked the body language lecture because we do different things every day and it was interesting to see an explanation and put things into context," said Pateil Tuysuzian, a year 11 student.

How to be fluent in reading body language?

Dr Mark Coulson, psychology principal lecturer at Middlesex University, UK, tells you by addressing three questions that relate to understanding body language. He was speaking at a lecture session at the University of Middlesex Dubai's Second UAE General Psychology Conference last week.

What makes people like each other?

• Your spoken words (7%);
• Tone of voice (38 %)
• And body language (55 %) are the three components on which this is based.

Example: "So if I speak in Russian and no one understands the language, 93 per cent of the impression people will get of me will be from the tone of my voice and my body language. The irony is even though the spoken word makes up a small percentage of the whole process, it is still very crucial for people to establish if they like me or not, despite the [other] 93 per cent," said Coulson.

How do we tell what other people feel?

• We all have personal space. It differs from one person to another based on culture and personality type.
  
  Example: "Sometimes your personal space is bigger than the person's you are talking to. So as a reaction for having your space invaded, you would take a step to the back to keep the distance. The other person will then take a step forward to achieve a satisfying distance. At the end of the day, the constant movement will look like a dance!" said Coulson.
  
• Personal space is shaped like a teardrop. People may feel threatened and uncomfortable when someone invades their space from the front, but they feel even more so when it happens from the back.

What do people's movements tell us?

Some gestures have various meanings in different societies and cultures. The ‘V' sign may mean victory and peace in some cultures, but mean something rude in another.

There are three ways in which people look at others while holding a conversation with them:

1. Look the person in the eye
2. Look away while speaking
3. Look at the person's face, but not in the eyes.

"The first two are fine. The third is not, because people will start thinking that there is something wrong with their hair or brows," said Coulson.

Mirroring: To make someone comfortable when talking to them, you may start copying their body language… like subtly mimicking the way they are standing. If you do, just make sure the other person does not notice it, feel uncomfortable that you are imitating him or her and break the conversation. You need to do it subtly.