ABSTRACT

Challenging all of our old assumptions about the subject, Rethinking Body Language builds on the most recent cutting-edge research to offer a new theoretical perspective on this subject that will transform the way we look at other people. In contrast to the traditional view that body language is primarily concerned with the expression of emotions and the negotiation of social relationships, author Geoff Beattie argues instead that gestures reflect aspects of our thinking but in a different way to verbal language. Critically, the spontaneous hand movements that people make when they talk often communicate a good deal more than they intend.

This ground-breaking book takes body language analysis to a whole new level. Engagingly written by one of the leading experts in the field, it shows how we can detect deception in gesture–speech mismatches and how these unconscious movements can give us real insight into people's underlying implicit attitudes.

chapter |15 pages

Two Separate Languages?

chapter |6 pages

Where the Action is

chapter |17 pages

‘A Remarkable Biological Miracle'

chapter |10 pages

Images in the Hands, Images in the Mind

chapter |11 pages

Different Vehicles of Meaning

chapter |12 pages

Speech is only Half the Story

chapter |21 pages

Who or What the Hands Portray

chapter |11 pages

How Metaphoric Gestures Affect US

chapter |30 pages

How Iconic Gestures Can Leak the Truth

chapter |4 pages

Concluding Remarks