Education, study and knowledge

This is the body language of each personality type

Communicating is essential for human beings, being necessary to live in society and be able to understand and make ourselves understood. Fortunately, we have a very useful tool for this: language. But there is no single language, but in our interactions with others we can apply different types of language.

Specifically, body language is one of the most powerful communication tools we have. In addition, there is a link between our personality and the style of body language what do we use.

However, to understand this we must first take into account that language is capable of charging many forms and that our way of being is not only reflected in what we literally say through the words.

  • You may be interested in: "The Big 5 Personality Traits: Sociability, Responsibility, Openness, Kindness, and Neuroticism"

much more than words

Although in general when we talk about language we usually think of speech and verbal communication, we understand by language all that system used by one or more individuals to information be transmitted through a series of symbolic elements or signs whose meaning is shared by both interlocutors, and said emission of information may be voluntary or involuntary.

instagram story viewer

This communication is established with a specific objective, the act being able to have different functions such as informing, persuading, organizing one's own behavior or social bonding.

The types of body language

Language can also be classified according to what type of elements are used in the communicative exchange.

As regards body language, this can be classified thus:

gestural or kinesic

the kinesics refers to the use of gestures and movements in order to convey information, being especially useful to express the emotionality of the emitting individual.

proxemic

It is about what our general position communicates and the separation between the different components of the communicative situation. In other words, it is about the meaning of distances.

Separation or proximity between people indicates different degrees of trust and/or existing positions of power between individuals, as well as the relationship between what we say and what we mean by it (we get closer when we want to involve the other in what we say, for example). They distinguish between intimate, personal, social or public distances.

  • You may be interested in: "The 12 types of language (and their characteristics)"

The relationship between personality and body language

As we have seen, body language includes the gestures we make and the way we approach or distance ourselves of certain things or people.

Taking this into account, we can talk about the gestural language style associated with the main personality types:

1. shy personality

In social situations, shy people are more likely to keep their arms and legs close to the vertical axis of their chest. At the same time, show a tendency to look little in the eye of the people who associate with them.

On the other hand, it is common for them to keep their arms crossed in front of their chest. or join hands below the navel. They tend to keep a safe distance from people they don't know very well and are anxious to be touched by them, although this is not the case in some cultures.

2. open personality

This personality style is characterized by openness to experience and the search for new stimuli. As regards the non-verbal language associated with this class of people, it is characterized by expansive expressiveness, which means that separate the arms and legs from the vertical axis of the trunk very easily and that, in general, his posture denotes the relaxation of his muscles. For example, when sitting they can stretch and spread their legs a lot, unless they are in a very formal context.

Another characteristic of these people is that they do not show qualms when it comes to looking into the eyes of others. people, although they only do it to capture more data about them, not to communicate about themselves.

3. dominant personality

Dominant people express their power through their gestures and postures. Frequently make fast and powerful movements, with tense muscles, although it is not something they do constantly, since in that case these actions would lose their impact. They also tend to get very close to other people, using their gaze in a calculated way to show determination and intimidation: they look into the eyes in an intense and prolonged way so that it has to be the other person who apart.

4. friendly personality

The friendly personality is typical of individuals who constantly try to express that their intentions are good and that they don't need to keep their defenses up. They tend to do this by expressing subservience., which can be real or apparent, such as leaning the trunk slightly towards where the other person is and making slow and soft gestures that go from the interlocutor to some point external to him, which denotes that they take the perspective of the other.

5. neurotic personality

People with a neurotic personality style express their emotions in a disorganized and almost “unfiltered” way. This means that they can mix various gestural and proxemic styles over the course of a few hours, and also in a very marked and not very subtle way.

6. emotionally stable personality

These people keep a body language that tends towards neutrality, which means that the style they use to express how they feel is as stable as their state of mind.

  • Related article: "The 8 personality types according to Carl Gustav Jung"

Kretschemer's theory: relationship between body and temperament

Trait-focused explanations have not always reigned in the study of personality. At the beginning ...

Read more

Interested people: 4 keys to easily detect them

There is a widespread myth in Western societies related to the idea of ​​meritocracy. It is about...

Read more

Rebellious people: 9 traits of those who challenge the norms

Rebellious people are much more than a category of individuals who defy certain norms. Often, and...

Read more

instagram viewer