Psychology Dersi 3. Ünite Özet

Motivation And Emotion

Introduction

“Motives and emotions are influential in shaping human behaviors”. Motive is the power that gives energy to behaviors and directs them. Motives are covering wishes, needs, drives and interests that activate an organism to act towards a goal. While some motives are biologically inherent in all individuals, others have patterns changing from society to society. Still other motives vary according to individuals since they are learned ones. Motives are divided mainly into two groups; primary motives and social motives. Just like motives, emotions have an important role in shaping human behavior. However, it is possible to predict the behaviors to be induced by motives. Emotions, on the other hand, activate complex human behaviors and direct individuals to act in a unique and varying way. For this purpose, in this chapter, there are many theories explaining the emergence of motivation and emotion and their relationships with physiological changes in the body.

Motives

Motive: It is a general term covering wishes, needs, drives and interests that induce an organism to act towards a purpose.

Drive: Bodily needs such as hunger, thirst and sex creating state of tension or arousal are called a drives.

One of the most important aims of psychology is to explore the reasons of human and animal behaviors. Motivation plays an important role in the formation of behaviors and its variation from person to person. When you are hungry or thirsty, the first thing you do is to try to find a way to meet this need. If you are at home, you go to the kitchen to get some water from the fridge. If you are outside, you try to find a nearby restaurant to eat something. When you are hungry, you may want to eat something together with your friends rather than alone. In addition to hunger, you may also feel the need to share your lunch or to spend good time with someone. In short, motives play an important role in directing human behaviors and activating an organism. No behavior can be said to be random and spontaneous. There might be one reason or many reasons that induce the behaviors of an organism. Behaviors are always stimulated and shaped by motives. Being a concept related to demands, wishes and drives, motive stimulates an organism to act towards a certain goal. Motive is the power that gives energy to behaviors and directs them. Motive is an umbrella term covering wishes, needs, drives and interests that induce an organism to act towards a purpose. Physiological motives such as hunger, thirst and sex are called drive. Physiological needs of organisms to balance body processes by using many resources is called need. In addition, attainment, social approval and wish to achieve a social status, which greatly direct human behavior, are also called need.

Perspectives of Motivation

There are many approaches focusing on motivation, which direct human behaviors. It might be useful to examine these approaches briefly by mentioning about their general frameworks in order to make a better analysis of motivation. When an individual is deprived of basic needs for survival, stress level gets higher in the organism, which is naturally ready to act in case of stress. Organism quickly reacts to reduce this stress level. A hungry organism naturally acts to satisfy this need. When satisfaction process is over, organism turns into its original condition. In other words, the drive for specific behavior of the organism ends. What forces us to behave towards a goal are drives, which are the most obvious internal motivators in physiological issues such as thirst and sex, and needs, which is a term used to explain more complex drives such as affiliation, affection and social approval. It might be useful to explain the relationship between need and drive through hunger example case. When a person is hungry, the need for eating continually increases. At this point, hunger drive may not increase as much as the need. In other words, even if the need for eating increases, individual might forget about his hunger in a hectic day and miss a meal. However, this does not mean that the feeling of hunger subsides or the need for eating is over. In fact, the need to find food continuously increases. It is necessary to consider biological and psychological factors affecting this process. Biological need of the individual still remains; however, a problem or stress factor at work or fear of getting fat can prevent the individual from eating.

Incentives: Incentive refers to non-biological elements that appeal to an individual even if he does not feel any need and trigger him for an action accordingly.

Incentives refer to non-biological elements that appeal to an individual even if he does not feel any need and trigger him for an action accordingly. These elements might be in the form of objects or events that attract individual’s attention. In conclusion, although a cake may satisfy the need for food when the individual is hungry, eating a cake after a meal does not have to do with satisfying the need for eating.

Homeostasis: Homeostasis: It refers to a biological balance displaying an internal stable condition regarding how and how much food will be taken by the organism.

Homeostasis explains how much of these substances should be taken by body to keep a balance. According to Eysenck (2004) homeostatis is the tendency for an individual’s internal environment to remain fairly constant. The word “Homeostatis” come from two Greek words: First one is “homos” means “same” and “therme” means “heat”. Homeostasis, is often defined as biological balance and it maintains the balance in the body like a thermostats. When room temperature decreases or increases, thermostats turns off or turns on the central heating system. Similarly, our body tries to keep this balance during hunger or thirst through certain systems.

Ideally, each organism wants to keep a certain level of arousal. When this level is not met, organism searches for stimulants around. If an organism is over an optimal arousal level, it tries to maintain a certain level of arousal by looking for a calmer environment. The motivated behavior is an attempt to reduce the unpleasant state of tension in the body and to return the body to a state of homeostatis (Morris, 1996). So the drive reduction theory can explain why individuals feel the need to go to the places such as disco where loud music is played or to do paragliding. Normally, people do not need to jump from a high place. When the individual thinks that life is boring and there are not enough stimulants, such extreme activities help individuals to have a higher level of arousal.

Instinct: A complex behavior must have a fixed pattern throughout a species and be learned. Stereotype behavior patterns of all the species are called instinct. The migrations of storks and spiders’ spinning their webs are unique behaviors to a species. Inspired by these behavioral patterns, some psychologists claim that there might be instinctual elements inherent in human behaviors such as love and hate etc. The fact that human behaviors are not only innate, they can be developed later on, and common human behaviors are not observed as many times as individually unique behaviors weakens the relationship between intuition and human beings. People learn most of their behaviors later on and often show behaviors unique to them rather than stereotype behaviors. That is why it is difficult to explain human behavior through instinct. Another perspective to explain behaviors is related to unconscious motives. There are often times when the reasons of human behaviors are not known or understood. In such situations, people are not exactly aware of why they behave in a particular way. According to Freud, unnoticed motives direct majority of human behaviors. Individuals suppress their disturbing wishes and motives they do not want to remember into their unconscious. The wishes and motives, in fact, do not disappear and continue to be present there and direct individuals’ behaviors. The individual is often unaware of this situation.

Hierarchy of Motives

Primary Motives

Primary Motives: refer to common and unlearned drives that emerge due to biological needs and direct human behaviors accordingly.

Primary motives refer to common and unlearned drives that emerge due to biological needs and direct human behaviors accordingly. All biological drives such as hunger, thirst and sexuality are among primary drives. It might be useful to examine these drives in order to understand how primary drives emerge and direct human behaviors.

Hunger and Thirst: Some researchers claim that some parts of the brain are stimulated depending on simple blood sugar level called glycoses. Hypothalamus is the center directing the reactions related to hunger in the body. It also controls eating process as hunger and thirst control center. The nerve cells in this center function according to glycoses level in blood. When insulin is released to blood directly, it lowers blood sugar level and feeling of hunger emerges. Similarly, when glycoses is released to the blood, feeling of hunger disappears.

The emotions of the individual are also important in shaping hunger drive. Some people tend to eat more and more when they are angry or hopeless. Similarly, when we have problems, we lose our appetite. Also, if you receive a phone call about the death of one of your relatives just before you sit at a dinner table which has your favorite dishes, you may lose your appetite. Just like hunger, thirst is also regulated depending on biological and environmental factors. The need to drink water is felt when water salt-balance of the body is distorted. To illustrate, bars offer free of charge snacks together with drinks as a marketing strategy since these snacks will increase salt level in the body, so customers are likely to drink more. In addition, external stimulants such the image of an ice-cold drink displayed on summer days are likely to increase the need for drinking. How this drive is satisfied may also change according to seasons. While the image of a cold drink might increase the need for drinking on summer days, the image of a hot tea might decrease that need. Cultural differences also affect how hunger – a common biological factor among individuals, is satisfied. Most of us might find different foods eaten in different cultures weird. Called “taste”, this difference changes from culture to culture and shape the feeling of hunger.

Sex: Sex, the primary drive related to reproduction behavior, is stimulated through biological and environmental factors. This drive differs from other primary drives such as hunger and thirst in some ways. While hunger and thirst are essential for the survival of an organism, sexuality is important only for the continuation of a species. Chemical messengers such as testosterone hormone secreted into the bloodstream by the endocrine glands strongly influence the human sex drive for both men and women. Testosterone level alone does not determine sexual desire (Morris, 1996). Some people have active interest in sex in spite of their low testosterone level. In addition to hormones controlled by the central nerve system, the smell of a perfume, a sexuality-based advertisement and erotic dreams are among the factors affecting the emergence of sexual behavior. Moral values and rules of a society determine the pattern and density of sexual behavior. Sexual behavior differs from hunger and thirst drives in some ways. To illustrate, when hunger and thirst drives are not satisfied for a long time, the organism may die. However, this is not the case for sexuality behavior. In addition, the number of stimulants that might trigger sexuality motive is quite high. While hunger and thirst are directly affected by stimulants related with these needs, anything might be a stimulant for sexuality. In addition, organism spends energy while satisfying sex motive, but satisfaction of hunger or thirst provides energy for the body. Also, the motive of hunger or thirst increases even if the individual does not want. In sexuality, the individual wishes and starts the arousal and later searches for ways to relieve this tension.

Stimulus Motives

Stimulant-based motives, which are examples of unlearned motives, mainly depend on external stimulants and aim to obtain information from nearby environment. Motives such as curiosity and scrutiny direct individuals to search and change nearby environment (Morris, 2002).

Exploration and Curiosity: In general, people want to learn what there is in a dark room, where an unknown road leads to and how the telephone works. Sometimes the answers to such questions may not have vital importance for people. Therefore, this motive is only about obtaining information and does not have any other important contribution to the individual. There are many different views about curiosity. While some researchers evaluate curiosity as an emotion, Freud defines it as the reflection of sexual drive in a socially appropriate way. Similarly, some researchers see curiosity as a need to find the meaning of life, while others associate it with intelligence and creativity. Curiosity is also useful for selfdevelopment and it encourages research. It can be considered a facilitating power to help individuals to reach the better. They can discover new situations, and when they are bored with what is discovered, they can find new things to discover. In short, curiosity and research are the basis of development and progress.

Manipulation: Psychologists argue that individuals’ wish to touch and understand is irresistible so they emphasize that people need to understand some things by touching and relax when they touch them. An individual can satisfy himself by manipulation of a new device he does not know. In addition, counting beads, playing with a ring on the finger and fiddling with a pencil during a lesson help individuals relax.

Social Motives

In addition to innate motives such as hunger, thirst and sexuality, individuals acquire new motives through learning. Social motives -which include being together, power and affiliation- are about interpersonal relationships and as influential as unlearned motives on human behaviors. While the motives such as hunger, thirst and sexuality are common motives of humans, social motives - the learned motives- are shaped by social life and social values although they are sometimes affected by biological needs. Failing to satisfy hunger and thirst motives can cause biological problems; however, when learned motives are not satisfied, psychological problems occur rather than biological ones. Such needs may change from culture to culture. While social acceptance need, which is about social approval and living in harmony with others without disturbing them, is more dominant in Turkish culture, independence need is more influential in American society, which states that individual do not need anybody to survive (Cüceloğlu, 2006).

Need for Achievement: Need for achievement refers to doing your best while working on a task and feeling pleasure about its consequences. This need is more dominant in industry societies, where competition is an important factor, and has a great effect on human behavior. The individuals with higher need for achievement work more carefully in their jobs to have better outcomes. They get higher grades than those having low level need for achievement and are promoted to higher positions in business life. A rise in the salary is a motivation factor for them since it is a proof of personal success rather than being a financial advantage. It is known that how individuals are brought up is important in the development of need for attainment. The fact that this need changes from culture to culture is a proof of this point of view. If a child is highly dependent on his family, he will do everything for his family and seek for their approval in his behaviors. What is important for individuals with high level need for attainment is to do his job as perfectly as possible. Here, need for attainment should not be confused with fear of failure. The individuals with high level fear of failure prefer tasks with higher possibility of success and avoid other difficult tasks even if they have the potential to succeed.

The Need for Affiliation: Having relationships with other people in the society and the need to be closer to them are among the most important needs that shape human behaviors. An individual needs to be together with others in the society, get their approval and be in harmony with the society. For instance, joining a social group or an association and even starting a conversation with people while waiting in a line to buy a ticket or travelling on a bus are all about the need to have relationships with other people. This need may vary from person to person. While some people considerably need to start relationships with other people, others prefer to be alone and away from others.

The Need for Power: Some people feel the need to control the events and people nearby. Fatalism, which means waiting for the consequences of events, is more dominant in some societies. On the other hand, other societies want to control the situation and reach the desired consequences. For instance, the elder people who have the initiative to control the events are more advantageous in terms of long and healthy life.

The Hierarchy of Needs

The needs from the bottom level to the top can be listed as follows respectively:

  • Basic physiological needs such as hunger, thirst, breathing, sexuality and sleeping
  • The need for safety for family, job and properties
  • Social needs related to love and belonging such as family, social groups, close friendship
  • The need for the appreciation of value, achievement and respect
  • Self-actualization which covers the superiority of morality, creativity and problem solution

According to Maslow, it is not possible to meet the needs at upper levels without satisfying the ones at a lower level. An individual who cannot satisfy his hunger is not expected to seek for a romantic relationship or some ways to achieve self-realization. Similarly, an individual who has been hungry for a long time is not expected to eat according to social rules when he finds food. In business world, the primary goal for a person who just starts a job is to meet his physiological needs. Later, he will try to guarantee his position in the company through social security rights. When this individual meets these needs, he will commit himself to his work and enjoy it. Still later, he will seek for way to satisfy his “need for respect and appreciation”. Finally, he will try to achieve selfactualization, which is the last step involving the attempts to do his best by using his full potential. Unfortunately, very few people can reach this step.

When an individual faces a problem while satisfying a need at a higher step, he turns back to the previous one and might have some problems accordingly. To illustrate, when a woman breaks up with her boyfriend, she may tend to eat a lot since her need for affection and belonging are not satisfied. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is criticized because of some exceptions observed in practical terms. To illustrate, although some families have difficulties in meeting their first level physiological needs due to financial problems, they might satisfy their “being together” need, which is a need at a higher level. In other words, despite financial problems, a family may succeed in being together. In addition, a person brought up in a family giving importance to education may spend his money on books rather than on food even if he is hungry. For instance, a mother often feeds her children rather than herself, and there are many women who give up their career to bring up their child. Also, history has witnessed many examples of great science and art achievements in the regions experiencing serious problems in terms of food, shelter and safety.

According to Maslow, the highest level need in the Hierarchy of Needs is self-realization. Very few people can reach that level and some individuals may experience it although they may never achieve it. Completing a task in the best way, helping someone without expecting anything in return, admiring a work of art and the happiness felt when an individual becomes a father are clear examples of the situation. Other examples can be listed as follows: taking some successful figures in history as role models to explore the personality characteristics necessary for self-realization; being tolerant to uncertainties; accepting others as they are; being creative; focusing on problems rather than individuals; having a sense of humor; focusing on human welfare; ability to turn failures into opportunities and being able to adopt an objective point of view to life.

Emotions

Emotions are complex processes that affect human behaviors. In fact, emotions, which can be defined as what individuals feel about something, are the drives that induce behaviors. Human beings have been programmed in a way to be able to make contingency plans to handle life-related issues. The word “emotion” derives from the Latin word “motere”, which means, “move”. In other words, it comes from the exact word e-motion; that is, the moving energy. Emotions assume a binding role between environmental factors and behavioral consequences. At this point, emotions prepare and activate behavioral patterns (Lord and Kanfer, 2002). Accordingly, it is possible to define emotions as complex and patterned organism-specific reactions that help us to realize our wishes. Emotions emerge when nearby environment is perceived, activate internal organs and cause differences in the body, behaviors and consciousness (Cüceloğlu, 2006).

Emotions emerge at different levels in the body. Although different theories define the order of levels in different ways, the following three levels are observed in every emotion experience. The first level is subjective emotional experience, in which each individual experiences emotions according to their perceptional framework. How individuals perceive them determines how and to what extent this emotion will be experienced. Other individuals cannot feel an emotion in the same way as an individual does. Another level of emotional experience is emotional behavior level. The behavior based on a specific emotion gives clues about this emotion to the people around the individual. If a person is crying or laughing, we can say that he is unhappy or happy. Since individuals can feel only their own emotions, they can learn about others’ emotions by making interpretations on their behaviors. The third level related to emotional experience is physiological reactions in the body. A noticeable increase due to an emotion in the heartbeat and breathing as well as some changes in intestine and stomach can be listed as the examples of this level. These three levels occur in relation with each other and the emotion experienced. Individuals experience an excitement case depending on the emotion. Later, they reflect this emotion, which is unknown to others, through certain behaviors and this behavior is accompanied with certain physiological changes in the body. Intense emotions such as rage or fear cause some physiological changes in the body. For instance, when we are afraid of something, our heart beats faster, our mouth gets dry, we sweat, shiver, and feel heartburn in the stomach. Most of these physiological reactions of the body occur when the sympathetic division of autonomic nervous system activates. The following are changes in the sympathetic nervous system:

  • The heart beats faster and breathing gets quicker
  • The pupils get bigger
  • Saliva excretion stops
  • In order to be used in case of emergency, more blood is directed to skeleton muscles to coordinate movements and to brain for decision making processes-instead of to stomach or intestines
  • Blood sugar becomes more intense in the blood to provide energy
  • Blood clots faster

When intense emotion period is over, parasympathetic nervous system turns the body into its normal functions through certain balancing systems. The physiological changes in the body in relation to emotions are also used for the working principles of a lie detector. Unusual increase in heartbeat, dry mouth and similar physiological reactions are the signs of excitement, and they are used to make decisions about whether a person is lying or not.

Emotion and Behavior Relationship

Since emotions play a great role in shaping human behaviors, it is often a popular topic studied directly in the field of psychology. Emotions can be defined as the basic motivating factors shaping human behaviors. Just like motives, they induce behaviors and direct them. Therefore, they are the primary factors just like motives to shape behaviors. Motives and emotion-excitement may differ while shaping human behaviors. It is possible to predict how motives will end up with which behaviors. For instance, it is easy to say that a person who is hungry will seek ways to eat something and he will try to drink something when he is thirsty. However, it would be wrong to make inferences implying that a common human behavior will be induced by an emotion or excitement.

The emotions experienced by an individual not only activate certain behaviors of this individual but also induce the behaviors of others. In addition, these emotions may change the atmosphere of nearby environment as well. For instance, an angry husband entering the house may affect and change the emotions of other members of the family. On the other hand, the emotions experienced by an individual may affect his performance while working on a task as well. Emotional density is important for achievement. According to Yerkes-Dodson Law, high levels of anxiety before doing a task may cause some problems such as difficulty in completing the task although he would easily complete it unless anxiety existed. On the other hand, low levels of emotion such as low levels of anxiety for a task may also have negative effects on individuals’ performances. To illustrate, an athlete may experience problems in his performance when he underestimates others in a race or has high levels of anxiety before the race. At this point, anxiety will lead to lack of self-confidence and fear, which will, in turn, bring failure. Generally speaking, all emotions accompany with physiological changes, stereotyped body movements and facial expressions. Although these reactions vary from culture to culture, they are associated with subjective judgments. Expressions of emotions are coordinated by limbic system and autonomous system in the brain. Right brain can be said to be more effective in terms of the management of emotions.

Classification of Emotions

There is not a clear consensus for a common principle among researchers regarding the classification of emotions. While some researchers classify emotions as positive and negative, others prefer the terms liked and not liked. Robert Plutchik, who divided emotions into 8 main categories, introduced one of the most important attempts for the classifications of emotions: The basic emotions ensuring adaptation to the environment are listed as follows:

  • Fear
  • Joy
  • Anger
  • Sadness
  • Disgust
  • Anticipation
  • Acceptance
  • Surprise

All of the above mentioned emotions are thought to have a function in terms of adaptation to nearby environment. For instance, while fear helps living creatures to be prepared for reactional behaviors to protect themselves, fury and anger remove the danger through aggressive behavior.

Theories of Emotion

James Lange Theory

James-Lange theory, which claims that physiological changes trigger emotions, has been severely criticized. Specific physiological changes are expected to be programmed in the autonomous system for each single emotion in order to initiate such physiological changes. The main points criticized in this theory can be listed as follows (Atkinson, 2002):

  • Since internal organs are not supported as strongly as other organs by nervous system, internal changes occur very slowly. Thus, it is not possible to associate internal organs with excitement and emotions.
  • It is possible to artificially obtain such physiological changes in the body by taking medicine. In other words, when a medicine or substance is taken to the body, similar physiological changes occur, but this does not mean that emotion will be experienced or it may not be experienced as dense as the naturally occuring changes.
  • Individuals may react differently for the same emotion. For instance, fear results in crying with some individuals but other behaviors such as shivering with others. James-Lange theory is not sufficient to explain this situation.
  • Autonomous system may not give very different reactions to emotional experiences. Anger or seeing a beloved one may cause similar physiological reactions such as faster heartbeat. At this point, it is not possible to expect a different reaction for each single emotion.

Cannon Bard Theory

According to Walter Cannon and Philip Bard, the founders of this theory, the physical reactions such as being alert about the danger are accompanied with emotional experiences. When a stimulant is perceived, brain activates muscles and cognitive activity that involves the previous experiences related to that specific emotion. Thus, Cannon– Bard theory suggests that emotions accompany physiological reaction. In contrast, James-Lange theory argues that emotions induce physiological changes. JamesLange theory suggests that emotions emerge as a result of the reactions of the body. It also claims that we fear because we run away; we do not run away because we are afraid. As in the example of avoiding an accident by using your reflexes not to hit a child, flight reaction occurs first and later emotions emerge according to the reactions given by the body. Although James-Lange theory received a lot of attention when it was first introduced, Cannon-Bard theory is important because it improved James-Lange theory by correcting its weaknesses and inaccuracies. According to Cannon-Bard theory, emotions do not emerge as a reaction to physiological conditions. Organism activates physical reaction at the same time as emotions. In other words, emotions and physiological reactions emerge simultaneously.

At this point, the most serious criticism for Cannon-Bard theory is about the claim that emotions and the reaction of the body are simultaneously stimulated. For instance, when pain or risk of danger are perceived, this can increase physiological stimulation even before we feel the fear and anxiety. Sometimes, body is stimulated for flight from a momentary danger even before we feel related emotions. Suppose that you try to avoid a dangerous situation displaying a sort of reflex. Here, the body stimulates muscles and other parts of the body for possible reactions. Therefore, emotions emerge right after the event occurs. At this point, it is necessary to establish stronger relationship between cognitive activities and physiological changes following right after the connection made with external event.

Cognitive Theory

Placebo effect: It is a term used to explain how some individuals recover from illnesses by taking fake medicine without receiving a real treatment. They take fake medicine thinking that they are real, so they believe that they are receiving medical treatment.

In cognitive theories, mental processes such as perception, mentality, the methods of coding, recalling the knowledge and experience gained and thinking styles – which are also defined as cognitive elements affect how physiological changes are shaped. At this point, Stanley Schachter and Jerome E. Singer theory states that the factors related to cognition play a great role in shaping human behaviors. Unlike physiology based theories, Schachter and Singer claim that it is difficult to find a physiological basis for each single emotion. In fact, what makes emotions different is our cognitive value judgments that we attribute to emotions. Cognitive theories, which involve mental processes such as recalling and how we perceive and think, affect how emotions emerge. In short, cognitive factors play an important role in how our emotions differ and change from person to person.

In the treatment of some psychological illnesses, some fake pills are used instead of a real medicine. This placebo effect helps patients feel good and experience positive emotions. Although these fake pills do not have physiological effects, they cause emotional relaxation for the patient.

Sociobiological Theory

Humans display social behaviors as a social entity. These behaviors have evolved through a natural process throughout history. While some behaviors have disappeared, some new behaviors have emerged. Emotions have also passed through similar stages. While some emotions have disappeared, some have successfully retained. Such emotions help individuals to adapt himself to the environment.

The Expression of Emotions

People reflect their emotions to their words and behaviors. It is possible to convey emotions to other individuals either through verbal or non-verbal communication channels.

In addition to verbally expressed emotions, individuals can communicate without uttering a word or writing. Postures and eye movement as well as other body movements can be used to convey a message. This type of communication is called non-verbal communication (Can et.al 2006). It has an important place in face-to-face communication as a way to express emotions, and body movements, gestures and mimics are used for this type of communication. Gestures and mimics can be performed as both intentional and unintentional behaviors and they play a great role in the realization of an effective communication by supporting emotions and thoughts and making them concrete. Gestures and mimics can be classified into two main groups (Yüksel, 2003). Basic gestures and mimics: They are defined as the movements supporting emotions and thoughts and make them concrete. They are classified in three different groups:

  • Expressive gestures and mimics: They refer to movements expressing biopsychology based basic emotions expressed on the face. These universal emotions such as happiness, rage, astonishment, sadness, disgust etc are common emotions of human beings.
  • Social gestures and mimics: They are the movements individuals have to perform because of their social role.
  • Schematic gestures and mimics: The movements of theater players and pantomime performers can be classified in this group. The job-related movements are also in this group, such as the movements of brokers in a stock exchange.

Secondary gestures and mimics: They involve non-social body movements associated with body needs such as yawning, sneezing and coughing. They can give clues about the source as well. For instance, yawning many times can reflect the reactions of the individual to an ongoing speech. People often use facial expressions to express their emotions. We can learn about people’s emotions by analyzing their facial expressions such as crying, frowning, laughing and curled lips. Most of these facial expressions are innate; not learned ones. It is possible for an individual to understand whether a person is angry or not from his facial expressions regardless of his culture. Research clearly revealed that basic emotion expressions such as anger, happiness, sadness, fear and surprise do not change from culture to culture. However, there are also special facial expressions specific to an individual or a culture. It is easier to reflect some emotions such as affection, fear and happiness by using facial expressions. It is relatively more difficult to express disgust, suffering and contempt in a natural way. Eye contact during communication can be a way to express emotions. For instance, eye contact and a glimpse convey the message “I like you” to the other sex especially in conservative societies where men women relationships are somewhat limited. Body language is important for conveying the message related to emotion in communication processes. Most of the time, whether people are angry or nervous, happy or sad can be reflected through body movements.

Gestures and Mimics: They make emotions and thoughts tangible and concrete by accompanying the expression of emotions and thoughts.

The physical distance between individuals during communication is another factor in non-verbal communication. People often keep a relatively longer physical distance when they talk to a stranger or in their daily formal conversations. This distance gets closer when they talk to acquaintances. Personal distance changes from culture to culture.


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