Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Nonverbal Communication Analysis & Self-Test # 2252:
How Self-Aware are you?
Plane Crashes with Collateral Damage to Cars & Highway





If you haven't seen this video yet, here is a quick nonverbal self-assessment. Red Wings Airlines flight 9268 crashed on runway 19 on 29 December 2012 at Moscow's Vnukovo International Airport with eight crew members and no passengers aboard. Thus far there have been a total of five fatalities and the remaining three people are in critical condition. The plane broke up upon impact with portions of it crashing at high speed onto the M3 Highway.

A large part of body language is self-awareness. The more aware you are of subtleties of your own emotions and their nonverbals, the more nuanced you'll become at evaluating others. There is also the distinct advantage of a much more accurate and rapid emotional sensitivity feed-back loop, so as to use your own emotions to your advantage. Most people have very little perception of their own displays - even fairly dramatic ones. This blunting of awareness phenomenon is particularly true during emotional extremes, especially negative emotions.

When you see this video of the airplane crash and the debris hurl across the highway and strike cars - here are some of your own nonverbal displays you may notice:

1.  The corners of your mouth pull back and downwards
2.  Your jaw muscles tighten
3.  Clenching of your teeth
4.  Neck muscles tighten and tent up (the "Neck of Fear")
5.  Pulling back away from the screen of your head, neck and torso
6.  Rapid hand-to-sternum, hand-to-neck, or hand-covering mouth illustrators (Empathy)
7.  Generalized pulling-in of all four limbs, closer to center
8.  Flexing of the most of the major joints (think of a mild to moderate fetal position)
9.  Eyes (lids) open moderately to very wide.
10. Entire forehead contracted and entire eyebrow elevation followed by No.11
11. Central forehead contraction (CFC) with central eyebrow elevation
      (Empathy or Pain - Physical or Emotional Pain Emotional)
12. Abdominal muscle contraction
13. Flaring of nostrils
14. Increase sphincter muscle tone
15. Rapid intake of breath

These are some of the body language signals commonly seen as responses to fear, shock and after a second or two, some indicators of  empathy (No. 6 & 11). Obviously the closer you and your experience are to any real extreme event, the more dramatic these responses will be. However if after initially viewing this video, you do not experience to some degree these nonverbal displays and their corresponding emotions - you are desensitized or worse.

See also:

Negotiation Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 1106: Subtle Body Language of Fear Displayed by al-Assad

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 1696: George Zimmerman's Testimony - Fear, Incredulity, Regret & Contempt

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2159: Tom Hanks drops the F-bomb on GMA - Body Language of Fear, Surprise, MAPs and a Bitter Smile

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2019:  Sarah Palin's "Co-Hosting" on The Today Show - Her Body Language Shows She Fears Romney's Candidacy

Body Language Secret # 702: Blake Lively's Mouth of Fear, trying to Smile and  Forehead of Pain

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 329: The Neck of Fear

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2103: Great Example of a Microexpression of Fear

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2053: Strong Signal of Fear-Sadness Anxiety - Aurora, Colorado "Batman Shooting

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 931: Harbaugh's Body Language of Fear and Anxiety

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 1927: Italy's Fans watching Euro 2012 Final - Body Language Expressions of Fear




___________________________________________________________________________________