Hugill Nadine, Fink Bernhard, Neave Nick
Department of Sociobiology/Anthropology, Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.
Evol Psychol. 2010 Feb 18;8(1):66-89. doi: 10.1177/147470491000800107.
It is common scientific knowledge, that most of what we say within a conversation is not only expressed by the words' meaning alone, but also through our gestures, postures, and body movements. This non-verbal mode is possibly rooted firmly in our human evolutionary heritage, and as such, some scientists argue that it serves as a fundamental assessment and expression tool for our inner qualities. Studies of nonverbal communication have established that a universal, culture-free, non-verbal sign system exists, that is available to all individuals for negotiating social encounters. Thus, it is not only the kind of gestures and expressions humans use in social communication, but also the way these movements are performed, as this seems to convey key information about an individual's quality. Dance, for example, is a special form of movement, which can be observed in human courtship displays. Recent research suggests that people are sensitive to the variation in dance movements, and that dance performance provides information about an individual's mate quality in terms of health and strength. This article reviews the role of body movement in human non-verbal communication, and highlights its significance in human mate preferences in order to promote future work in this research area within the evolutionary psychology framework.
在日常对话中，我们所说的大部分内容不仅通过词语本身的含义来表达，还借助手势、姿势和身体动作来传达，这是常见的科学常识。这种非语言交流方式可能深深植根于人类的进化遗产，因此，一些科学家认为它是我们内在品质的基本评估和表达工具。对非语言交流的研究已经证实，存在一种通用的、不受文化限制的非语言符号系统，所有人都可以用它来进行社交互动。所以，不仅人类在社交交流中使用的手势和表情很重要，这些动作的执行方式似乎也能传达有关个人品质的关键信息。例如，舞蹈是一种特殊的动作形式，在人类求偶展示中就能观察到。最近的研究表明，人们对舞蹈动作的变化很敏感，舞蹈表演能从健康和力量方面提供有关个人配偶质量的信息。本文回顾了身体动作在人类非语言交流中的作用，并强调了其在人类配偶偏好中的重要性，以期推动进化心理学框架下该研究领域的未来工作。
