The 5 types of gestures and their classification in nonverbal communication.

Voluntary or involuntary movements that have a relevant role in communication.

Communication between two or more people can be verbal (use of linguistic signs in the message) and nonverbal. The latter, nonverbal communication, is the process in which there is a sending and receiving of messages without words. sending and receiving messages without wordsthat is to say, through 3 elements: signs, gestures and signals.

In this article we will talk about the types of gestures we use when communicating with each other.. These gestures will accompany or not our verbal message, and will enrich, adapt or modulate what we want to transmit.

Gestures in nonverbal communication

When relating to people, we use verbal and nonverbal communication, and we use a large number of gestures to add value to what we are saying orally. We also use gestures to modulate interactions, regulating our participation and that of other interlocutors. Different types of gestures will have one function or another, as we will see below.

A gesture is a bodily movement of the joints. There are different types of gestures, although they are mainly made with the hands, arms and head.

A gesture is not the same as a gesticulation.Gesticulation implies an anarchic, artificial and inexpressive movement, while a gesture is usually expressive, and will want to contribute something to the verbal message (or modulate it).

Gestures are included within motor expressions, and these in turn are part of a person's non-verbal behavior.

In addition to gestures, motor expressions are formed by facial expressions and postural behaviors..

Types of gestures

We can talk about the types of gestures that we will see below.

1. Emblematic gestures or emblems

Emblems are signals emitted intentionally, with a specific and very clear meaning.. In this case the gesture represents a well-known word or set of words.

They are gestures that can be directly translated into words, for example: waving the hand as a sign of farewell, or nodding "no".

2. Illustrative or illustrative gestures

These are produced during verbal communication, and serve to illustrate what is being said orally. These are conscious gestures, which vary greatly according to culture. They are linked to language, but differ from emblems in that they do not have a translatable meaning. they do not have a directly translatable meaningThe gesture serves the word, since the word to which they are attached does not give them their meaning.

That is to say, the gesture "serves" the word, it does not signify it. How does it serve it? By emphasizing it, emphasizing it or imposing on it a rhythm that the word alone would not have.

An example of an illustrative gesture is any body movement that plays an auxiliary role in nonverbal communication, for example, moving the hands up and down as if "flapping", to indicate "very much" or "far away".

3. Gestures expressing emotional states or pathographs

Continuing with types of gestures, pathographs are gestures that express emotional statesThey play a similar role to illustrative gestures, but they should not be confused. In this case, they are similar in that, like them, they also accompany the word, and give it greater dynamism. However, they differ in that pathographers, as we have seen, reflect the emotional state of the sender, while the illustrator is emotionally neutral.

Thus, the illustrative gesture consists of a more cultural form of expression, while the pathographer arises from the emotional state of the moment.

Through pathographs one can express the anxiety or tension of the moment, triumph and joy, discomfort, happiness, pain, etc.

4. Gestures regulating the interaction

These are movements produced by both the sender and the receiver in a communicative interaction.The purpose of these gestures is to regulate the interventions in the interaction. They are signs to take over the conversation. They also play an essential role during the beginning or end of the conversation (e.g. shaking hands in greeting or farewell).

They can be used to speed up or slow down the interlocutor. (for example, making circles with the index finger and wrist to speed up, or with the palm of the open hand tapping in the air to slow it down). They can also indicate to the interlocutor that he can continue speaking, or give him to understand that we give him the floor.

In psychotherapy, regulating gestures play an essential role in relation to listening. an essential function in relation to the active listening of the patient. of the patient. Such listening implies the ability to listen not only to what the person is expressing directly, but also to the feelings, ideas or thoughts that underlie what is being said.

The most common regulatory gestures are head nods (such as nodding) and staring. Quick head nods imply the message to hurry up and finish speaking, while slow head nods ask the speaker to continue and indicate to the listener that he or she finds what is being said interesting and likes it.

5. Adaptive or adaptive gestures

Finally, the last types of gestures that we are going to define are adaptive gestures, gestures that are used to manage or manage emotions that we do not want to express. to manage or handle emotions that we do not want to express.

Adaptive gestures are used when our state of mind is incompatible with the specific interaction situation that is taking place, so that we do not want to express our emotions directly, nor with the intensity we really feel.

These situations can produce discomfort in the interaction and/or in the sender himself, so the sender tries to control this discomfort. tries to control this discomfortand does so by using the gesture as a way of adapting to the situation.

For example, an adaptor would be to run our fingers through the collar of our shirt when we feel suffocated by the tension of the situation, or to touch our hair when we are nervous.

These are gestures used as an "escape route" from what is being said or produced in the interaction and/or in our affective and emotional state.