Appearance Artifacts

    Appearance artifacts can be one of the most powerful types of nonverbal communication. What do the uniform of a police officer or the fatigues of a soldier do for those looking on? What do the metals on an officer communicate to another officer of lesser rank? What happens if one of the metals is the Congressional Medal of Honor? In contrast, what message comes from a young person wearing all black and more metal in their body than in your whole car? All of these questions refer to our appearance artifacts and how important it is in our daily nonverbal communication.

    The choices we make in the colors we wear, clothing, hairstyle and makeup are all a means of nonverbal communication.Color psychology has demonstrated that different colors can invoke changes in mood. Physiological reactions of others, their judgment and interpretations can be altered by our appearance. Just think of all the subtle judgements you quickly make about someone based on his or her appearance. These first impressions are important, which is why experts suggest that job seekers dress appropriately for interviews with potential employers.

      Although the most basic purpose of wearing clothing is to shelter our bodies from nature’s extremities, clothing can also be used to communicate a number of things about ourselves to other people. For instance, people might wear certain types of clothing to show what their beliefs are. Muslim women may wear hijabs or a burqas; Jewish men may wear yarmulkes; and Christians may wear a cross around their necks to present to others that they follow a particular lifestyle and participate in specific traditions. Likewise, clothing can also communicate what nationality you are. In many traditional ceremonies or festivities, each culture has a certain style of dress that is appropriate. Indian saris, Japanese kimonos, Scottish kilts, Afghani turbans, and Filipino barongs are just a few examples of clothing that are specific to a culture.

             

  
    Besides communicating about a person’s beliefs and nationality, clothing can be used as a non-verbal outlet to attract others. Men and women might adorn themselves with accessories and keep up with the latest fashion trends to attract partners they are interested in. In this case, clothing becomes a means of self-expression, and people can sense power, wealth, sex appeal, personality, or creativity just by looking at what a person is wearing. Most recently at the last New York Fashion Week, we saw that clothing can even reflect a society’s state of economy. Since our economy is still on the road to recovery, designers focused on less expensive fabrics and more wearable, practical designs when creating clothing for this season. When it comes to non-verbal communication, most people think of body language, facial expressions, voice intonation, or gestures, but what you wear is also a means of non-verbal communication. Clothing can say a lot about you, and it can also tell you a lot about others.  The next time you meet someone, consider what they are wearing and how that impacts your interaction; you’ll be surprised.

Works Cited:

AJ Giannini, J Daood, MC Giannini, R Boniface, PG Rhodes. Intellect vs Intuition--A dichotomy in the reception of nonverbal communication. Journal of General Psychology. 99:19-24,1977

Andersen, Peter. (2004). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Body Language. Alpha Publishing.

Remland, Martin S. (2009). Nonverbal communication in everyday life. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.