A blog-post on Social Intelligence – Observing Nonverbal Behavior and Understanding Emotions – by Dr. Sandeep Atre

Now it’s a popular fact that Oxytocin – also known as the love hormone – is responsible for ‘bonding’ in relationships.

 

It gets released when people cuddle-up or even connect interpersonally. It brings calmness & closeness and fosters loyalty in relationships. So its presence matters…

In a remarkable study with couples, ‘Aleksandr Kogan & team’ asked one partner to share an emotional episode, while the other person was supposed to listen. Surprisingly, listening-partners who were found to be more compassionate, giving and trustworthy were found to possess a specific gene that helped them take advantage of oxytocin.

In other words, if you can find whether someone has this particular gene then you can assess the level of trustworthiness.

But you can’t see genes! So how to assess this when you meet people? Well! Researchers of the same study found that the listeners who had the ‘gene variant optimized for oxytocin’ nodded their heads, gazed and smiled more at their partners; and also had more open body posture. Yup! It’s right there.

……….

As author Mathew Hernstein says – “these studies only establish ‘correlation’”. But it gives an important tip for relation.

I hope you nodded! :-)

PS: All inputs on observing nonverbal behavior should be applied after establishing the baseline behavior.

Dr. Sandeep Atre, Founder Director, Socialigence – Developing Social Intelligence

www.socialigence.net – Specialized Online Courses and Customized workshops on Observing Nonverbal Behavior and Understanding Emotions (Now! Special Discounts on our online courses – Checkout!!)