Book Review – Silent Messages by Albert Mehrabian

Once you’ve finished the first books on the recommended reading list, Albert Mehrabian’s book, Silent Messages: Implicit Communication of Emotions and Attitudes, should be at the top of the list for those interested to learn more about Proxemics and how much information this domain can offer the profiler.

The reason this book gets such a strong “buy” recommendation from us is because of Mehrabian’s continuous drive to educate his readers.  Practical ways to apply the lessons he is teaching in everyday situations at the home and office are sprinkled throughout the entire book as well as an entire chapter dedicated to applying these concepts at the end.

The book is written from a Proxemics vantage point, and is mostly related to what we call the Proxemic Pull and Proxemic Push.  In the second chapter where Mehrabian discusses approach and avoidance, the concept that is the science behind the Proxemic Push and Pull is described.  Continually finding creative ways to impart this observation to his readers, he profiles a poker game using only the approach and avoidance observation, and discusses all of the insights this one facet of profiling offers.

While his discussion relates mostly to Proxemics, he dedicates a chapter to Dominance and Submissiveness as well, one of our Kinesic clusters.  The inspiration for classifying behavior in that cluster originally came from this book, and the research that he has conducted relating to Proxemics complements any Kinesic observations as well.

There is one section of the book that applies the concept of Approach and Avoidance to words and statement analysis that doesn’t necessarily apply to Tactical Analysis.  Because we can find ourselves in any country in the world and interacting in any language with a varying degree of translator ability, we don’t talk about language-related analysis.  However, for those of you who want to develop your skills in this area, this book can provide some groundwork for you.

As I mentioned, Albert Mehrabian is committed to passing on the lessons and research that he has done to all of his readers.  Each chapter has a recommended reading section so you can dive further into any specific topic that interests you.  The last chapter of the books applies everything he talks about to different scenarios you could find yourself in, and elaborates on them using example from selling, persuasion, deceit, advertising, political campaigns, and relationships.

Again, we definitely recommend this book for Proxemics-related research, but if you have a different opinion, let us know.