INSA concept and method of nonverbal strategy analysis
INNOVATIVE AND PRACTICAL TOOLS BASED ON CURRENT SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
Nonverbal communication is a broad term.
It includes elements such as posture, gestures, facial expressions, rate of speech, breathing, intonation and eye contact. The combination of these elements is what mainly determines the message that is communicated to the receiver. Up to even more than 90% in some situations.
It therefore pays off to be able to read those nonverbal messages.
UNCONSCIOUS AND RELIABLE INFORMATION
There are some elements of nonverbal communication that people are (partly) aware of. For example, you can be aware of your posture (sitting, standing, leaning back, arms on the table, etc.) whether you are looking at the other person or not. But when the interactive situation becomes more exciting or intense, it is much harder to do so.
Research shows that the many, fast and subtle micro-movements of the face are virtually 100% unconscious. Unconscious also means they cannot be influenced. To us, this is why these micro-movements are so interesting: they are a reliable source of information.
FOUNDATIONS OF THE INSA METHOD
The INSA Concept and Method have been developed by Herman Ilgen in collaboration with the University of Amsterdam. The professional negotiation and mediation practice were his inspiration. He wanted to understand the impact of facial micromovements in interaction, aiming at a better understanding for and between people. INSA focuses on repetitive micro-movements in every individual’s face. We follow the insights of scientists like Frijda, Fischer, Fridlund and Russell: the face primarily has a functionality in interaction. With the facial micro-movements we communicate what we tend to do in the current interaction. For the most part this happens unconsciously. The other person registers and interprets this tendency in a general way, also unconsciously.
INSA RESEARCH
To test our ideas INSA permanently conducts research in cooperation with the University of Amsterdam into these repetitive facial micro–movements. This research is innovative and unique up to this very day. Over the last 60 years, the international research on facial micro-movements almost exclusively concerned what is visible in incidental situations. INSA is the first to research facial micro-movements from the perspective of what is visible continually. INSA was able to show that every individual has a specific set of repetitive micro-movements, regardless of the situation.
We call this the Personal Nonverbal Repertoire (PNR). The research also shows linkage between PNR and behavioral tendencies.
NONVERBAL IMPACT AND BEHAVIORAL TENDENCY
James Russell found in his research that people interpret each other’s faces along two dimensions: the level of arousal (high versus low) and the level of contact (cold versus warm). Nico Frijda discovered that with the mix of micromovements in our face we communicate what we tend to do in the interaction, that we show our behavioral tendency.
INSA research shows that the ideas of these two scientists are not only valid for incidental situations, but alsof or what people show more structurally in their face (the PNR). Consistent facial displays show consistent behaviora tendencies of a person. The Model we use to chart those consistent behavioral tendencies is closely related to the model Russell uses. We use a terminology that especially refers to behavioral tendencies: Acting versus Adapting, Analyzing versus Affiliating.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT: A CONTINUOUS EFFORT
At INSA, we constantly conduct research on the relationship between Personal Nonverbal Repertoire and behavioral strategies.
We constantly conduct video analyses and test our findings in real-world interactive situations. Our research, together with our clients’ needs, is the basis for developing our products and services.
In 2020 this has led to an important change and improvement of the INSA Concept and -Method.
This is how we turn an interesting concept into something that also has practical value.