The popular notion that body language is merely a series of unconscious signs that reveal a person's hidden feelings is false, says Dr. Albert Scheflen, a leading authority in the science of kinesics. Through text and photographs in this volume, Scheflen shows that body language, combined with spoken language, serves primarily to control human behavior and to maintain the social order. The author describes greeting, courting, and other social behavior -- which man displays in common with the primates and other mammals -- and analyzes how territorial and dominance behavior determines the mobility of individuals and groups within the social hierarchy. The effect of these communication controls, Dr. Scheflen reveals, often places individuals and minority groups in inescapable "binds," and, contrary to the desired result, creates strife and deviancy which disrupt the social order. -- From publisher's description.