NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION REGULATES RELATIONSHIPS AND CAN SUPPORT OR EVEN REPLACE VERBAL COMMUNICATION IN MANY SITUATIONS. DIFFERENT GENDERS AND CULTURES USE NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION DIFFERENTLY AND THESE DIFFERENCES CAN IMPACT THE NATURE OF INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION. NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION CAN BECOME A BARRIER OR TEAR DOWN BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION. ACCORDING TO RESEARCHERS, NON-VERBAL RULES MAY DIFFER AS PER THE SITUATION, AND EACH SITUATION DETERMINES ITS SET OF RULES. DIFFERENT TYPES OF PEOPLE HAVE VERY DIFFERENT YET DISTINCT SETS OF NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION INVOLVES MULTIPLE CHANNELS, IS CONTINUOUS AND MORE AMBIGUOUS IN NATURE, AND OFTEN CONTRADICTS THE SPOKEN WORD. WHEN NON-VERBAL AND VERBAL COMMUNICATIONS CONFLICT, INDIVIDUALS TEND TO RELY ON NON-VERBAL CLUES AS A MEANS TO INTERPRET THE TRUE MEANING OF A COMMUNICATION.