The Significant of Nonverbal Expression Of Pride And Shame Body Language – A Detailed Examination Of Origin And Function
Christopher Philip
A prototypical demonstration of pride body language.
In a paper published in the journal Cognition and Emotion researchers Jason Martens, Jessica Tracy, and Azim Shariff argue that pride and shame are adaptive and serve to indicate success and failure respectively and that these confer benefits to the observer and expresser.
In their paper, they argue that not only are these cues cross-culturally recognized, but serve specific purposes.
Pride signals higher status, which provide the displayer with an unequal access to resources. This benefits the observer by indicating which persons may provide valuable learning opportunities as the signals indicate which person’s are likely to achieve greater success.
Shame, on the other hand, functions to appease others after losing a physical or social battle serving to reduce or avoid punishment while benefiting the observer by indicating which members are willing to submit and thus commit to the wellbeing of the group and desire fellowship.
Pride Nonverbal Display: Research has shown that the prototypical expression of pride happens with the head held high and slightly back (about 20 degrees), a small smile, body erect, shoulders back with an expanded upright posture, whilst making the body appear as large as possibly, often by placing the hands on the hips and puffing out or by placing the hands in the air (such as while celebrating).
Shame Nonverbal Display: Shame, on the other hand, is performed by averting the eyes or casting them downward, lowering the head, slumping the shoulders, and otherwise making the body take on a smaller form.
Overall, shame is, by design, meant to lower status, while pride is meant to boost status. Thus, the postures are complimentary in both posture and intent.
Interestingly, new evidence is mounting which shows that the nonverbal displays are adaptive and confer certain degrees of fitness to both the displayer and the viewer. This is important because it tells us how the behaviour is favoured over time helping it to persist in the overall repertoire of human interactions.
Research has found that the recognition of the postures range from 80-90% in North American and Western European samples. This is on par with rates found for basic facial emotions including happiness and sadness. Even isolated, traditional small-scale populations around the world show reliable rates of recognition.
The Display of Pride
It is argued that pride is adaptive specifically to the displayer as it conveys the right to access resources in a world dominated by competition. When a person displays pride, they are saying, I’m worthy of first access to those resources which are in limited supply.
We often see such displays during sporting events, but they also appear in political arenas and if one looks closely, they also generally in day-to-day interactions.
We see the pride display in animals too. High-ranking chimpanzees will inflate and after defeating a rival. They will also show pride in order to bluff prior to conflict. Chimps will be seen to raise their arms and expand their bodies. Mountain gorillas, on the other hand, have been observed strutting with confidence. These are synonymous with the human display of pride. Thus, it seems that pride shares a common ancestry with socially minded animals.
Even small children display the expression of pride after winning a fight by titling the head upward and holding an erect posture and stretching the arms upward. They also do so after performing well on class exams, and other dominance performances.
As a by-product of the display of pride, people not only convey their high level of status, but they also report feeling better by simple extension of the posture. That is, just by holding an expression of pride, people’s wellbeing is boosted.
However, despite the many benefits of displaying pride, the expression does not come without a cost.
For example, while there is often a temporary boost in status from the expression, if it is not shown to be earned or can not be backed reliably, then it can be construed as smugness and therefore elicit loss of respect. In other words, those who fake the display or whom display it absent of actual success are likely to elicit strong negative reactions and thus be disliked and face group rejection. In other words, “pride fakers” are quickly rejected. This makes the cue highly reliable and predictive. This serves to strengthen the value of the cue overall, because, should it persist over time, it means that a person who is confident enough to display it, really is proud.
The Display of Shame
A prototypical demonstration of shame body language.
Shame has been defined as “the process by which individuals placate or pacify others in situations of potential or actual conflict.” It is commonly associated with feelings of inferiority, anger, resentment and a tendency to blame others. It is often coupled with the experience of feeling smaller. Thus, shame, by itself is quite painful and in long-term situations can be counter-productive and even lead to depression.
That being said, is might be surprising to hear that shame actually provides the displayer with specific advantages and is therefore forms part of a person’s overall fitness.
Specifically, shame serves to appease others after a social transgression. In the short-term, shame displays are a way to admit defeat, but that one still wishes to be part of the social group. For example, when people violate rules and social norms, they take the risk of unpleasant reactions from others. This can include anger, retaliation and being ostracized. By displaying shame, one admits that a person has recognized their social transgression and wishes to convey it to others in effort to minimize the severity of the resulting social or physical punishment. When shame is displayed early, it shows that one understands that norms are being violated which can serve to build trust and group cohesion. In contrast, avoiding the expression of shame shows that one wishes to be combative and that one does not support the message of the group overall (at least the message of the most dominant). Thus, the display of shame can permit access to shared resources by indicating a desire to follow social norms.
While shame is not a great long-term solution, it does appease higher status and high powered individuals in a cost-effective manner. It also serves to reduce the risk of battle and the resources required to do so (the costs savings is shared between the submissive and dominant individuals alike). In addition, the time and energy cost required to fight can be spent doing more productive things, which can, in turn, assist in overall fitness.
Obviously, a person would prefer to demonstrate pride in each circumstance, but, as we see this invites attack and should one understand that success in a give case, is limited, then one will be best to avoid conflict altogether lest they risk severe injury or even death. This is to say that people weigh the cost and benefit of displaying pride and shame with respect of the situations they find themselves.
Animals are noted to display shame in effort to appease. For example, chimpanzees have been observed lowering their bodies or crouching adjacent dominant members. It has also been found in stumptail macaques, hamadryas and yellow baboons.
Young children are found to display similar behaviours in situations of defeat. In such cases, children will tilt their heads downward, slump their posture and narrow their shoulders. This has been noted in children as young as 2.5-3 years old whom have lost a fight. Even Olympians have been shown to display shame after losing a match.
Summary of Pride And Shame Display
Overall, the pride and shame display are important in signaling. Pride conveys success and high status and may permit members greater access to valued resources. Shame conveys low status and is the results of social transgression but reduces the severity of punishment by those of higher status.
That being the case, the persistence of the signaling cues require both a benefit to the displayer of the signal (as shown) as well as the observer of the signal.
The Benefits of Observing Pride
As learning indiscriminately is highly maladaptive, and since humans are known to learn by observing and copying others, signals that confer to others those which understand how to achieve desired results are highly sought.
Displaying pride is a signal that draws attention to the self by making the body bigger and more conspicuous. Pride is the direct opposite to the display of shame which aims to draw attention away by reducing the size of the body. Thus pride signals to others whom is worthy of attention and whom is worthy of emulating.
Studies support this idea. Those who use displays of pride are perceived as more confident and authoritative. Often, we take a person’s credentials into account when rating their expertise. Likewise, nonverbal expertise is signaled through the expression of pride. It is a quick way that one can visually see which among us are likely to have been past, and therefore, future winners. By this extension, they also show whom is worthy of copying, or at best, whom to pay most respect and track.
Even small children aged 2-3 tend to choose to learn from adults who demonstrate nonverbal cues of confidence more than those displaying uncertainty. For example, in one study, confident and uncertain adults manipulated different objects while moving a ball and it was found that the children used the same object as the confident adult. Adults have been found to be equally affected by the display of pride via experiment.
The Benefits of Observing Shame
Few studies have specifically looked at the benefits of recognizing shame. However, intuitively, shame would convey potential group members who are trustworthy and are likely subscribe to group norms (rather than create friction). Additionally, shame conveys understanding of a transgression and signals desire to cooperate.
It also signals understanding about where one fits into the hierarchy which can make higher ranking members more likely to keep them near so as to avoid having their power usurped. For example, a ‘right-hand-man’ that is strong is admirable as a partner, but should they avoid the shame display during direct confrontation, they signal a propensity to make a power play thus affecting their overall trustworthiness. Shame therefore signals to high status leaders which people are likely to support their decisions rather than fight them. In other words, shame is a predictor of lack of challenge one may face in hierarchy.
Recognition of shame also serves to reduce the need for conflict. When it is observed, it tells the viewer that he or she does not need to be as aggressive on a person and punish them as voraciously. In the long run, this represents a net savings even for the more dominant as they may allocate resources on other matters beyond punishing someone who is already cowering.
The Body Link
Recent research has suggested that facial expressions have evolved to perform specific functions. For example, disgust is done by snarling the nose thereby snuffing out possibly noxious air intake. Only after this initial reaction occurred, it is suggested, did it take on a more significant signaling device. This implies that the origins of the disgust signal is mechanical in nature – to block harmful odors – but persists because it also signals a relevant emotion.
Likewise, it may be that pride and shame also have a mechanical advantage and therefore origin.
For example, the pride display has been shown to temporary boost levels of testosterone. Other studies have shown that the pride display preceding a task helps to increase tolerance to pain. The postures itself also expands the chest and therefore creates the capacity to bring more air into the lungs. This in turn may facilitate conditions that permit the displayer to maintain dominance.
On the other hand, shame lowers the posture, and may serve to restrict air intake. The may seem to be quite a disadvantage when under attack. However, by reducing air intake, it may reduce the chances that one desires taking action. This is particularly advantageous against a formidable opponent where losing is nearly certain. Thus, not only does the posture signal that one does not wish to challenge, but the signal itself reduces the desire to attack through reduced air intake. It may also be the case that shame actually boosts levels of associated stress hormone which also reduces outbursts.
Future research may find that postures are linked to underlying physiology and that their postural origins are as much to do with emotion as structure.
Resources
Martens, Jason P.; Jessica L. Tracy and Azim F. Shariff. Status signals: Adaptive
benefits of displaying and observing the nonverbal expressions of pride and shame, Cognition & Emotion. 2019. 26(3): 390-406. DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2019.645281