Body Language of The Face Wash
Cue: Face Wash (The)
Synonym(s): Face Rub, Face Cleans, Rubbing The Face, Washing The Face With The Hands, Hands Rubbing The Face.
Description: The palms cup and rub the face as if washing it.
In One Sentence: The face wash signals the desire for a fresh start.
How To Use it: Use the face wash when you are tired and need to self-sooth or refresh your perspective. Research has shown that we often perform various ritualized gestures in order to purify ourselves and our minds. “Washing the face” with bare hands is likely rooted in our psyche as a way to refresh the body and mind. When the face is massaged it can help release positive hormones helping to reduce stress and discomfort.
Context: General.
Verbal Translation: a) “I’m feeling a little bit off so it’s time to scrub my face and clean up for a fresh start.” b) “Ahhhhh, so much frustration, time for a refresh.” c) “I’m tired and rubbing my face produces self soothing.”
Variant: See Face Palm and Double Face Palm.
Cue In Action: After writing many nonverbal dictionary cues, he rubbed his face with his palms as a way to build the strength to continue.
Meaning and/or Motivation: The face wash is a way to reenergize the body and prepare for action or conversely as the body nears giving up due to low energy. It is a pacifying and self-touching and self-grooming gesture – a sort of self-massage to release positive hormones. The gesture is a throwback to washing the face in the morning or reinvigorating it with cold water from a flowing stream.
Cue Cluster: The Face wash is usually accompanied by a vocal grunt, an “oh-boy,” or “ugh” showing its primitive roots. Commonly, a person will have drooping tired eyes, might be yawning, drifting off and glazing over.
Body Language Category: Adaptors, Auto contact or self touching, Stroking body language, Preening, Self-motivating gestures.
Resources:
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Chen-Bo Zhong and Katie Liljenquist. Washing Away Your Sins: Threatened Morality And Physical Cleansing. Science. 2006; 313, 1451.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/hand-washing-as-indication-of-moral-threat/
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http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/washing-the-hands-for-new-beginning-ownership-and-the-endowment-effect/
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Xu, A. J., Zwick, R., & Schwarz, N. (2012). Washing away your (good or bad) luck: Physical cleansing affects risk-taking behavior. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 141, 26–30.
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Zhong, C. B., Strejcek, B., & Sivanathan, N. (2010). A clean self can render harsh moral judgment. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46, 859–862.