Body Language of Thumb Displays or Thumbs Up Posture
Cue: Thumb Displays or Thumbs Up Posture.
Synonym(s): Thumbing.
Description: a) The thumbs up gestures is done by placing all but the thumbs in the front pockets of a vest, or suite jacket, or by knuckling the vest and leaving the thumbs out. b) Where the thumb is raised upward with the remaining fingers clenched together. c) The fingers are placed in pants pockets with the thumbs left out. d) When gesticulating, the thumbs are kept up and out from the rest of the fingers e) The fingers are interlocked with the thumbs pointing upward. f) The hand forms a ball, fingers up, and thumb pointing to someone we wish to dismiss.
In One Sentence: Thumb displays indicate dominance, assertiveness, superiority and sometimes even aggression.
How To Use it: The thumbs up gesture is culturally specific so be careful with how you use it around the world.
However, in the West, one can use the thumbs up gesture to show others that you approve of them, or approve of an event that has taken place.
In other contexts, simple thumb displays can be used to show that you are confident. Putting the hands in the pockets and leaving the thumbs out, or likewise, holding the edge of the jacket with thumbs exposed shows people that you are assertive. This works well in business as well as general contexts.
Context: General.
Verbal Translation: “I’m showing the world my thumbs because I’m confident and feeling superior.” “I’m gesturing to that guy over there with my thumb because his views are really off-base and I’m dismissing him.”
Variant: The Thumbs Up Gesture, does not have a universal meaning.
It indicates that all is well in North America and Europe, a sexual insult in parts of Africa, Australia, Southern Europe and the Middle East, the number 1 in Germany, and the number 5 in Japan.
Another variation altogether includes flaunting the thumbs by placing them under the arm while folded. This last posture is a closed, yet dominant cue cluster. The crossed arms tell others that they are closed off from communication while the exposed thumbs reveal superiority. See Thumb Hiding.
Cue In Action: a) The smug lawyer felt comfortable posing for his business card with an obvious display of confidence. He clasping his jacket and turned his thumbs up.
b) The presenter waved his hands thumbs-up as he emphasized how important it was to build alliances with others.
f) His wife disapproved of her husband’s drunken antics. She motioned sideways with her thumb, “That guy, over there – is my husband.”
Meaning and/or Motivation: We see the thumb display by royalty and also by lawyers who are trying to seem noble and important. Thumbs-out is a representation of ego, dominance, assertiveness, superiority and sometimes even aggressiveness. The root to “keeping you under my thumb” is due to the immense symbolic and practical power the thumbs carry. Without opposable thumbs, we’d have little ability to use tools. To openly flash this strength is to have confidence in our ability.
Thumbs up shows agreement and success. Thumbs hanging out of pockets shows dominance and self assurance. Thumbing toward another person indicates dismissiveness especially when waved coupled with a sneer. If a thumb is pointed outward with the fingers in a ball in a “that guy over there” it shows that we disagree with their entire point of view and is viewed as a rude gesture.
The thumbs up gesture, wherever it happens, is a form of “gravity defying’ body language. This means that it is related to positive emotions since it requires energy to carry out and people that are depressed aren’t interested in burning energy especially wastefully.
Cue Cluster: Be sure to watch for additional clues of superiority to fall alongside thumb displays including a dismissive tone, chin up, head held high, looking down the bridge of the nose, shoulders back and up, chest puffed out, legs apart, and fluid gesticulating. At times, high superiority can even lead to slouching and relaxed postures as one does not feel the need to hold proper posture.
Body Language Category: Amplifier, Arrogance or arrogant body language, Aggressive body language, Authoritative body language, Confident body language, High confidence body language, Hostile body languag, Up nonverbals.
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