Body Language of Cooperative Feet
Cue: Cooperative Feet
Synonym(s): Feet Pointed Toward A Person.
Description: Cooperative feet are ones that are oriented toward a speaker rather than away. Their proximity is increased rather than decreased.
In One Sentence: When feet are pointed and are oriented toward a speaker, they indicate through direction and proximity, that a person is willing to cooperate.
How To Use it: Use feet to show the direction in which you are thinking and feeling. Feet can be pointed and extended toward the door if one wishes to leave. On the other hand, should a person or their ideas be of interest you should aim and extend your feet in their direction. While many people will only subconsciously be aware of your tactic, it will help reinforce your vocal words and help you maintain congruence. Matching your words with your body language will make you appear more honest and trustworthy.
When one wishes to show disinterest, simply turn the feet away. This can show others that you wish to leave or that you are not interested in what they are saying. This can serve you by increasing the chances they will make the conversation more interesting or if negotiation, advance a better offer.
Context: a) Dating b) Business
Verbal Translation: “I agree with you and my primitive mind is showing it by moving my feet toward you and pointing at you.”
Variant: See Toe Pointing or Pointed Toe, Buttress Stance or Foot Forward Leg Stance.
Cue In Action: a) Jill and Bill were really hitting it off, you could tell just by looking at their feet bellow the table. Both his and her feet were extended toward one another. b) At one point in the conversation the client was about to leave with his body aimed toward the door. Noticing his negative body language, the salesman quickly dropped his price 30%. The client pulled his feet back in and aimed them squarely at the salesman. The salesmen used his knowledge of body language to salvage the deal.
Meaning and/or Motivation: The direction that feet point coupled with their extension or withdrawal tells us much about how a person really feels about the situation. Feet move toward things they like and away from things they don’t like.
Feet are either cooperative or non-cooperative depending on how close they are to the stimulus and which way they point. In other words, as feet move closer, they are in agreement and when they are withdrawn, they are in disagreement. Also, feet usually point toward people and ideas they agree with and away from people and ideas they disagree with.
Millions of years ago, we gave up quadrupedalism to walk upright leaving our feet “to the dirt.” While our hands busied themselves with other complex tasks like building fires, making clothing and shelters and throwing spears our legs were relegated to more primitive activities like locomotion. The feet on the other hand, carried out more traditional tasks like escaping predators, avoiding hot sand or coals from the fire, leaping from slithering snakes or poisonous spiders, or navigating rough rocking river bottoms. The feet were therefore connected more to the reptilian brain that reacts to stimuli directly instead of contemplating higher order tasks that require planning.
When we’re frightened it doesn’t take much to put our feet in gear. For example, feet are quickly tucked under our legs and coiled up ready to flee with any indication of danger. For example, the shadow of a mouse scampering across the room forces our feet to instantly freeze, or be pulled onto a chair.
Our feet carry the flight or fight reaction to the letter making them honest.
Our feet and legs can display boredom through repetitive motions, joy by lifting the body up and down, fear by being tucked under a chair, depression by laying lazily or motionless and sensuality by being uncovered and flaunted.
Cue Cluster: Cooperative feet are accompanied by other agreement indicators such as palms up rather than down, arms uncrossed, head tilted at forty five degrees, eye contact, ventral fronting and head nods.
Body Language Category: Attentive, Body pointing, Courtship display, Honest body language or honesty, Indicator of interest (IoI), Indicators of sexual interest (IOsI), Intention movements, Liking, Open body language, Orienting reflex or orienting response, Undivided attention (nonverbal).
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