Body Language of Head Shake or Head Negation
Cue: Head Shake or Head Negation
Synonym(s): Shaking The Head.
Description: The head shake is a side-to-side motion of the head.
In One Sentence: Shaking the head is a universal negative thought indicator.
How To Use it: Use the head shake to show other people that you disagree. A small micro-head shake can fly under the conscious radar of others but still deliver a message they will perceive as negative without saddling you with a pessimistic view. To negate a positive view, simply shake your head as you verbalize your thoughts.
Context: General.
Verbal Translation: “I’m having difficulty with what you are presenting me. My head shakes back and forth like a child would as they reject distasteful food.”
Variant: See Head Nods.
Cue In Action: The librarian shook her head slowly back and forth while peering over her glasses. She wasn’t impressed by the students who were giggling and acting out.
Meaning and/or Motivation: The headshake is sometimes perceived as “maybe,” but in reality this is a negative thought indicator. It is done when a person can’t get past a thought or idea.
Babies use the headshake as an innate gesture to signal to their mother that they’ve had enough milk by turning their head away. The head shake is different from the typical “no type gesture” in that the head is tilted from side-to-side instead of being pivoted back and forth used to signify “no” in various cultures by adults.
We should be skeptical if the head shake is given while voicing specifically agreeable language such as “You make a good point.” or “That sounds like a great idea.” These words, accompanied by the head shake, negates whatever positive words were voiced. It tells us that they were either trying to pull a fast one on us, or just trying to appease us.
Head shakes have two speeds. Fast shaking indicates disagreement and that a listener wants to take over speaking. When head shakes are slow it signifies incredulousness at what’s being heard. Head shaking can also appear as microexpressions as microsignals where the head only slightly turns from side-to-side and only astute observers will notice.
Cue Cluster: Head shaking is coupled with relaxed, but focused eye contact, the head might peer down or head back depending on superiority or judgment, the arms are often crossed to prevent information from coming in and if the speaker continues the toes and torso will begin to shift away.
Body Language Category: Automatic gesture, Disengagement, Dislike (nonverbal), Doubt or disbelief body language, Escape movements, Microgestures, Rejection body language, Universal gestures.
Resources:
Austin, Keith ; Theakston, Anna ; Lieven, Elena ; Tomasello, Michael Eccles, Jacquelynne S. (editor). Young Children’s Understanding of Denial. Developmental Psychology. 2014. 50(8): 2061-2070.
Altmann, Stuart (1967). “The Structure of Primate Communication.” In Stuart Altmann, ed., Social Communication Among Primates (Chicago: University of Chicago Press), pp. 325-62.
Akiyama, M. M. (1985). Denials in young children from a cross-linguistic perspective. Child Development, 56, 95–102. doi:10.2307/1130177
Cameron-Faulkner, T., Lieven, E., & Theakston, A. (2007). What part of no do children not understand? A usage-based account of multiword negation. Journal of Child Language, 34, 251–282. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2010.08.017
Darwin, Charles (1872). The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, third edition (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998).
Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Irenaus (1973). “The Expressive Behaviour of the Deaf-and-Blind-Born.” In Mario von Cranach and Ian Vine (Eds.), Social Communication and Movement (European Monographs in Social Psychology 4, New York: Academic Press), pp. 163-94.
Ekman, P., & Friesen, W. V. The Repertoire of Nonverbal Behavior: Categories,
Origins, Usage, and Coding. Semiotica. 1969. 1: 49–98.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/relationship-verbal-nonverbal-communication/
Fusaro, M., & Harris, P. L. (2013). Dax gets the nod: Toddlers detect and use social cues to evaluate testimony. Developmental Psychology, 49, 514–522. doi:10.1037/a0030580
Fusaro, M., Harris, P. L., & Pan, B. A. (2012). Head nodding and head shaking gestures in children’s early communication. First Language, 32, 439–458. doi:10.1177/0142723711419326
Gräfenhain, M., Behne, T., Carpenter, M., & Tomasello, M. (2009). One-year-olds’ understanding of nonverbal gestures directed to a third person. Cognitive Development, 24, 23–33. doi:10.1016/j.cogdev.2008.10.001
Guidetti, M. (2005). Yes or no? How do young children combine gestures and words to agree and refuse. Journal of Child Language, 32, 911–924. doi:10.1017/S0305000905007038
Hummer, P., Wimmer, H., & Antes, G. (1993). On the origins of denial negation. Journal of Child Language, 20, 607– 618. doi:10.1017/S0305000900008503
Kim, K. J. (1985). Development of the concept of truth-functional negation. Developmental Psychology, 21, 462–472. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.21.3.462
Morris, Desmond (1994). Bodytalk: The Meaning of Human Gestures (New York: Crown Publishers).
Tam, C. W., & Stokes, S. F. (2001). Form and function of negation in early developmental Cantonese. Journal of Child Language, 28, 373–391. doi:10.1017/S0305000901004688
Vaidyanathan, R. (1991). Development of forms and functions of negation in the early. tages of language acquisition: A study in Tamil. Journal of
Child Language, 18, 51–66. doi:10.1017/S0305000900013295
Wode, H. (1977). Four early stages in the development of L1 negation. Journal of Child Language, 4, 87–102. doi:10.1017/S0305000900000490