Body Language of The Collar Pull
Cue: Collar Pull
Synonym(s): Venting, Ventilator (the), Pulling At The Collar.
Description: The collar is pulled away from the neck as if ventilating. Other times, the tie may be adjusted or loosened.
In One Sentence: Pulling on the collar is a signal that a person is experiencing discomfort due to high body temperature or nervousness.
How To Use it: One should generally avoid this gesture as it shows that one is experiencing discomfort. However, if one wishes to show others to back off, and that one is tense, then it can be useful.
Context: General.
Verbal Translation: “I’m getting a little bit stressed and hot under the collar so I’m pulling my collar away from my neck to let some of the heat escape.”
Variant: Sleeves are sometimes pulled away from the body or ties may be loosened or removed. See Neck Scratching or Neck Massaging, Symbolic Stripping or Removing Clothing.
Cue In Action: As the pressure from the negotiation increased, Steve removed his tie and began tugging on his collar to let some hot air escape.
Meaning and/or Motivation: The collar pull is sometimes associated with liars, but it is more reliably associated with an overall increase in temperature and blood flow to the neck which may or may not be due to an increase in stress. When the collar pull cue is caused by stress, it is an attempt to reduce the pain caused by irritated nerves located in the neck which are being compressed by a tight shirt. When stress increases, our face and necks flush with blood and we pull our collar away as an unconscious indication of this process.
Other times, the collar pull is a way to release heat created by our bodies while under pressure and discomfort from a neck that has become moist due to sweating. Sometimes, however, this too is due to an increase in stress that causes more irritation as sweat creates additional friction. Other times the collar pull has no meaning and is due to an uncomfortable shirt collar rubbing against the skin.
Cue Cluster: The collar pull is often found with tie removal or tie adjustment, pulling at the sleeves, blushing or flushing of the face, perspiration, touching or scratching of the face and cheeks, front and back of the neck and ears. Often the hands will pacify with auto-touching.
Body Language Category: Arousal, Lying or deceptive body language or dishonesty Nervous, Stressful body language, Nervous energy.
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