Category: Adaptors

Body Language of Yawning

Body Language of Yawning

BodyLanguageProjectCom - Yawning 3Cue: Yawning.

Synonym(s): N/A.

Description: An exaggerated opening and stretching of the jaw with inhalation or exhalation of air.

In One Sentence: Yawning indicates boredom, exhaustion, or stress.

How To Use it: Use yawning to show others that you are bored or tired and that they should speed up their presentation or make it more exciting. You can also use yawning to excuse yourself as you aim to retire for the evening.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m bored, exhausted or stressed causing me to take an exaggerated inhalation of air, stretch out my jaw and ease some of the discomfort I’m experiencing.” “I’m yawning because I saw someone else do it and I’m mirroring them.”

Variant: N/A.

Cue In Action: a) The interrogator was putting a lot of pressure on the suspect and he began to yawn excessively. b) The session was running on and from the many yawns, it was obvious it was time to wrap things up. c) Think long and hard about yawning and you might just feel compelled to yawn!

Meaning and/or Motivation: Yawning indicates boredom, exhaustion or stress. Yawning is also contagious. Yawning is one of the more pronounced forms of mirroring since it has a contagious element. Yawning in one person can even set off a chain of yawns within the rest of a group, even if the members don’t know each other.

We normally associate yawning with fatigue and this is the usual cause, but in some high anxiety contexts, yawning can signal that pressure is getting to someone. A yawn can help alleviate the dry mouth that is common when people are under pressure because it stimulates salivary glands.

Cue Cluster: Watch for associated cues to determine if a yawn represents stress, mirroring, or fatigue.

Body Language Category: Adaptors, Emotional body language, Leaked or involuntary body language, Nervous body language, Stressful body language.

Resources:

Meltzoff, A. N., and M. K. Moore. 1977. Imitation of facial and manual gestures by human neonates. Science 198:75-78.

Nielsen, Tore; Russell A. Powell and Don Kuiken. Nightmare Frequency is Related to a Propensity for Mirror Behaviors. Consciousness and Cognition. 2013. 22: 1181-1188.

Platek, S. M., F. B. Mohamed and G. G. Gallup. 2005. Contagious yawning and the brain. Cognitive Brain Research 23:448-452.

Provine, R. R. 1986. Yawning as a stereotyped action pattern and releasing stimulus. Ethology 72:109-122.

Provine, R. R. 1989. Faces as releasers of contagious yawning: An approach to face detection using normal human subjects. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society 27:211-214.

Provine, R. R. 2000. Laughter: A Scientific Investigation. New York: Viking.

Provine, R. R. 2005. Contagious yawning and laughing: Everyday imitation- and mirror-like behavior (p. 146). Commentary on: Arbib, M. A. 2005. From monkey-like action recognition to human language: An evolutionary framework for neurolinguistics. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 28:105-167.

Provine, Robert R. 2005. Yawning: The yawn is primal, unstoppable and contagious, revealing the evolutionary and neural basis of empathy and unconscious behavior. Source: American Scientist. 93(6): 532-540.

Provine, Robert R. 2005. Yawning. American Scientist. 2005. 93(6): 532-539

Provine, R. R., and H. B. Hamernik. 1986. Yawning: Effects of stimulus interest. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society 24:437-438.

Provine, R. R. 1986. Yawning as a stereotyped action pattern and releasing stimulus. Ethology 72:109-122.

Provine, R. R., B. C. Tate and L. Geldmacher. 1987. Yawning: No effect of 3-5% C[O.sub.2], 100% [O.sub.2], and exercise. Behavioral and Neural Biology 48:382-93.

Provine, R. R., H. B. Hamernik and B. C. Curchack. 1987. Yawning: Relation to sleeping and stretching in humans. Ethology 76:152-160.

Seunrjens, W. 2004. On yawning or the hidden sexuality of the human yawn. Dissertation. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Body Language of Uncrossing and Re-Crossing Legs

Body Language of Uncrossing and Re-Crossing Legs

BodyLanguageProjectCom - Uncrossing and Re-Crossing Legs 2Cue: Uncrossing and Re-Crossing Legs.

Synonym(s): Re-Crossing The Legs, Thigh Exposure.

Description: When the legs are uncrossed and re-crossed in the presence of men.

In One Sentence: Uncrossing and re-crossing the legs is a female sexual signal aimed to arouse or to make the body more comfortable.

How To Use it: Women can use the cue most effectively. In a dating context, slowly uncrossing then re-crossing the legs whilst making eye contact, is a powerful message few men will mistake for general affect. As the cue is normally used to make the body more comfortable, women may wish to repeat the cue and pause slightly with the legs open. To add even more allure add eye contact with a slight lick of the lips to accompany the movement.

The cue is most sexual with a skirt, particularly a short one. However, it can also work with pants as there is more freedom to sitting with legs open when everything is covered. Teasing can be done when in a private location by exposing the underwear either briefly or fully. If you wish to be sexually obvious, the cue without underwear is your answer.

If women wish to avoid appearing sexual, keep the hand on the lap while re-crossing, avoid eye contact, and do the movement quickly and efficiently without any notable pause.

Context: a) General b) Dating.

Verbal Translation: a) “I’m uncomfortable and need to adjust my sitting position.” b) “I’m sexually available and wish to demonstrate my inner thigh to arouse through a quick flash and tease.”

Variant: See Leg Crossing and Leg Crossing Direction, European Leg Cross, Leg Spreading.

Cue In Action: a) She quickly uncrossed and re-crossed her legs with her hands over her lap. She was trying to maintain her comfort by shifting her body into a new position. b) She made eye contact with an attractive man, dropped her head and lowered her eyes, smirked, uncrossed her legs to reveal the skin of her thigh, wiggled to the music, then re-crossed her legs and took a sip of her drink.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Crossing and uncrossing the legs in the presence of men, especially if done slowly is a demonstration of interest or availability. It becomes particularly salient if the inner thigh is exposed or the legs are momentarily left uncrossed.

Leaving the legs uncrossed altogether, while sitting or standing, or massaging them so as to draw attention to them, can add intensity to the sexual invitation.

Another leg crossing variation happens when the leg is tucked under the body and sat on with the knee pointing toward her interest. This also leaves the inside of the thigh exposed and is particularly alluring when wearing a skirt – especially a short one!

Other times, leg crossing and re-crossing has no meaning at all and simply serves to make the body more comfortable. This is the case when men uncross and re-cross their legs. When done by men, it almost always means that he is shifting to increase his comfort.

Cue Cluster: In order for the cue to have meaning it should be accompanied by other sexual cues such as flirty up-cast eye contact, head lowered, shoulders rounded, wrist exposure and so forth. The more cues in cluster, the more salient the sexual message. When the uncross and re-cross cue is not a sexual message, then eye contact will be avoided, the legs will be held tightly together, the motion will be done subtly so as to avoid detection and hands will be firmly planted over the mid-section to hide the skin from view.

Body Language Category: Adaptors, Amplifier, Courtship display, Indicators of sexual interest (IOsI).

Resources:

Allen, Terre H. ; Honeycutt, James M. Planning, Imagined Interaction, and the Nonverbal Display of Anxiety. Communication Research. 1997. 24(1): 64-82.

Abbey, A., and Melby, C. (1986). The effects of nonverbal cues on gender differences in perceptions of sexual intent. Sex Roles, 15, 283-298.

Abrahams, Matthewf. Perceiving flirtatious communication: An exploration of the perceptual dimensions underlying judgments of flirtatiousness. Journal of Sex Research. 1994. 31(4): 283-292.

Burgoon, Judee ; Poire, Beth ; Beutler, Larry ; Bergan, John ; Engle, David. Nonverbal behaviors as indices of arousal: Extension to the psychotherapy context. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1992. 16(3): 159-178.

Cari D. Goetz; Judith A. Easton; David M.G. Lewis; David M. Buss. Sexual Exploitability: Observable Cues And Their Link To Sexual Attraction. Evolution and Human Behavior. 2012; 33: 417-426.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/victim-blaming-or-useful-information-in-preventing-rape-and-sexual-exploitation/

Cantú, Stephanie M ; Simpson, Jeffry A ; Griskevicius, Vladas ; Weisberg, Yanna J ; Durante, Kristina M ; Beal, Daniel J. Fertile and Selectively Flirty. Psychological Science. 2014. 25(2): 431-438.

Clark, A. Attracting Interest: Dynamic Displays of Proceptivity Increase the Attractiveness of Men and Women. Evolutionary Psychology. 2008., 6(4), 563-574.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/risky-versus-proceptive-nonverbal-sexual-cues/

Durante, Kristina M ; Li, Norman P ; Haselton, Martie G. Changes in women’s choice of dress across the ovulatory cycle: naturalistic and laboratory task-based evidence. Personality & social psychology bulletin. 2008 34(11): 1451-60.

Dreznick, Michaelt. ; Cronin, Josephm. ; Waterman, Carolinek. ; Glasheen, Cristie. Saying Yes when Meaning No: An Investigation of Gender and Individual Differences in Token Seduction. Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality. 2003. 15(1): 69-84.

de Bruijn G. From masturbation to orgasm with a partner: how some women bridge the gap–and why others don’t. J Sex Marital Ther. 1982. 8(2):151-67.

Cameron C., S. Oskamp and W. Sparks. 1978. Courtship American style: newspaper
advertisements. Family Coordinator 26: 27-30.

Clark, A. Attracting Interest: Dynamic Displays of Proceptivity Increase the Attractiveness of Men and Women. Evolutionary Psychology. 2008., 6(4), 563-574. http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/risky-versus-proceptive-nonverbal-sexual-cues/

Clifford, Ruth. Development of masturbation in college women. Archives of Sexual Behavior. 1978. 7(6): 559-573.

Dosmukhambetova, D., and Manstead, A. Strategic Reactions to Unfaithfulness: Female Self-Presentation in the Context of Mate Attraction is Link to Uncertainty of Paternity. Evolution and Human Behavior. 2011. 32, 106-107.

de Lemus, Soledad; Russell Spears and and Miguel Moya. The Power of a Smile to Move You: Complementary Submissiveness in Women’s Posture as a Function of Gender Salience and Facial Expression. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 2012. 38(11): 1480-1494.

Fujiwara, Ken ; Daibo, Ikuo. The Extraction of Nonverbal Behaviors: Using Video Images and Speech-Signal Analysis in Dyadic Conversation. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2014. 38(3): 377-388.

Festjens, Anouk; Sabrina Bruyneel and Siegfried Dewitte. What a Feeling! Touching Sexually Laden Stimuli Makes Women Seek Rewards. Journal of Consumer Psychology. 2013. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcps.2013.10.001
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/not-sexy-images-sexy-touch-drives-womens-purchases/

Farley, James; Risko, Evan F; Kingstone, Alan. Everyday Attention And Lecture Retention: The Effects Of Time, Fidgeting, And Mind Wandering. Frontiers In Psychology, 2013; 4: 619
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/mind-wandering-fidgeting-and-attention/

Givens D. The nonverbal basis of attraction: Flirtation, courtship, and seduction. Psychiatry. 1978. 41: 346.

Grammer, Karl ; Kruck, Kirsten ; Juette, Astrid ; Fink, Bernhard. Non-verbal behavior as courtship signals: the role of control and choice in selecting partners. Evolution and
Human Behavior. 2000. 21(6): 371-390.

Greer, Arlettee. ; Buss, Davidm. Tactics for promoting sexual encounters. Journal of Sex Research. 1994. 31(3): 185-201.

Goetz, Cari D.; Judith A. Easton; David M.G. Lewis; David M. Buss. Sexual Exploitability: Observable Cues And Their Link To Sexual Attraction. Evolution and Human Behavior. 2012; 33: 417-426.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/victim-blaming-or-useful-information-in-preventing-rape-and-sexual-exploitation/

Goetz, Cari D.; Judith A. Easton; Cindy M. Meston. The Allure of Vulnerability: Advertising Cues to Exploitability as a Signal of Sexual Accessibility. Personality and Individual Differences. 2013. 62: 121-125. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.02.019
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/allure-sexual-vulnerability-move/

Guéguen Nicolas. Gait and menstrual cycle: ovulating women use sexier gaits and walk slowly ahead of men. Gait Posture. 2012; 35(4): 621-4.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/gait-as-bait-women-walk-sexy-during-high-sexual-receptivity/

Guéguen, Nicholas. High Heels Increase Women’s Attractiveness. Archives of Sexual Behavior. 2014. DOI 10.1007/s10508-014-0422-z
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/high-heels-exact-power-men-study-women-wear-heels/

Guéguen, Nicolas. The Effect Of Women’s Suggestive Clothing On Men’s Behavior And Judgment: A Field Study. Psychological Reports. 2011. 109; 2: 635-638.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/sexy-clothing-source-power-women/

Grammer, Karl, LeeAnn Renninger and Bettina Fischer. Disco Clothing, Female Sexual Motivation, and Relationship Status: Is She Dressed to Impress? The Journal of Sex Research. 2004. 41(1): 66-74.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/is-she-dressed-for-success-how-women-adorn-during-courtship/

Hill, Clara E. ; Stephany, Alicia Harmon, Lenore W. (editor). Relation of Nonverbal Behavior to Client Reactions. Journal of Counseling Psychology. 1990. 37(1): 22-26.

Hartfeil E. and S. Sprechler. 1986. Mirror, Mirror…The Importance of Looks in Everyday Life. State University of New York Press, Albany.

Hald, G. M., & Høgh-Olesen, H. Receptivity to Sexual Invitations from Strangers of the Opposite Gender. Evolution and Human Behavior. 2010. 31, 453-458.

Hall, Jeffrey A. and Chong Xing. The Verbal and Nonverbal Correlates of the Five Flirting Styles. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2015. 39(1): 41-68. http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/flirt-science-flirting-style-linked-nonverbal-verbal-behavior/

Legrand, Lore B; Marzia Del Zotto; Remi Tyrand and Alan J. Pegna. Basic Instinct Undressed: Early Spatiotemporal Processing for Primary Sexual Characteristics. PLOS one. 2013. 8(7): e69726. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0069726
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/naked-body-rivals-naked-face-study-looks-brain-responds-nude-bodies/

Lynch, A. Expanding the Definition of Provocative Dress: An Examination of Female Flashing Behavior on a College Campus. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal. 2007. 25(2): 184-201.

Michael Reiβ. Leg-crossing: Incidence and inheritance. Neuropsychologia. 1994. 32(6): 747-750.

Moore, Monicam. Human Nonverbal Courtship Behavior—A Brief Historical Review. Journal of Sex Research. 2010 47(2-3): 171-180.

Moore, Monica. Courtship Signaling and Adolescents: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. Journal of Sex Research. 1995. 32(4): 319-328.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/girls-just-want-to-have-fun-the-origins-of-courtship-cues-in-girls-and-women/

Moore, Monica. M. Nonverbal Courtship Patterns in Women: Context and consequences. Ethology and Sociobiology. 1985. 6:237- 247.

Moore, M. M. Courtship Communication and Perception. Perceptual and Motor Skills. 2002. 94(1): 97-105. doi:10.2466/PMS.94.1.97-105.

Moore, M. M. and D. L. Butler. 1989. Predictive aspects of nonverbal courtship behavior in women. Semiotica 76(3/4): 205-215.

Moore, M. M. 2001. Flirting. In C. G. Waugh (Ed.) Let’s talk: A cognitive skills approach to interpersonal communication. Newark, Kendall-Hunt.

McCormick, Naomi B. and Andrew J. Jones. Gender Differences in Nonverbal Flirtation. Journal of Sex Education and Therapy. 1989. 15(4): 271-282.

O’Sullivan, Luciaf. ; Byers, E. Sandra. Eroding stereotypes: College women’s attempts to influence reluctant male sexual partners. Journal of Sex Research. 1993 30(3): 270-282.

Perper, T., and Weis, D. L. (1987). Proceptive and rejective strategies of U. S. and Canadian college women. The Journal of Sex Research, 23, 455-480.

Petrican, Raluca; Christopher T. Burris and Morris Moscovitch. Shame, Sexual Compulsivity, and Eroticizing Flirtatious Others: An Experimental Study. Journal of Sex Research. 2015. 52(1), 98–109, 2015. DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2013.829796
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/coy-flirtatious-smile-eye-contact-leads-shame-sex/

Pinar, Rukiye ; Ataalkin, Sıddıka ; Watson, Roger. The effect of crossing legs on blood pressure in hypertensive patients. Journal of Clinical Nursing. 2010. 19(9-10): 1284-1288.

Park, Yongnam ; Bae, Youngsook. Comparison of Postures According to Sitting Time with the Leg Crossed. Journal of Physical Therapy Science. 2014. 26(11): 1749-1752.

Peters. M. Footedness: asymmetries in foot preference and skill and neuropsychological assessment of foot movement. Psycho/. Bull. 103, 179 192, 1988.

Plato. C. C., Fox, K. M. and Gakruto, R. M. Measures of lateral functional dominance: Foot preference. digital interlocking, arm-folding and fool overlapping. Human Biology. 1985. 57: 327-334.

Reiss M. Leg-crossing: incidence and inheritance. Neuropsychologia. 1994. 32(6):747-50.

Roberts, Tomi-Ann and Yousef Arefi-Afshar. Not All Who Stand Tall Are Proud: Gender Differences in the Proprioceptive Effects of Upright Posture. Cognition and Emtion. 2007. 21(4):714-727.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/do-women-benefit-from-power-posing-study-suggests-not/

Sturman, Edward D. Invluntary Subordination and Its Relation to Personality, Mood,
and Submissive Behavior. Psychological Assessment. 2011. 23(1): 262-276 DOI: 10.1037/a0021499
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/nonverbal-submission-men-women-depression-critical-examination-use-disuse-submission/

Stanton, Steven J. and Robin S. Edelstein. The Physiology of Women’s Power Motive: Implicit Power Motivation is Positively Associated With Estradiol Levels in Women. Journal of Research in Personality. 2009. 43: 1109-1113.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/the-estrogen-factor-the-search-for-nonverbal-power-in-women/

Stanton, Steven J. The Essential Implications of Gender in Human Behavioral Endocrinology Studies. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience. 2011. 5(9): 1-3. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2011.00009
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/a-critical-commentary-on-amy-cuddys-power-posing/

Sherwin, Miranda. Deconstructing the male gaze: masochism, female spectatorship, and the femme fatale in Fatal Attraction, Body of Evidence, and Basic Instinct.(Critical essay). Journal of Popular Film and Television. 2008. 35(4): 174(9).

Shotland, L. R., & Craig, J. M. (1988). Can men and women differentiate between friendly and sexually interested behavior? Social Psychology Quarterly, 51, 66-73.
Seli, Paul; Jonathan S. A. Carriere; David R. Thomson; James Allan Cheyne, Kaylena A. Ehgoetz Martens, and Daniel Smilek. Restless Mind, Restless Body Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition. American Psychological Association. 2014. 40(3): 660-668. 0278-7393/14/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/a0035260
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/fidgeting-body-language-really-mean-fidget-bored-mentally-taxed/

Tiedens, Larissa Z. and Alison R. Fragale. Power Moves: Complementarity in Dominant and Submissive Nonverbal Behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 2003, 84(3): 558–568.

Van Velthoven, Michelle H M M T ; Thien, Theo ; Holewijn, Suzanne ; Van Der Wilt, Gert Jan ; Deinum, Jaap. The effect of crossing legs on blood pressure. Journal of hypertension. 2010. 28(7): 1591-2.

Walsh, D. G., & Hewitt, J. (1985). Giving Men The Come-On: Effect Of Eye Contact And Smiling In A Bar Environment. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 61, 873-874.

Weerth, Carolina ; Kalma, Akko. Gender differences in awareness of courtship initiation tactics. Sex Roles. 1995. 32(11): 717-734.

Body Language of Symbolic Stripping or Removing Clothing

Body Language of Symbolic Stripping or Removing Clothing

BodyLanguageProjectCom - Symbolic Stripping or Removing Clothing 3 BodyLanguageProjectCom - Symbolic Stripping or Removing Clothing 4Cue: Symbolic Stripping or Removing Clothing.

Synonym(s): Removing Clothing.

Description: Includes loosening ties, removing jackets or over-shirts, rolling up the sleeves, undoing buttons and so forth.

In One Sentence: Removing clothing signals either a desire to get more comfortable, a desire to get down to business, or an attempt to seduce.

How To Use it: Remove clothing when you want others to see that you are ready for action. This is potent in business where removing a jacket signals that it’s time to get some real work done. While negotiating, the same signal is sent – that we’re getting serious about the task at hand. Removing clothing can also be used to tell others that they need to relax and settle in for the long haul. When bargaining, this tells them that they should present the most attractive offer first, or risk a long negotiation.

Removing clothing such as a jacket upon arrive at a persons house tells them that one isn’t ready to leave and that one feels welcome. Thus, removing clothing is paid as a compliment.

In dating, removing outer clothing is a similar comfort indicator. Therefore, women can tell their dates that they are “warming up” to them and feel relaxed enough to expose more of their body. The more skin that is exposed; the stronger the sexual implication. Women can boost the signal’s strength and arouse men further by removing clothing while making direct eye contact. This serves to indicate metaphorical stripping as eye contact anchors the signal to a specific person – “I’m undressing for you.”

Context: a) General b) Business c) Dating.

Verbal Translation: a) “I’m getting more comfortable because I feel at ease and relaxed so I’m removing some of my clothing” or “I’m hot so I’m removing some of my clothing.” b) “It’s time to get down to business, let’s take our coats off and rolls up our sleeves and get the job done.” c) “I’m interested in you sexually, so I’m going to take off my overcoat and expose my skin to try to get you worked up.”

Variant: See Rolled Up Sleeves.

Cue In Action: a) She made her way into her friend’s house. First she removed her shoes and jacket. By the end of the night she was minus her hooded shirt and socks. She really made herself at home. b) The boss was serious. He removed his jacket, put his hands palm down on the desk and spoke firmly, “There would be no more goofing around on company time.” c) She excused herself to the washroom. When she returned, her blouse was unbuttoned revealing cleavage. She intended to peak his sexual curiousity.

Meaning and/or Motivation: The nonverbal message that removing clothing entails is mixed and highly dependent on the context.

Men will almost always remove clothing to get more comfortable, but may also remove a shirt to arouse. The reaction that removing a shirt has when a man reveals a muscular physique is no different then when a woman reveals her sexual assets by removing clothing.

Removing clothing can deliver a sexual message in a romantic situation, getting down to business at work, or comfort when done amongst friends. In a dating context, removing a heavy shirt or jacket to be more comfortable, or loosening buttons from a shirt, or even removing shoes or dangling the shoes from the toe, all show comfort at worst, and interest at best.

This cue therefore, must be read in context with adjoining cues.

Cue Cluster: a) and b) In a general and business context, removing clothing will be almost entirely dependent on the context but can also be confused with c) dating. Therefore, watch for additional sexual cues of interest to determine if the cue is sexual in nature. In women, one might watch for strong eye contact, head lowered or tilted to the side, batting eyes, wrist and neck exposure, touching, lip licking, proximity and so forth. Men might pull a shirt off around the pool and pull their shoulders back to showcase them, hold their chin up and hold strong eye contact. They may smirk.

Body Language Category: Adaptors, Amplifier, Comfort body language, Courtship display, Indicators of sexual interest (IOsI), Relaxed body language.

Resources:

Anat Rafaeli; Jane Dutton; Celia V Harquail; Stephanie Mackie-Lewis. Navigating by attire: The use of dress by female administrative employees. Academy of management journal. 1997. 40 (1): 9-45.

Adam, Hajo and Adam D. Galinsky. Enclothed Cognition. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 2012. 48 (4): 918–925. DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2012.02.008 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103112000200
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/wearing-white-coat-boosts-performance-enclothed-cognition/

Abbey, A., Cozzarelli, K., McLaughlin, K., & Harnish, R. (1987). The effects of clothing and dyad sex composition on perceptions of sexual intent: Do women and men evaluate these cues differently? Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 17: 108-126.

Bettis, Pamela J. ; Adams, Natalie Guice. Short Skirts and Breast Juts: Cheerleading, Eroticism and Schools. Sex Education: Sexuality, Society and Learning. 2006. 6(2): 121-133.

Barber, Nigel. Women’s dress fashions as a function of reproductive strategy. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research. 1999. 40(5-6): 459(1).

Beiner, Theresa M. Sexy dressing revisited: does target dress play a part in sexual harassment cases? Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy. 2007 14(1): 125(28).

Buckley, Hilda Mayer ; Roach, Mary Ellen. Clothing as a Nonverbal Communicator of Social and Political Attitudes. Home Economics Research Journal. 1974 3(2): 94-102.

Back, Mitja D. ; Schmukle, Stefan C. ; Egloff, Boris King, Laura (editor). Why Are Narcissists so Charming at First Sight? Decoding the Narcissism–Popularity Link at Zero Acquaintance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 2010. 98(1): 132-145.

Cari D. Goetz; Judith A. Easton; David M.G. Lewis; David M. Buss. Sexual Exploitability: Observable Cues And Their Link To Sexual Attraction. Evolution and Human Behavior. 2012; 33: 417-426.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/victim-blaming-or-useful-information-in-preventing-rape-and-sexual-exploitation/

Clark, A. Attracting Interest: Dynamic Displays of Proceptivity Increase the Attractiveness of Men and Women. Evolutionary Psychology. 2008., 6(4), 563-574.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/risky-versus-proceptive-nonverbal-sexual-cues/

Chowdhary, U. 1988. Instructor’s attire as a biasing factor in students’ ratings of an instructor. Clothing & Textiles Research Journal 6 (2): 17-22.

Cahoon, DD; Edmonds, EM 1989. Male-Female Estimates Of Opposite-Sex 1st Impressions Concerning Females Clothing Styles Bulletin of the psychonomic society. 27(3): 280-281.

Chowdhary, U. 1988. Instructor’s attire as a biasing factor in students’ ratings of an instructor. Clothing & Textiles Research Journal 6 (2): 17-22.

Cahoon, DD; Edmonds, EM 1989. Male-Female Estimates Of Opposite-Sex 1st Impressions Concerning Females Clothing Styles Bulletin of the psychonomic society. 27(3): 280-281.

Cassidy, Linda ; Hurrell, Rose Marie. The influence of victim’s attire on adolescents’ judgments of date rape. Adolescence. 1995 30(118): 319(5).

Dosmukhambetova, D., and Manstead, A. Strategic Reactions to Unfaithfulness: Female Self-Presentation in the Context of Mate Attraction is Link to Uncertainty of Paternity. Evolution and Human Behavior. 2011. 32, 106-107.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/sexy-clothing-source-power-women/

Durante, Kristina M ; Li, Norman P ; Haselton, Martie G. Changes in women’s choice of dress across the ovulatory cycle: naturalistic and laboratory task-based evidence. Personality & social psychology bulletin. 2008 34(11): 1451-60.

Edmonds, Ed M.; Cahoon, Delwin D.; Hudson, Elizabeth 1992. Male-female estimates of feminine assertiveness related to females’ clothing styles. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society. 30(2): 43-144.

Edmonds, Ed M.; Cahoon, Delwin D.; Hudson, Elizabeth 1992. Male-female estimates of feminine assertiveness related to females’ clothing styles. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society. 30(2): 43-144.

Forsythe, S., M. F. Drake, and C. E. Cox. 1985. Influence of applicant’s dress on interviewer’s selection decisions. Journal of Applied Psychology 70 (2): 374-378

Forsythe, S. M., M. F. Drake, and C. A. Cox Jr. 1984. Dress as an influence on the perceptions of management characteristics in women. Home Economics Research Journal 13 (2): 112-121

Forsythe, S. M. 1990. Effect of applicant’s clothing on interviewer’s decision to hire.
Journal of Applied Social Psychology 20 (19, 1): 1579-1595.

Guéguen, Nicolas. The Effect Of Women’s Suggestive Clothing On Men’s Behavior And Judgment: A Field Study. Psychological Reports. 2011. 109; 2: 635-638.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/sexy-clothing-source-power-women/

Farris, Coreen ; Viken, Richard J. ; Treat, Teresa A. Perceived association between diagnostic and non-diagnostic cues of women’s sexual interest: General Recognition Theory predictors of risk for sexual coercion. Journal of Mathematical Psychology. 2010. 54(1): 137-149.

Gurung, R. A. R. and C. J. Chrouser. 2007. Predicting objectification: do provocative clothing and observer characteristics matter? Sex Roles: A Journal of Research 57 (1-2): 91-99.

Goetz, Cari D.; Judith A. Easton; Cindy M. Meston. The Allure of Vulnerability: Advertising Cues to Exploitability as a Signal of Sexual Accessibility. Personality and Individual Differences. 2013. 62: 121-25.http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/allure-sexual-vulnerability-move/

Grammer, Karl, LeeAnn Renninger and Bettina Fischer. Disco Clothing, Female Sexual Motivation, and Relationship Status: Is She Dressed to Impress? The Journal of Sex Research. 2004. 41(1): 66-74.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/is-she-dressed-for-success-how-women-adorn-during-courtship/

Glick, Peter ; Larsen, Sadie ; Johnson, Cathryn Branstiter, Heather. Evaluations of Sexy Women in Low-And High-Status Jobs. Psychology of Women Quarterly. 2005. 29(4): 389-395.

Graff, Kaitlin ; Murnen, Sarah ; Smolak, Linda. Too Sexualized to be Taken Seriously? Perceptions of a Girl in Childlike vs. Sexualizing Clothing. Sex Roles. 2012. 66(11): 764-775.

Garot, Robert ; Katz, Jack. Provocative Looks: Gang Appearance and Dress Codes in an Inner-City Alternative School. Ethnography, 2003, Vol.4(3), pp.421-454

Greenless, Iain ; Buscombe, Richard ; Thelwell, Richard ; Holder, Tim ; Rimmer, Matthew. Impact of opponents’ clothing and body language on impression formation and outcome expectations. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology. 2005 27(1): 39-52.

Greenlees, Iain ; Bradley, Andrew ; Holder, Tim ; Thelwell, Richard. The impact of opponents’ non-verbal behaviour on the first impressions and outcome expectations of table-tennis players. Psychology of Sport & Exercise. 2005 6(1): 103-115

Hernandez, Jillian. “Miss, you look like a Bratz Doll”: on chonga girls and sexual-aesthetic excess.(Report). NWSA Journal. 2009 21(3): 63(28).

Haselton, M. G., M. Mortezaie, E. G. Pillsworth, A. Bleske-rechek, and D. A. Frederick. 2007. Ovulatory shifts in human female ornamentation: near ovulation, women dress to impress. Hormones and Behavior. 51(1): 40-45.

Hald, G. M., & Høgh-Olesen, H. Receptivity to Sexual Invitations from Strangers of the Opposite Gender. Evolution and Human Behavior. 2010. 31, 453-458.

Johnson, Richard R. and Jasmine L. Aaron. Adults’ Beliefs Regarding Nonverbal Cues Predictive of Violence. Criminal Justice and Behavior. 2013. 40 (8): 881-894. DOI: 10.1177/0093854813475347.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/wanna-fight-nonverbal-cues-believed-indicate-violence

Karagiorgakis, Aris and Danielle Malone. The Effect of Clothing and Method of Payment on Tipping in a Bar Setting. North American Journal of Psychology. 2014. 16(3): 441-452.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/skimpy-clothing-lead-larger-tips-boost-tips-using-nonverbal-communication/

Keiierman, Joan M. and James D. Laird. The Effect of Appearance on Self Perception. Journal of Personality. 1982; 50: 3. http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/eye-glasses-body-language-brief-summary/

Koukounas, Eric ; Letch, Nicolem. Psychological Correlates of Perception of Sexual Intent in Women. The Journal of Social Psychology. 2001. 141(4): 443-456.

Karl, Katherine A. ; Hall, Leda Mcintyre ; Peluchette, Joy V. City employee perceptions of the impact of dress and appearance: you are what you wear. Public Personnel Management. 2013 42(3): 452(19).

Lõhmus, Mare, L.; Fredrik Sundström and Mats Björklund. Dress for Success: Human Facial Expressions are Important Signals of Emotions. Annales Zoologici Fennici. 2009. 46: 75-80.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/ugly-clothing-also-makes-face-ugly

Lynch, A. Expanding the Definition of Provocative Dress: An Examination of Female Flashing Behavior on a College Campus. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal. 2007. 25(2): 184-201.

Morris, T. L., J. Gorham, S. H. Cohen, and D. Huffman. 1996. Fashion in the classroom: effects of attire on student perceptions of instructors in college classes. Communication Education 45(2): 135.

Moore, M. M. and D. L. Butler. 1989. Predictive aspects of nonverbal courtship behavior in women. Semiotica 76(3/4): 205-215.

Moore, M. M. 2001. Flirting. In C. G. Waugh (Ed.) Let’s talk: A cognitive skills approach to interpersonal communication. Newark, Kendall-Hunt.

Moore, M. M. 1985. Nonverbal courtship patterns in women: context and consequences. Ethology and Sociobiology 64: 237-247.

Mahmuda, Yusr and Viren Swami. The Influence of the Hijab (Islamic Head-Cover) on Perceptions of Women’s Attractiveness and Intelligence. Body Image. 2010. 7: 90-93.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/hijabs-hot-nonverbal-effect-hijab-attractiveness-intelligence-ratings/

Mcginley, Ann C. Babes and beefcake: exclusive hiring arrangements and sexy dress codes. Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy. 2007 14(1): 257(27).

Markey, Patrick ; Markey, Charlotte. Changes in women’s interpersonal styles across the menstrual cycle. Journal of Research in Personality. 2011. 45(5): 493-499.

Parsons, Charles K. ; Liden, Robert C. Guion, Robert (editor). Interviewer perceptions of applicant qualifications: A multivariate field study of demographic characteristics and nonverbal cues. Journal of Applied Psychology. 1984 69(4): 557-568.

Peluchette, J. V., K. Karl, and K. Rust. 2006. Dressing to impress: beliefs and attitudes regarding workplace attire. Journal of Business and Psychology 21(1): 45-63.

Parks, Kathleen ; Scheidt, Douglas. Male Bar Drinkers’ Perspective on Female Bar Drinkers. Sex Roles, 2000, Vol.43(11), pp.927-941.

Regan A. R. Gurung & Carly J. Chrouser. Predicting Objectification: Do Provocative Clothing and Observer Characteristics Matter? Sex Roles, 2007; 57: 91–99.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/dont-want-to-be-objectified-then-dont-wear-sexy-clothing-says-research/

Richards, Lynne ; Mcalister, Laurie. Female Submissiveness, Nonverbal Behavior, and Body Boundary Definition. The Journal of Psychology. 1994 128(4): 419-424.

Rehman, Shakaib U. ; Nietert, Paul J. ; Cope, Dennis W. ; Kilpatrick, Anne Osborne. What to wear today? Effect of doctor’s attire on the trust and confidence of patients
The American Journal of Medicine. 2005 118(11): 1279-1286.

Starr, Christine ; Ferguson, Gail. Sexy Dolls, Sexy Grade-Schoolers? Media & Maternal Influences on Young Girls’ Self-Sexualization. Sex Roles. 2012. 67(7): 463-476.

Synovitz, Lindab. ; Byrne, T. Jean. Antecedents of Sexual Victimization: Factors Discriminating Victims From Nonvictims. Journal of American College Health. 1998. 46(4): 151-158.

Sandlund, Chris. Put Some Clothes On! (employee dress rules). Entrepreneur. 2001 29(8): 70.

Vazire, Simine; Laura P. Naumann; Peter J. Rentfrow and Samuel D. Gosling. Portrait of a Narcissist: Manifestations of Narcissism in Physical Appearance. Journal of Research in Personality. 2008. 42: 1439-1447.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/narcissist-written-read-body-language-narcissist/

Body Language of Scratching

Body Language of Scratching

BodyLanguageProjectCom - Scratching 1Cue: Scratching.

Synonym(s): Itching.

Description: The fingers are flexed and turned into a claw shape with the nails pointing to the skin. They move in a back and forth motion over a specific area in effort to provide comfort.

In One Sentence: Scratching can be due to negative emotions, or due to an actual itch, and therefore, have no meaning at all.

How To Use it: Scratching is not a cue that is beneficial in using necessarily, however, it can help resolve some of the discomfort due to negative thoughts. Scratching serves as a distraction to negative emotions and can help alleviate the sensation caused by stress. When scratching is done vigorously or, conversely, gently, it may reduce stress by releasing painkilling hormones or comforting hormones respectively. When stress due to lying or otherwise, is the cause of scratching, one should be careful to make it appear that one is simply using scratching to reduce normal skin discomfort. This will avoid being perceived in a negative light.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: a) “I’m nervous and stressed causing an increase in blood flow and sweating. I can comfort through scratching as a distraction to the underlying cause.” B) “Conversely, I’m scratching to alleviate a legitimate itch which has no emotional meaning at all.”

Variant: See Neck Scratching or Neck Massaging, Ear Grab, Hand Behind Head or Head Pacifying, Hand To Nose, Neck Rubbing (back of neck) or Holding The Back Of The Neck.

Cue In Action: The pressure was really getting to him, but he tried to remain calm. His palms began to perspire and his forehead began to bead with sweat. As the heat increased, his shirt chaffed against his skin. He scratched at his torso and pawed at his face. His partners knew he wouldn’t make the deadline.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Scratching the neck is a stress related behaviour aimed at pacifying because it diverts attention away from the true source of pain. Scratching when no itch is present is a way to displace some of the nervous energy created by the situation.

As blood flow increases to various parts of our body it stimulates nerves that in turn cause irritation and discomfort. It is the tingling sensation due to an increase in blood flow that gives clues to the underlying meaning. Thus, scratching can be due to high stress or anxiety.

In proper context itching indicates uncertainty and a lack of knowledge such as when being asked a question. The scratching behaviour is a pain inducer that causes painkilling hormones to be released to create relaxation in the face of emotional discomfort.

Scratching often has no meaning at all. In normal circumstances it is used to reduce discomfort as a result of tight or dry skin, clothing that causes tickling, or chafing and so forth. It is the motivation, method, and context that will help the body language reader decide its underlying meaning or lack thereof.

Cue Cluster: Coupled with stress scratching we might find 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 ear, eyebrows of grief combined with other close facial expressions such as lip pursing, squinted eyes and grimacing.

Body Language Category: Adaptors, Amplifier, Arousal, Auto contact or self touching, Comfort body language, Stroking body language, Frustration or frustrated body language, Hostile body language, Idiosyncratic body language, Low confidence body language, Lying or deceptive body language, Nervous body, Pacifying body language, Stressful body language.

Resources:

Arsenio, W. F., Cooperman, S., & Lover, A. Affective Predictors of Preschooler’s Aggression and Peer Acceptance: Direct and Indirect Effects. Developmental Psychology. 2000. 36: 438-448.

Breau, Lynn M. ; Camfield, Carol S. ; Symons, Frank J. ; Bodfish, James W. ; MacKay, Alison ; Finley, G.Allen ; McGrath, Patrick J. Relation between pain and self-injurious behavior in nonverbal children with severe cognitive impairments. The Journal of Pediatrics. 2003 142(5): 498-503.

Barroso, Felix ; Feld, Jason. Self-touching and attentional processes: The role of task difficulty, selection stage, and sex differences. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1986. 10(1): 51-64.

Butzen, Nathan David ; Bissonnette, Victor ; Mcbrayer, Dan. Effects of modeling and topic stimulus on self-referent touching. Perceptual and motor skills. 2005. 101(2): 413-20.

Bouhuys, A.L. ; Jansen, C.J. ; van den Hoofdakker, R.H. Analysis of observed behaviors displayed by depressed patients during a clinical interview: relationships between behavioral factors and clinical concepts of activation. Journal of Affective Disorders. 1991. 21(2): 79-88.

Bond, Michael H., and Hiroshi Komai (1976). “Targets of Gazing and Eye Contact During Interviews: Effects on Japanese Nonverbal Behavior.” In Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Vol. 34), pp. 1276-84.

Blakeslee, Sandra (1995). “In Brain’s Early Growth, Timetable Maybe Crucial.” In New York Times (“Science Times,” August 29), pp. C1, C3.

Castles, Duncan L. ; Whiten, Andrew ; Aureli, Filippo. Social anxiety, relationships and self-directed behaviour among wild female olive baboons. Animal Behaviour. 1999. 58(6): 1207-1215.

Croyle, Kristin L. ; Waltz, Jennifer. Subclinical Self-Harm: Range of Behaviors, Extent, and Associated Characteristics. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. 2007. 77(2): 332-342.

Everly, Jr., G. S. & Lating, J. M. (2002). A clinical guide to the treatment of the human stress response (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers

Ekman, Paul, and Wallace V. Friesen (1969). “Nonverbal Leakage and Clues to Deception.” In Psychiatry (Vol. 32), pp. 88-106.

Gregersen, Tammy S. Nonverbal Cues: Clues to the Detection of Foreign Language Anxiety. Foreign Language Annals. 2005. 38(3): 388-400
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/what-anxious-learners-can-tell-us-about-anxious-body-language-how-to-read-nonverbal-behavior/

Goldberg, Shelly ; Rosenthal, Robert. Self-touching behavior in the job interview: Antecedents and consequences. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1986. 10(1): 65-80.

Goodall, Jane (1986). The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior (Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University).

Givens, David B. (1976). An Ethological Approach to the Study of Human Nonverbal Communication (University of Washington Ph.D. dissertation in Anthropology, Ann Arbor: University Microfilms).

Grand, Stanley (1977). “On Hand Movements During Speech: Studies of the Role of Self-Stimulation in Communication Under Conditions of Psychopathology, Sensory Deficit, and Bilingualism.” In Norbert Freedman and Stanley Grand, eds., Communicative Structures and Psychic Structures: A Psycholanalytic Interpretation of Communication (New York: Plenum Press), pp. 199-221.

Harrison, Lynda Law. The use of comforting touch and massage to reduce stress for preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit. Newborn and Infant Nursing Reviews. 2001. 1(4): 235-241.

Harrigan, Jinni A. Self-touching as an indicator of underlying affect and language processes. Social Science & Medicine. 1985. 20(11): 1161-1168.

Harrigan, Jinni A.; Karen S. Lucic; Denise Kay; Anne McLaney and Robert Rosenthal. Effect of Expresser Role and Type of Self-Touching on Observers’ Perceptions. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 1991. 21(7): 585-609.

Harriss, Louise ; Hawton, Keith. Deliberate self-harm in rural and urban regions: A comparative study of prevalence and patient characteristics. Social Science & Medicine. 2011. 73(2): 274-281.

Jaquier, Véronique ; Hellmuth, Julianne C. ; Sullivan, Tami P.. Posttraumatic stress and depression symptoms as correlates of deliberate self-harm among community women experiencing intimate partnerviolence. Psychiatry Research. 2013. 206(1): 37-42.

Jacobson, Colleenm. ; Muehlenkamp, Jenniferj. ; Miller, Alecl. ; Turner, J. Blake. Psychiatric Impairment Among Adolescents Engaging in Different Types of Deliberate Self-Harm. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology. 2008. 37(2): 363-375.

Katza, Carmit; Irit Hershkowitz; Lindsay C. Malloya; Michael E. Lamba; Armita Atabakia and Sabine Spindlera. Non-Verbal Behavior of Children Who Disclose or do not Disclose Child Abuse in Investigative Interviews. Child Abuse & Neglect. 2012. 36: 12-20.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/reading-nonverbal-behaviour-child-abuse-cases-encourage-children-divulge-information-truth-telling

Kenner, Andrew N. (1993). “A Cross-Cultural Study of Body-Focused Hand Movement.” In Journal of Nonverbal Behavior (Vol. 17, No. 4, Winter), pp. 263-79.

Laye – Gindhu, Aviva ; Schonert – Reichl, Kimberly A.. Nonsuicidal Self-Harm among Community Adolescents: Understanding the “Whats” and “Whys” of Self-Harm. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. 2005. 34(5): 447-457.

Mohiyeddini, C., Bauer, S., & Semple, S. (2013a). Displacement behaviour is associated with reduced stress levels among men but not women. PLoS One, 8, e56355.

Mohiyeddini, C., Bauer, S., & Semple, S. (2013b). Public self-consciousness moderates the link between displacement behaviour and experience of stress in women. Stress, 16, 384–392.

Mohiyeddini, C., & Semple, S. (2013). Displacement behaviour regulates the experience of stress in men. Stress, 16, 163–171.

Morris, Desmond (1994). Bodytalk: The Meaning of Human Gestures (New York: Crown Publishers).

McGrew, W. C. (1972). “Aspects of Social Development in Nursery School Children with Emphasis on Introduction to the Group.” In N. G. Blurton Jones, ed., Ethological Studies of Child Behaviour (Cambridge: University Press), pp. 129-56.

Nock, Matthew K. Actions speak louder than words: An elaborated theoretical model of the social functions of self-injury and other harmful behaviors. Applied and Preventive Psychology. 2008. 12(4): 159-168.

Pecora, Giulia ; Addessi, Elsa ; Schino, Gabriele ; Bellagamba, Francesca. Do displacement activities help preschool children to inhibit a forbidden action? Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. 2014. 126: 80-90.

Pugh, George E. (1977). The Biological Origin of Human Values (New York: Basic Books).

Rosenfeld, Howard (1973). “Nonverbal Reciprocation of Approval: An Experimental Analysis.” In Argyle *, pp. 163-72.

Ross, Shana ; Heath, Nancy. A Study of the Frequency of Self-Mutilation in a Community Sample of Adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. 2002. 31(1):.67-77.

Sommer, Robert (1969). Personal Space: The Behavioral Basis of Design (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall).

Seekles, Wike ; van Straten, Annemieke ; Beekman, Aartjan ; van Marwijk, Harm ; Cuijpers, Pim. Effectiveness of guided self-help for depression and anxiety disorders in primary care: A pragmatic randomized controlled trial. Psychiatry Research. 2011. 187(1): 113-120.

Straker, Gillian. Signing with a Scar: Understanding Self-Harm. Psychoanalytic Dialogues. 2006. 16(1): 93-112

Schino G, Perretta G, Taglioni AM, Monaco V, Troisi A. 1996. Primate displacement activities as an ethopharmacological model of anxiety. Anxiety 2:186–191.

Supplee, Lauren H ; Skuban, Emily Moye ; Shaw, Daniel S ; Prout, Joanna. Emotion regulation strategies and later externalizing behavior among European American and African American children. Development and Psychopathology. 2009. 21(2): 393-415

Troisi A (2002) Displacement activities as a behavioural measure of stress in nonhuman primates and human subjects. Stress 5: 47–54.

Troisi A (1999) Ethological research in clinical psychiatry: the study of nonverbal
behaviour during interviews. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 23: 905–913.

Troisi A, Moles A (1999) Gender differences in depression: an ethological study
of nonverbal behaviour during interviews. J Psychiatr Res 33: 243–250.

Tureck, Kim ; Matson, Johnny L. ; Beighley, Jennifer S. An investigation of self-injurious behaviors in adults with severe intellectual disabilities. Research in Developmental Disabilities. 2013. 34(9): 2469-2474.

Body Language of Neck Scratching or Neck Massaging

Body Language of Neck Scratching or Neck Massaging

BodyLanguageProjectCom - Neck Scratching or Neck Massaging 4Cue: Neck Scratching or Neck Massaging

Synonym(s): Scratching The Neck, Massaging The Neck, Neck Massage, Neck Touching, Hand To The Front Of The Neck.

Description: The finger, usually the index, comes up to the neck and scratches. The front of the neck might also be massaged – sometimes vigorously. Sometimes the skin just above the Adam’s apple will be pulled. This is usually a male cue whereas women will usually cover the suprasternal notch rather than massage (see Covering The Neck Dimple or Hand to Lower Neck).

In One Sentence: Scratching the neck is a sign of nervousness or serves to alleviate an itch.

How To Use it: Certain relief from stress can be had by bringing the hand to the back of the neck. Massaging the neck will help relieve tension and create a soothing feeling. Use the gesture when you need to pacify.

Caution however, must be used since others will may read the signal as a stress indicator. If this is an honest portrayal of your emotions, however, and you wish for others to know about it, it can serve to attract sympathy and even assistance.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: a) “I’m nervous and stressed and this is causing blood flow to increase in my neck causing it to tingle slightly, which in turn causes me to scratch.” b) “I’m under stress, discomfort, or I am insecure, and I am pacifying myself by massaging my neck which is full of nerve endings.” c) He had no idea how to solve the math problem. As he worked through the equation he pulled at the soft skin at the front of his neck just above his Adam’s apple.

Variant: See Neck Rubbing (back of neck) or Holding The Back Of The Neck, Covering The Neck Dimple or Hand to Lower Neck.

Cue In Action: The salesman was adamant that the mattress was a good deal, but he punctuated his sentence with a neck scratch.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Scratching the neck is a stress related behaviour aimed at pacifying and also protecting since the neck is a vulnerable part of the body. Scratching the front of the neck is done when under stress and when faced with uncertainty. When someone utters words such as “I completely agree with you, that sentiment is bang-on” but then punctuates the sentence with a neck scratch, it might mean that they in fact believe the opposite. Even a brief touch of the neck can produce and indicate the need for soothing.

Scratching the neck when no itch is present is a way to displace some of the nervous energy created by the lie. It helps distracts them from the pain of their dishonesty. Massaging the neck can also stimulate the many nerves including the vagus nerve which can provide a soothing effect and slow the heart rate.

When stress increases, our face and necks flush with blood and we pull our collar away as an unconscious indication of this process. As blood flow increases to our neck, it stimulates nerves which in turn cause irritation and discomfort. It is the tingling sensation due to an increase in blood flow that gives clues to the underlying meaning. Thus, neck scratching is really due to high stress or anxiety.

Naturally, neck touching can be due to nothing at all and only serve to eliminate a legitimate itch.

Cue Cluster: Neck scratching is accompanied by other nervous body language such as face touching, adjusting the clothing, licking the lips, high blink rate, avoiding eye contact, or persistent predatory eye contact..

Body Language Category: Adaptors, Arousal, Auto contact or self touching, Emotional body language, Stroking body language, Lying or deceptive body language, Stressful body language.

Resources:

Barroso, Felix ; Feld, Jason. Self-touching and attentional processes: The role of task difficulty, selection stage, and sex differences. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1986. 10(1): 51-64.

Butzen, Nathan David ; Bissonnette, Victor ; Mcbrayer, Dan. Effects of modeling and topic stimulus on self-referent touching. Perceptual and motor skills. 2005. 101(2): 413-20.

Broome, Marion E.. Helping Parents Support Their Child In Pain. Pediatric Nursing. 2000. 26(3): 315.

Bornstein, Marc H. ; Tamis-Lemonda, Catherine S. Maternal responsiveness and infant mental abilities: Specific predictive relations. Infant Behavior and Development. 1997. 20(3): 283-296.

Buckley, V., & Semple, S. (2012). Evidence that displacement activities facilitate behavioural transitions in ring-tailed lemurs. Behavioural Processes, 90, 433–435.

Bernal, Gilda Rios ; Wortham, Suec. How to Calm Children through Massage. Childhood Education. 1997. 74(1): 9-14.

Bouhuys, A.L. ; Jansen, C.J. ; van den Hoofdakker, R.H. Analysis of observed behaviors displayed by depressed patients during a clinical interview: relationships between behavioral factors and clinical concepts of activation. Journal of Affective Disorders. 1991. 21(2): 79-88.

Bouhuys, A.L. ; Beersma, Domien G.M. ; van den Hoofdakker, Rutger H. Observed behavior as a predictor of the response to sleep deprivation in depressed patients. Psychiatry Research. 1989. 28(1): 47-61.

Bouras, N. ; Dykens, E. M. ; Smith, A. C. M. Distinctiveness and correlates of maladaptive behaviour in children and adolescents with Smith–Magenis syndrome
Journal of Intellectual Disability Research. 1998. 42(6): 481-489.

Berridge CW,Mitton E, ClarkW, Roth RH. 1999. Engagement in a non-escape (displacement) behavior elicits a selective and lateralized suppression of frontal cortical dopaminergic utilization in stress. Synapse 32:187–197.

Bond, Michael H., and Hiroshi Komai (1976). “Targets of Gazing and Eye Contact During Interviews: Effects on Japanese Nonverbal Behavior.” In Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Vol. 34), pp. 1276-84.

Blakeslee, Sandra (1995). “In Brain’s Early Growth, Timetable Maybe Crucial.” In New York Times (“Science Times,” August 29), pp. C1, C3.

Croyle, Kristin L. ; Waltz, Jennifer. Subclinical Self-Harm: Range of Behaviors, Extent, and Associated Characteristics. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. 2007. 77(2): 332-342.

Caplovitz Barrett, Karen. The origins of social emotions and self-regulation in toddlerhood: New evidence. Cognition & Emotion. 2005. 19(7): 953-979.

Castles, Duncan L. ; Whiten, Andrew ; Aureli, Filippo. Social anxiety, relationships and self-directed behaviour among wild female olive baboons. Animal Behaviour. 1999. 58(6): 1207-1215.

D’alessio, M. ; Zazzetta, A. Development of Self-Touching Behavior in Childhood. Perceptual and Motor Skills. 1986. 63(1): 243-253.

Ekman, Paul, and Wallace V. Friesen (1969). “Nonverbal Leakage and Clues to Deception.” In Psychiatry (Vol. 32), pp. 88-106.

Everly, Jr., G. S. & Lating, J. M. (2002). A clinical guide to the treatment of the human stress response (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers

Gregersen, Tammy S. Nonverbal Cues: Clues to the Detection of Foreign Language Anxiety. Foreign Language Annals. 2005. 38(3): 388-400
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/what-anxious-learners-can-tell-us-about-anxious-body-language-how-to-read-nonverbal-behavior/

Goodall, Jane (1986). The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior (Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University).

Givens, David B. (1976). An Ethological Approach to the Study of Human Nonverbal Communication (University of Washington Ph.D. dissertation in Anthropology, Ann Arbor: University Microfilms).

Grand, Stanley (1977). “On Hand Movements During Speech: Studies of the Role of Self-Stimulation in Communication Under Conditions of Psychopathology, Sensory Deficit, and Bilingualism.” In Norbert Freedman and Stanley Grand, eds., Communicative Structures and Psychic Structures: A Psycholanalytic Interpretation of Communication (New York: Plenum Press), pp. 199-221.

Katza, Carmit; Irit Hershkowitz; Lindsay C. Malloya; Michael E. Lamba; Armita Atabakia and Sabine Spindlera. Non-Verbal Behavior of Children Who Disclose or do not Disclose Child Abuse in Investigative Interviews. Child Abuse & Neglect. 2012. 36: 12-20.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/reading-nonverbal-behaviour-child-abuse-cases-encourage-children-divulge-information-truth-telling

Karagozoglu, Serife ; Kahve, Emine. Effects of back massage on chemotherapy-related fatigue and anxiety: Supportive care and therapeutic touch in cancer nursing. Applied Nursing Research. 2013. 26(4): 210-217.

Kenner, Andrew N. (1993). “A Cross-Cultural Study of Body-Focused Hand Movement.” In Journal of Nonverbal Behavior (Vol. 17, No. 4, Winter), pp. 263-79.

Goldberg, Shelly ; Rosenthal, Robert. Self-touching behavior in the job interview: Antecedents and consequences. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1986. 10(1): 65-80.

Garnefski N 2004) Cognitive emotion regulation strategies and depressive symptoms: differences between males and female. Personal Indiv Diff 36: 267–76.

Gregersen, Tammy S. Nonverbal Cues: Clues to the Detection of Foreign Language Anxiety. Foreign Language Annals. 2005. 38(3): 388-400
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/what-anxious-learners-can-tell-us-about-anxious-body-language-how-to-read-nonverbal-behavior/

Huflejt-Łukasik M, Czarnota-Bojarska J (2006) Short Communication: Selffocused attention and self-monitoring influence on health and coping with stress. Stress Health 22: 153–59.

Hernandez-Reif, Maria ; Diego, Miguel ; Field, Tiffany. Preterm infants show reduced stress behaviors and activity after 5 days of massage therapy. Infant Behavior and Development. 2007. 30(4): 557-561.

Harrison, Lynda Law. The use of comforting touch and massage to reduce stress for preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit. Newborn and Infant Nursing Reviews. 2001. 1(4): 235-241.

Hennessy, Michael B ; T. Williams, Michael ; Miller, Deborah D ; Douglas, Chet W ; Voith, Victoria L. Influence of male and female petters on plasma cortisol and behaviour: can human interaction reduce the stress of dogs in a public animal shelter?
Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 1998. 61(1): 63-77.

Harrigan, Jinni A. Self-touching as an indicator of underlying affect and language processes. Social Science & Medicine. 1985. 20(11): 1161-1168.

Harrigan, Jinni A.; Karen S. Lucic; Denise Kay; Anne McLaney and Robert Rosenthal. Effect of Expresser Role and Type of Self-Touching on Observers’ Perceptions. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 1991. 21(7): 585-609.

Heaven, Laura ; Mcbrayer, Dan ; Prince, Bob. Role of sex in externally motivated self-touching gestures. Perceptual and motor skills. 2002. 95(1): 289-94.

Heaven, L ; Mcbrayer, D. External motivators of self-touching behavior. Perceptual and motor skills. 2000. 90(1): 338-42.

Kochanska, G., Coy, K. C., & Murray, K. T. (2001). The development of self-regulation in the first four years of life. Child Development, 72, 1091–1111.

Kochanska, G., Murray, K. T., & Harlan, E. T. (2000). Effortful control in early childhood: Continuity and change, antecedents, and implications for social development. Developmental Psychology, 36, 220–232.

Kirschbaum C, Pirke K-M, Hellhammer DH. 1993. The ‘Trier Social Stress Test’: a tool for investigating psychobiological stress responses in a laboratory setting. Neuropsychobiology 28: 76–81.

Katza, Carmit; Irit Hershkowitz; Lindsay C. Malloya; Michael E. Lamba; Armita Atabakia and Sabine Spindlera. Non-Verbal Behavior of Children Who Disclose or do not Disclose Child Abuse in Investigative Interviews. Child Abuse & Neglect. 2012. 36: 12-20.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/reading-nonverbal-behaviour-child-abuse-cases-encourage-children-divulge-information-truth-telling

Moore, M. M. and D. L. Butler. 1989. Predictive aspects of nonverbal courtship behavior in women. Semiotica 76(3/4): 205-215.

Moore, M. M. 2001. Flirting. In C. G. Waugh (Ed.) Let’s talk: A cognitive skills approach to interpersonal communication. Newark, Kendall-Hunt.

Moore, M. M. 1985. Nonverbal courtship patterns in women: context and consequences. Ethology and Sociobiology 64: 237-247.

Moszkowski, Robin J. ; Stack, Dale M. ; Chiarella, Sabrina S. Infant touch with gaze and affective behaviors during mother–infant still-face interactions: Co-occurrence and functions of touch. Infant Behavior and Development. 2009. 32(4): 392-403.

Maestripieri D, Schino G, Aureli F, Troisi A. 1992. A modest proposal: displacement activities as an indicator of emotions in primates. Anim Behav 44:967–979.

Mohiyeddini, C., Bauer, S., & Semple, S. (2013a). Displacement behaviour is associated with reduced stress levels among men but not women. PLoS One, 8, e56355.

Mohiyeddini, C., Bauer, S., & Semple, S. (2013b). Public self-consciousness moderates the link between displacement behaviour and experience of stress in women. Stress, 16, 384–392.

Mohiyeddini, C., & Semple, S. (2013). Displacement behaviour regulates the experience of stress in men. Stress, 16, 163–171.

Marcus-Newhall A, Pedersen WC, Carlson M, Miller N. 2000. Displaced aggression is alive and well: a meta-analytic review. J Pers Soc Psychol 78:670–689. Ingram GIC. 1960. Displacement activity in human behavior. Am Anthropol. 62:994–1003.

Morris, Desmond (1994). Bodytalk: The Meaning of Human Gestures (New York: Crown Publishers).

McGrew, W. C. (1972). “Aspects of Social Development in Nursery School Children with Emphasis on Introduction to the Group.” In N. G. Blurton Jones, ed., Ethological Studies of Child Behaviour (Cambridge: University Press), pp. 129-56.

Navarro, Joe. 2008. What Every BODY is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent’s Guide to Speed-Reading People. William Morrow Paperbacks.

Nolen-Hoeksema S, Aldao A (2011) Gender and age differences in emotion regulation strategies and their relationship to depressive symptoms. Personal Indiv Diff 51: 704–8.

Pease, Barbara and Allan Pease. 2006. The Definitive Book of Body Language Hardcover. Bantam.

Porter, S., & ten Brinke, L. (2010). The truth about lies: What works in detecting high-stakes deception? Legal and Criminological Psychology, 15(1), 57.

Pecora, Giulia ; Addessi, Elsa ; Schino, Gabriele ; Bellagamba, Francesca. Do displacement activities help preschool children to inhibit a forbidden action? Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. 2014. 126: 80-90.

Pugh, George E. (1977). The Biological Origin of Human Values (New York: Basic Books).

Rosenfeld, Howard (1973). “Nonverbal Reciprocation of Approval: An Experimental Analysis.” In Argyle *, pp. 163-72.

Sommer, Robert (1969). Personal Space: The Behavioral Basis of Design (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall).

Schaafsma, Juliette ; Krahmer, Emiel ; Postma, Marie ; Swerts, Marc ; Balsters, Martijn ; Vingerhoets, Ad. Comfortably Numb? Nonverbal Reactions to Social Exclusion. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2015. 39(1): 25-39.

Schino G, Perretta G, Taglioni AM, Monaco V, Troisi A. 1996. Primate displacement activities as an ethopharmacological model of anxiety. Anxiety 2:186–191.

Supplee, Lauren H ; Skuban, Emily Moye ; Shaw, Daniel S ; Prout, Joanna. Emotion regulation strategies and later externalizing behavior among European American and African American children. Development and Psychopathology. 2009. 21(2): 393-415.

Seekles, Wike ; van Straten, Annemieke ; Beekman, Aartjan ; van Marwijk, Harm ; Cuijpers, Pim. Effectiveness of guided self-help for depression and anxiety disorders in primary care: A pragmatic randomized controlled trial. Psychiatry Research. 2011. 187(1): 113-120.

Troisi A. 1999. Ethological research in clinical psychiatry: the study of nonverbal behaviour during interviews. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 23:905–913.

Troisi A. 2002. Displacement activities as a behavioral measure of stress in nonhuman primates and human subjects. Stress 5: 47–54.

Tamres L, Janicki D, Helgeson VS (2002) Sex differences in coping behaviour: a
meta-analytic review. Personal Soc Psychol Rev 6: 2–30.

Troisi A, Moles A (1999) Gender differences in depression: an ethological study
of nonverbal behaviour during interviews. J Psychiatr Res 33: 243–250.

Vannorsdall, Tracy ; Dahlquist, Lynnda ; Shroff Pendley, Jennifer ; Power, Thomas. The Relation Between Nonessential Touch and Children’s Distress During Lumbar Punctures. Children’s Health Care. 2004. 33(4): 299-315.

von Hippel W, von Hippel C, Conway L, Preacher KJ, Schooler JW, et al. (2005) Coping with stereotype threat: denial as an impression management strategy. J Personal Soc Psychol 89: 22–35.

Body Language of Neck Rubbing (back of neck) or Holding The Back Of The Neck

Body Language of Neck Rubbing (back of neck) or Holding The Back Of The Neck

BodyLanguageProjectCom - Neck Rubbing (back of neck) or Holding The Back Of The Neck 1Cue: Neck Rubbing (back of neck) or Holding The Back Of The Neck

Synonym(s): Hand To The Back Of The Neck, Neck Hold, Pain In The Neck Posture.

Description: The hand goes to the back of the neck and is held there, either still, as if covering, massaging or scratching.

In One Sentence: Rubbing the back of the neck is a negative thought indicator.

How To Use it: Massaging the back of the neck while working to solve a problem shows others that you are having a hard time coming up with a solution, but that you are otherwise, actively thinking.

In extreme contexts, you can show your held aggression with the posture. This will tell other people to back off which will give you more space to contemplate your situation.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m wild, angry and carrying negative feelings, so I’m holding myself back, by the scruff of my neck, so I won’t speak out.”

Variant: See Collar Pull (the).

Cue In Action: His boss was furious over the TPS reports as they were improperly filled out once again – this, even after having a lengthy meeting last week to go over the procedure. He paced back and forth across the room holding the back of his neck trying to prevent himself from acting out at his employees.

Meaning and/or Motivation: The neck hold, scratch or rub is a response to negative feelings and is a restraint posture as in “holding one’s self back” as one might do to a wily cat or dog by grabbing them by the scruff of the neck. Only in this case, it is done to one’s self. Grabbing the back of the neck shows that a person doesn’t like what is being proposed so they feel it’s necessary to bottle up their thoughts so they avoid confrontation or aggression.

Touching the back of the neck is not the same as touching any other part of the neck such as the side, which can be used as a filler gesture to pause for thought, or the front which can be used to show sexual interest in a dating context.

Scratching the back of the neck, rather, is a primitive gesture, that is a response to erector pili muscles in the scruff that our body uses to make our hair stand on end. The erector pili are microscopic bands of muscle tissue that connect hair follicles to the skin. When stimulated, the muscles contract and cause the hair to turn upward and perpendicular to the skin surface, or stand on end. While the purpose of the muscles in humans is vestigial, meaning they are an evolutionary throwaway, they were once used to trap air next to the skin to help keep the body warm. Other uses are for display and competition to make the body appear larger and more threatening. You have probably seen a domestic cat put its hair up when challenged by another cat. In porcupines, the muscles contract to bring the quills up as a defense.

As a defense, and for heat retention for people, the purpose of the arrector pili is laughable at best, but our bodies still react to cold and fear, even aggression by stimulating the muscles. A cold chill down the spine and “goose bumps” or “goose pimples” is a reference to the same thing. When we reach for our scruff, we are showing an evolutionary throwaway to a time when our hair would have stood on end!

Cue Cluster: Hand to the back of the neck is usually accompanied by the head down, pacing to burn off negative energy, worried or angry facial expression, eyes wincing, narrowed, blank, or staring intently in a rage. A person might alternate between the neck hold and massaging their entire face with their palms, clenching the fists, erratic movements and gestures and so forth.

Body Language Category: Adaptors, Auto contact or self touching, Clenching and gripping, Closed body language, Disengagement, Dislike (nonverbal), Emotional body language, Frustration or frustrated body language, Negative body language, Stressful body language.

Resources:

Barroso, Felix ; Feld, Jason. Self-touching and attentional processes: The role of task difficulty, selection stage, and sex differences. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1986. 10(1): 51-64.

Butzen, Nathan David ; Bissonnette, Victor ; Mcbrayer, Dan. Effects of modeling and topic stimulus on self-referent touching. Perceptual and motor skills. 2005. 101(2): 413-20.

Broome, Marion E.. Helping Parents Support Their Child In Pain. Pediatric Nursing. 2000. 26(3): 315.

Bornstein, Marc H. ; Tamis-Lemonda, Catherine S. Maternal responsiveness and infant mental abilities: Specific predictive relations. Infant Behavior and Development. 1997. 20(3): 283-296.

Buckley, V., & Semple, S. (2012). Evidence that displacement activities facilitate behavioural transitions in ring-tailed lemurs. Behavioural Processes, 90, 433–435.

Bernal, Gilda Rios ; Wortham, Suec. How to Calm Children through Massage. Childhood Education. 1997. 74(1): 9-14.

Bouhuys, A.L. ; Jansen, C.J. ; van den Hoofdakker, R.H. Analysis of observed behaviors displayed by depressed patients during a clinical interview: relationships between behavioral factors and clinical concepts of activation. Journal of Affective Disorders. 1991. 21(2): 79-88.

Bouhuys, A.L. ; Beersma, Domien G.M. ; van den Hoofdakker, Rutger H. Observed behavior as a predictor of the response to sleep deprivation in depressed patients. Psychiatry Research. 1989. 28(1): 47-61.

Bouras, N. ; Dykens, E. M. ; Smith, A. C. M. Distinctiveness and correlates of maladaptive behaviour in children and adolescents with Smith–Magenis syndrome
Journal of Intellectual Disability Research. 1998. 42(6): 481-489.

Berridge CW,Mitton E, ClarkW, Roth RH. 1999. Engagement in a non-escape (displacement) behavior elicits a selective and lateralized suppression of frontal cortical dopaminergic utilization in stress. Synapse 32:187–197.

Bond, Michael H., and Hiroshi Komai (1976). “Targets of Gazing and Eye Contact During Interviews: Effects on Japanese Nonverbal Behavior.” In Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Vol. 34), pp. 1276-84.

Blakeslee, Sandra (1995). “In Brain’s Early Growth, Timetable Maybe Crucial.” In New York Times (“Science Times,” August 29), pp. C1, C3.

Caplovitz Barrett, Karen. The origins of social emotions and self-regulation in toddlerhood: New evidence. Cognition & Emotion. 2005. 19(7): 953-979.

Castles, Duncan L. ; Whiten, Andrew ; Aureli, Filippo. Social anxiety, relationships and self-directed behaviour among wild female olive baboons. Animal Behaviour. 1999. 58(6): 1207-1215.

D’alessio, M. ; Zazzetta, A. Development of Self-Touching Behavior in Childhood. Perceptual and Motor Skills. 1986. 63(1): 243-253.

Everly, Jr., G. S. & Lating, J. M. (2002). A clinical guide to the treatment of the human stress response (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers

Ekman, Paul, and Wallace V. Friesen (1969). “Nonverbal Leakage and Clues to Deception.” In Psychiatry (Vol. 32), pp. 88-106.

Goodall, Jane (1986). The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior (Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University).

Givens, David B. (1976). An Ethological Approach to the Study of Human Nonverbal Communication (University of Washington Ph.D. dissertation in Anthropology, Ann Arbor: University Microfilms).

Grand, Stanley (1977). “On Hand Movements During Speech: Studies of the Role of Self-Stimulation in Communication Under Conditions of Psychopathology, Sensory Deficit, and Bilingualism.” In Norbert Freedman and Stanley Grand, eds., Communicative Structures and Psychic Structures: A Psycholanalytic Interpretation of Communication (New York: Plenum Press), pp. 199-221.

Gregersen, Tammy S. Nonverbal Cues: Clues to the Detection of Foreign Language Anxiety. Foreign Language Annals. 2005. 38(3): 388-400
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/what-anxious-learners-can-tell-us-about-anxious-body-language-how-to-read-nonverbal-behavior/

Goldberg, Shelly ; Rosenthal, Robert. Self-touching behavior in the job interview: Antecedents and consequences. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1986. 10(1): 65-80.

Garnefski N 2004) Cognitive emotion regulation strategies and depressive symptoms: differences between males and female. Personal Indiv Diff 36: 267–76.

Huflejt-Łukasik M, Czarnota-Bojarska J (2006) Short Communication: Selffocused attention and self-monitoring influence on health and coping with stress. Stress Health 22: 153–59.

Hernandez-Reif, Maria ; Diego, Miguel ; Field, Tiffany. Preterm infants show reduced stress behaviors and activity after 5 days of massage therapy. Infant Behavior and Development. 2007. 30(4): 557-561.

Harrison, Lynda Law. The use of comforting touch and massage to reduce stress for preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit. Newborn and Infant Nursing Reviews. 2001. 1(4): 235-241.

Hennessy, Michael B ; T. Williams, Michael ; Miller, Deborah D ; Douglas, Chet W ; Voith, Victoria L. Influence of male and female petters on plasma cortisol and behaviour: can human interaction reduce the stress of dogs in a public animal shelter?
Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 1998. 61(1): 63-77.

Harrigan, Jinni A. Self-touching as an indicator of underlying affect and language processes. Social Science & Medicine. 1985. 20(11): 1161-1168.

Harrigan, Jinni A.; Karen S. Lucic; Denise Kay; Anne McLaney and Robert Rosenthal. Effect of Expresser Role and Type of Self-Touching on Observers’ Perceptions. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 1991. 21(7): 585-609.

Heaven, Laura ; Mcbrayer, Dan ; Prince, Bob. Role of sex in externally motivated self-touching gestures. Perceptual and motor skills. 2002. 95(1): 289-94.

Heaven, L ; Mcbrayer, D. External motivators of self-touching behavior. Perceptual and motor skills. 2000. 90(1): 338-42.

Kochanska, G., Coy, K. C., & Murray, K. T. (2001). The development of self-regulation in the first four years of life. Child Development, 72, 1091–1111.

Kochanska, G., Murray, K. T., & Harlan, E. T. (2000). Effortful control in early childhood: Continuity and change, antecedents, and implications for social development. Developmental Psychology, 36, 220–232.

Kirschbaum C, Pirke K-M, Hellhammer DH. 1993. The ‘Trier Social Stress Test’: a tool for investigating psychobiological stress responses in a laboratory setting. Neuropsychobiology 28: 76–81.

Katza, Carmit; Irit Hershkowitz; Lindsay C. Malloya; Michael E. Lamba; Armita Atabakia and Sabine Spindlera. Non-Verbal Behavior of Children Who Disclose or do not Disclose Child Abuse in Investigative Interviews. Child Abuse & Neglect. 2012. 36: 12-20.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/reading-nonverbal-behaviour-child-abuse-cases-encourage-children-divulge-information-truth-telling

Karagozoglu, Serife ; Kahve, Emine. Effects of back massage on chemotherapy-related fatigue and anxiety: Supportive care and therapeutic touch in cancer nursing. Applied Nursing Research. 2013. 26(4): 210-217.

Kenner, Andrew N. (1993). “A Cross-Cultural Study of Body-Focused Hand Movement.” In Journal of Nonverbal Behavior (Vol. 17, No. 4, Winter), pp. 263-79.

Moszkowski, Robin J. ; Stack, Dale M. ; Chiarella, Sabrina S. Infant touch with gaze and affective behaviors during mother–infant still-face interactions: Co-occurrence and functions of touch. Infant Behavior and Development. 2009. 32(4): 392-403.

Maestripieri D, Schino G, Aureli F, Troisi A. 1992. A modest proposal: displacement activities as an indicator of emotions in primates. Anim Behav 44:967–979.

Mohiyeddini, C., Bauer, S., & Semple, S. (2013a). Displacement behaviour is associated with reduced stress levels among men but not women. PLoS One, 8, e56355.

Mohiyeddini, C., Bauer, S., & Semple, S. (2013b). Public self-consciousness moderates the link between displacement behaviour and experience of stress in women. Stress, 16, 384–392.

Mohiyeddini, C., & Semple, S. (2013). Displacement behaviour regulates the experience of stress in men. Stress, 16, 163–171.

Marcus-Newhall A, Pedersen WC, Carlson M, Miller N. 2000. Displaced aggression is alive and well: a meta-analytic review. J Pers Soc Psychol 78:670–689. Ingram GIC. 1960. Displacement activity in human behavior. Am Anthropol. 62:994–1003.

Morris, Desmond (1994). Bodytalk: The Meaning of Human Gestures (New York: Crown Publishers).

McGrew, W. C. (1972). “Aspects of Social Development in Nursery School Children with Emphasis on Introduction to the Group.” In N. G. Blurton Jones, ed., Ethological Studies of Child Behaviour (Cambridge: University Press), pp. 129-56.

Navarro, Joe. 2008. What Every BODY is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent’s Guide to Speed-Reading People. William Morrow Paperbacks.

Nolen-Hoeksema S, Aldao A (2011) Gender and age differences in emotion regulation strategies and their relationship to depressive symptoms. Personal Indiv Diff 51: 704–8.

Porter, S., & ten Brinke, L. (2010). The truth about lies: What works in detecting high-stakes deception? Legal and Criminological Psychology, 15(1), 57.

Pecora, Giulia ; Addessi, Elsa ; Schino, Gabriele ; Bellagamba, Francesca. Do displacement activities help preschool children to inhibit a forbidden action? Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. 2014. 126: 80-90.

Pugh, George E. (1977). The Biological Origin of Human Values (New York: Basic Books).

Rosenfeld, Howard (1973). “Nonverbal Reciprocation of Approval: An Experimental Analysis.” In Argyle *, pp. 163-72.

Sommer, Robert (1969). Personal Space: The Behavioral Basis of Design (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall).

Schaafsma, Juliette ; Krahmer, Emiel ; Postma, Marie ; Swerts, Marc ; Balsters, Martijn ; Vingerhoets, Ad. Comfortably Numb? Nonverbal Reactions to Social Exclusion. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2015. 39(1): 25-39.

Schino G, Perretta G, Taglioni AM, Monaco V, Troisi A. 1996. Primate displacement activities as an ethopharmacological model of anxiety. Anxiety 2:186–191.

Supplee, Lauren H ; Skuban, Emily Moye ; Shaw, Daniel S ; Prout, Joanna. Emotion regulation strategies and later externalizing behavior among European American and African American children. Development and Psychopathology. 2009. 21(2): 393-415.

Troisi A. 1999. Ethological research in clinical psychiatry: the study of nonverbal behaviour during interviews. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 23:905–913.

Troisi A. 2002. Displacement activities as a behavioral measure of stress in nonhuman primates and human subjects. Stress 5: 47–54.

Tamres L, Janicki D, Helgeson VS (2002) Sex differences in coping behaviour: a meta-analytic review. Personal Soc Psychol Rev 6: 2–30.

Troisi A, Moles A (1999) Gender differences in depression: an ethological study of nonverbal behaviour during interviews. J Psychiatr Res 33: 243–250.

Vannorsdall, Tracy ; Dahlquist, Lynnda ; Shroff Pendley, Jennifer ; Power, Thomas. The Relation Between Nonessential Touch and Children’s Distress During Lumbar Punctures. Children’s Health Care. 2004. 33(4): 299-315.

von Hippel W, von Hippel C, Conway L, Preacher KJ, Schooler JW, et al. (2005) Coping with stereotype threat: denial as an impression management strategy. J Personal Soc Psychol 89: 22–35.

Body Language of Leg Crossing and Leg Crossing Direction

Body Language of Leg Crossing and Leg Crossing Direction

BodyLanguageProjectCom - Leg Crossing and Leg Crossing Direction 2 BodyLanguageProjectCom - Leg Crossing and Leg Crossing Direction 1Cue: Leg Crossing and Leg Crossing Direction.

Synonym(s): Crossing The Legs, Thigh-Thigh Cross.

Description: A proper sitting posture where one leg crosses over the knee of the other leg.

In One Sentence: Leg crossing is a closed body posture demonstrating the desire to protect privacy.

How To Use it: Women should make it a habit to cross the legs regardless of the type of attire they wear, but especially so if they are wearing short skirts or dresses or are trying to appear feminine. Our current culture affords women the liberty to comport themselves however they see fit, however, this does speak directly toward our values. In other words, if women wish to be perceived as “lady-like” and feminine, rather than masculine (the current default), crossing the legs is an apt nonverbal display.

Men also benefit from crossing the legs, much like women. When men cross their legs rather than splay them open, they appear more proper and sophisticated, not to mention respectful.

As always, one must use body language to create the results that are most desired.

Context: a) General, b) Dating.

Verbal Translation: “I’m somewhat reserved so I’m closing off my body and aiming my legs toward someone I like or away from someone I dislike.”

Variant: Sometimes people are not physically able or comfortable crossing their legs in more than one direction or crossing them at all. If a person habitually crosses their legs in one direction, their tendons and muscles will stretch and conform to suite that direction best. This then inhibits them from crossing in another direction because they feel less comfortable doing so. Therefore, we should be careful to watch for adjoining cues, the context, and a person’s baseline before drawing definitive causal conclusions with respect to leg cross direction.

See European Leg Cross and Figure Four Seating Position (The) or The Ankle-Knee Cross and Leg Twine.

Cue In Action: a) While the two girls chatted, each had their legs crossed toward each other as if cutting out all others from the conversation. b) Dave and his new girlfriend sat chatting on the sofa when a younger more attractive girl sat down next to Dave. Subconsciously Dave began to lean toward her, shifted his body over and even crossed his legs in her direction rather than toward his girlfriend.

Meaning and/or Motivation: The legs crossed toward something or someone indicates attraction in that direction. In other words, the legs are propelled in the direction in which we think. Couples that have a strong relationship will usually cross their legs toward each other. Enemies will usually cross away, context permitting of course. Lovers sitting on a couch together with their legs crossed toward each other, bodies leaning inward, with their arms meeting over the back of the couch are said to be in a “loving circle.”

Be cautious about reading the meaning of leg cross with respect to direction as there is no solid evidence that people habitually cross their legs toward or away from people they like and don’t like respectively.

Having the legs crossed is often a signal of a closed attitude as the leg crosses over the mid-point of the body. Compare legs crossed to having the legs opened or legs cross in the figure four posture. Legs open is more open and more dominant. However, women who wear skirts should cross their legs so as not to appear overtly sexual.

Leg crossing is often motivated by the desire to increase comfort and therefore simply a natural posture in a person’s repertoire. However, if a postural change occurs suddenly and due to a particular stimulus, we should pay particular attention. The legs may have been drawn in the direction of the attractive stimulus – be it a person or event.

Similar to the leg twine, a thigh-thigh cross is a tight version of leg crossing where the thigh is brought up really high and the legs pressed tightly together. This can signal a closed attitude and restrained emotion. It might also signify a desire to pacify by pressing the genitals tightly together. It is more commonly found in women, but particularly salient when done by men. If a bounce is present, it might indicate a desire for pacifying through sexual self-stimulation.

Cue Cluster: When the legs are crossed toward another person expect to see bodies leaning in, shoulders and head turned toward and good eye contact. The opposite is found when the legs are crossed away. If they are not, then we can assume that the leg cross is more due to comfort or that a person is splitting attention between two equally attractive stimulus.

Body Language Category: Adaptors, Amplifier, Barriers, Body cross, Body pointing, Blocking or Shielding, Closed body language, Defensive body language, Idiosyncratic body language, Indicator of interest (IoI), Intention movements, Undivided attention (nonverbal).

Resources:

Aiello, J. 1977. A further look at equilibrium theory. Visual interaction as a function of
interpersonal distance. Environmental Psychology & Nonverbal Behavior, 1: 122-140.

Allen, Jill; Sarah J. Gervais and Jessi L. Smith. Sit Big to Eat Big: The Interaction of Body Posture and Body Concern on Restrained Eating. Psychology of Women Quarterly 2013. 37(3): 325-336. DOI: 10.1177/0361684313476477pwq.sagepub.com
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/sit-big-to-eat-big-how-constrictive-postures-reduce-food-consumption/

Arnette, S. L., & Pettijohn, T. F., II. (2012). The effects of posture on self-perceived leadership. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 3, 8–13.

Bohns, Vanessa K. and Scott S. Wiltermuth. It Hurts When I Do This (Or You Do That): Posture And Pain tolerance. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 2012. 48: 341-345.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/dominant-and-submissive-postures-affects-more-than-public-perception-it-also-affects-felt-pain-and-physical-strength/

Briñol, P., Petty, R. E., & Wagner, B. (2009). Body posture effects on self-evaluation: A self-validation approach. European Journal of Social Psychology, 39, 1053–1064.

Broth, Mathias and Lorenza Mondada. Walking Away: The Embodied Achievement of Activity Closings in Mobile Interaction. Journal of Pragmatics. 2013. 47: 41-58.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/nonverbally-negotiate-conversation-walking-away/

Bania, Amanda E. ; Stromberg, Erin E. Call, Joseph (editor). The Effect of Body Orientation on Judgments of Human Visual Attention in Western Lowland Gorillas.
Journal of Comparative Psychology. 2013. 127(1): 82-90.

Belhiah, Hassan. Tutoring as an embodied activity: How speech, gaze and body orientation are coordinated to conduct ESL tutorial business. Journal of Pragmatics. 2009. 41(4): 829-841.

Cacioppo, J. T., Hawkley, L. C., Crawford, L. E., Ernst, J. M., Burleson, M. H., Kowalewski, R. B., et al. (2002). Loneliness and health: Potential mechanisms. Psychosomatic Medicine. 2002; 64: 407-417.

Cook, Mark. 1970. Experiments on orientation and proxemics. Human Relations 23 (1): 61-76.

Chance RMA (1962) An interpretation of some agonistic postures: the role of “cut-off” acts and postures. Symp Zool Soc Lond 8: 71–89.

Carney, Dana R.; Amy J.C. Cuddy; Andy J. Yap. Power Posing: Brief Nonverbal Displays Affect Neuroendocrine Levels and Risk Tolerance. Psychological Science, 2010; 21 (10): 1363-1368. http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/benefits-power-posing-high-stakes-performance/

Cesario, J., & McDonald, M. M. (2013). Bodies in context: Power poses as a computation of action possibility. Social Cognition, 31, 260–274.

Cuddy, Amy J.C., Caroline A. Wilmuth, and Dana R. Carney. The Benefit of Power Posing Before a High-Stakes Social Evaluation. Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 13-027, September 2012.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/benefits-power-posing-high-stakes-performance/

Clifford, Ruth. Development of masturbation in college women. Archives of Sexual Behavior. 1978. 7(6): 559-573.

de Bruijn G. From masturbation to orgasm with a partner: how some women bridge the gap–and why others don’t. J Sex Marital Ther. 1982. 8(2):151-67.

Doody, John ; Bull, Peter. Asperger’s Syndrome and the Decoding of Boredom, Interest, and Disagreement from Body Posture. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2011. 35(2): 87-100.

DeSteno, D.; Breazeal, C.; Frank, R. H.; Pizarro, D.; Baumann, J.; Dickens, L, and Lee, J. Detecting the Trustworthiness of Novel Partners in Economic Exchange. Psychological Science. 2012. 23, 1549-1556.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/use-body-language-cues-create-trust

Dowell, Nia M. and Jeffrey S. Berman. Therapist Nonverbal Behavior and Perceptions of Empathy, Alliance, and Treatment Credibility. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration. 2013. 23(2): 158-165. DOI: 10.1037/a0031421. http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/lean-make-eye-contact-create-impressions-empathy-leaning-body-language-creates-greater-credibility

Eerland, Anita; Tulio M. Guadalupe; Ingmar H. A. Franken and Rolf A. Zwaan. Posture as Index for Approach-Avoidance Behavior. PLOS one. February 2012. 7(2): e31291.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/approach-versus-avoidance-posture-in-nonverbal-body-language/

Fischer, Julia; Peter Fischer; Birte Englich; Nilüfer Aydin and Dieter Frey. Empower My Decisions: The Effects of Power Gestures on Confirmatory Information Processing. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 2011. 47: 1146-1154.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/downside-power-posing-body-language-looking-power-posing-action-study/

http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/benefits-power-posing-high-stakes-performance/

Goodboy, Alan, K. and Maria Brann. Flirtation Rejection Strategies: Towards an Understanding of Communicative Disinterest in Flirting. The Quantitative Report. 2010. 15(2): 268-278.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/how-to-reject-flirting-using-nonverbal-and-verbal-tactics/

Girard, Jeffrey M.; Jeffrey F. Cohna; Mohammad H.Mahoor S.; Mohammad Mavadati;
Zakia Hammal; and Dean P. Rosenwalda. Nonverbal Social Withdrawal In Depression: Evidence From Manual And Automatic Analyses. Image and Vision Computing. 2013.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/body-language-signals-withdrawal-depression/

Gregersen, Tammy S. Nonverbal Cues: Clues to the Detection of Foreign Language Anxiety. Foreign Language Annals. 2005. 38(3): 388-400
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/what-anxious-learners-can-tell-us-about-anxious-body-language-how-to-read-nonverbal-behavior/

Graves, James R. ; Robinson, John D. Osipow, Samuel H. (editor). Proxemic behavior as a function of inconsistent verbal and nonverbal messages. Journal of Counseling Psychology. 1976. 23(4): 333-338.

George, N., Driver, J., & Dolan, R. J. (2001). Seen gaze-direction modulates fusiform activity and its coupling with other brain areas during face processing. Neuroimage, 13, 1102–1112.

Gorkan Ahmetoglu, Viren Swami. Do Women Prefer “Nice Guys?” The Effect Of Male Dominance Behavior On Women’s Ratings. Social Behavior And Personality, 2012; 40(4), 667-672.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/how-to-significantly-increase-male-attractiveness-with-simple-body-language-nice-guys-finish-last-once-again/

Huang, L., Galinsky, A. D., Gruenfeld, D. H., & Guillory, L. E. (2011). Powerful postures versus powerful roles: Which is the proximate correlate of thought and behavior? Psychological Science, 22, 95–102.

Hall, Jeffrey A. and Chong Xing. The Verbal and Nonverbal Correlates of the Five Flirting Styles. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2015. 39:41–68. DOI 10.1007/s10919-014-0199-8
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/first-12-minutes-flirting-using-nonverbal-communication-study-reveals-26-body-language-cues-attraction/

Harrigan J. and Rosenthal R. Physicians’ head and body positions as determinants of perceived rapport. J. appl. Sot. Psychol. 13, 496, 1983.

Hietanen, Jari. Social attention orienting integrates visual information from head and body orientation. Psychological Research.2002 66(3): 174-179.

Hietanen, J. K. (1999). Does your gaze direction and head orientation shift my visual attention? Neuroreport, 10, 3443–3447.

IJzerman, Hans; Marcello Gallucci; Wim T.J.L. Pouw; Sophia C. Weigerber; Niels J. Van Doesum and Kipling D. Williams. Cold-Blooded Loneliness: Social Exclusion Leads To Lower Skin Temperatures. Acta Psychologica. 2012. 140:283-288. http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/body-temperature-actually-drops-during-social-exclusion/

Jenkins, R., Beaver, J.D., & Calder, A.J. (2006). I thought you were looking at me: Direction-specific aftereffects in gaze perception. Psychological Science, 17, 506–513.

Jenkins, R., Keane, J., & Calder, A.J. (2007, August). From your eyes only: Gaze adaptation from averted eyes and averted heads. Paper presented at the Thirtieth European Conference on Visual Perception, Arezzo, Italy.

Kinsey, A. C., Pomeroy, W. B., Martin, C. E., and Gebhard, P. H. (1953). Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, Saunders, Philadelphia.

Kaminski, Juliane ; Call, Josep ; Tomasello, Michael. Body orientation and face orientation: two factors controlling apes’ begging behavior from humans
Animal Cognition. 2004. 7(4): 216-223.

Kawashima, R., Sugiura, M., Kato, T., Nakamura, A., Hatano, K., Ito, K., Fukuda, H., Kojima, S., & Nakamura, K. (1999). The human amygdala plays an important role in gaze monitoring: A PET study. Brain, 122, 779–783.

Katza, Carmit; Irit Hershkowitz; Lindsay C. Malloya; Michael E. Lamba; Armita Atabakia and Sabine Spindlera. Non-Verbal Behavior of Children Who Disclose or do not Disclose Child Abuse in Investigative Interviews. Child Abuse & Neglect. 2012. 36: 12-20.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/reading-nonverbal-behaviour-child-abuse-cases-encourage-children-divulge-information-truth-telling/

Langton, S. R. H. (2000). The mutual influence of gaze and head orientation in the analysis of social attention direction. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 53A, 825–845.

Langton, S. R. H., & Bruce, V. (2000). You must see the point: Automatic processing of cues to the direction of social attention. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 26, 747–757.

Laird, J. D., & Lacasse, K. (2014). Bodily influences on emotional feelings: Accumulating evidence and extensions of William James’s theory of emotion. Emotion Review, 6, 27–34.

Lee, E. H., & Schnall, S. (2014). The influence of social power on weight perception. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143, 1719–1725.

Michalak, J., Mischnat, J., & Teismann, T. (2014). Sitting posture makes a difference: Embodiment effects on depressive memory bias. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 21, 519–524.

Minvaleev, R. S., Nozdrachev, A. D., Kir’yanova, V. V., & Ivanov, A. I. (2004). Postural influences on the hormone level in healthy subjects: I. The cobra posture and steroid hormones. Human Physiology, 30, 452–456.

Michael Reiβ. Leg-crossing: Incidence and inheritance. Neuropsychologia. 1994. 32(6): 747-750.

Mehrabian, Albert Holzberg, Jules D. (editor). Inference of Attitudes From the Posture, Orientation and Distance of a Communicator. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 1968. 32(3): 296-308.

Mehrabian, Albert Deese, James (editor). Significance of posture and position in the communication of attitude and status relationships. Psychological Bulletin. 1969. 71(5): 359-372.

Mehrabian, A., Friar, J., 1969. Encoding of attitude by a seated communicator via posture and position cues. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 33: 330–336.

Moore, Monica. Courtship Signaling and Adolescents: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. Journal of Sex Research. 1995. 32(4): 319-328.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/girls-just-want-to-have-fun-the-origins-of-courtship-cues-in-girls-and-women/

Marsh, Abigail A; Henry H. Yu; Julia C. Schechter and R. J. R. Blair. Larger than Life: Humans’ Nonverbal Status Cues Alter Perceived Size. PLoS ONE. 2009. 4(5): e5707. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0005707. http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/large-life-nonverbal-dominance-affects-perception-size/

Nair, S., Sagar, M., Sollers, J., III, Consedine, N., & Broadbent, E. (2014). Do slumped and upright postures affect stress responses? A randomized trial. Health Psychology. Advance online publication. doi:10.1037/hea0000146

Park, Lora E.; Lindsey Streamer; Li Huang and Adam D. Galinsky. Stand Tall, But Don’t Put Your Feet Up: Universal and Culturally-Specific Effects of Expansive Postures On Power. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 2013; 49: 965–971.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/are-expansive-postures-of-power-universal-or-cultural/

Remland, M. S. and T. S. Jones 1995. Interpersonal Distance, Body Orientation, and Touch: Effects of Culture, Gender, and Age. Journal of Social Psychology 135(3): 281-297.

Ranehill, Eva; Anna Dreber; Magnus Johannesson; Susanne Leiberg; Sunhae Sul and Roberto A. Weber. Assessing the Robustness of Power Posing: No Effect on Hormones and Risk Tolerance in a Large Sample of Men and Women. Psychological Science, March, 2015. doi: 10.1177/0956797614553946 http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/power-posing-no-effect-hormones-amy-cuddy-wrong/

Riskind, J. H. (1984). They stoop to conquer: Guiding and selfregulatory functions of physical posture after success and failure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47, 479–493.

Riskind, J. H., & Gotay, C. C. (1982). Physical posture: Could it have regulatory or feedback effects on motivation and emotion? Motivation and Emotion, 6, 273–298.

Pease, Barbara and Allan Pease. 2006. The Definitive Book of Body Language Hardcover. Bantam.

Pinar, Rukiye ; Ataalkin, Sıddıka ; Watson, Roger. The effect of crossing legs on blood pressure in hypertensive patients. Journal of Clinical Nursing. 2010. 19(9-10): 1284-1288.

Park, Yongnam ; Bae, Youngsook. Comparison of Postures According to Sitting Time with the Leg Crossed. Journal of Physical Therapy Science. 2014. 26(11): 1749-1752.

Peters. M. Footedness: asymmetries in foot preference and skill and neuropsychological assessment of foot movement. Psycho/. Bull. 103, 179 192, 1988.

Plato. C. C., Fox, K. M. and Gakruto, R. M. Measures of lateral functional dominance: Foot preference. digital interlocking, arm-folding and fool overlapping. Human Biology. 1985. 57: 327-334.

Reiss M. Leg-crossing: incidence and inheritance. Neuropsychologia. 1994. 32(6):747-50.

Robinson, Jeffrey David. Getting Down to Business Talk, Gaze, and Body Orientation During Openings of Doctor-Patient Consultations. Human Communication Research. 1998. 25(1): 97-123.

Smith-hanen, Sandra S. Osipow, Samuel H. (editor). Effects of nonverbal behaviors on judged levels of counselor warmth and empathy. Journal of Counseling Psychology. 1977. 24(2): 87-91.

Stepper, S., & Strack, F. (1993). Proprioceptive determinants of emotional and nonemotional feelings. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 211–220.

Strelan, P., Weick, M., & Vasiljevic, M. (2013). Power and revenge. British Journal of Social Psychology, 53, 521–540.

Tiedens, Larissa Z. and Alison R. Fragale. Power Moves: Complementarity in Dominant and Submissive Nonverbal Behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 2003, 84(3): 558–568.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/power-posing-no-effect-hormones-amy-cuddy-wrong/

Tomasello, M., Hare, B., Lehmann, H., & Call, J. (2007). Reliance on head versus eyes in the gaze following of great apes and human infants: The cooperative eye hypothesis. Journal of Human Evolution, 52, 314–320.

Uchino, B. N., Cacioppo, J. T., & Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K. (1996). The Relationship Between Social Support And Psychological Processes: A Review With Emphasis On Underlying Mechanisms And Implications For Health. Psychological Bulletin. 1996; 119: 488-531.

Underwood, M. K.. Glares of Contempt, Eye Rolls of Disgust and Turning Away to Exclude: Non-Verbal Forms of Social Aggression among Girls. Feminism & Psychology. 2004 14(3): 371-375

Van Velthoven, Michelle H M M T ; Thien, Theo ; Holewijn, Suzanne ; Van Der Wilt, Gert Jan ; Deinum, Jaap. The effect of crossing legs on blood pressure. Journal of hypertension. 2010. 28(7): 1591-2.

Willis, F. 1966. Initial speaking distance as a function of the speaker’s relationship.
Psychonomic Science. 5: 221-222.

Welker, K. M., Oberleitner, D. E., Cain, S., & Carré, J. M. (2013). Upright and left out: Posture moderates the effects of social exclusion on mood and threats to basic needs. European Journal of Social Psychology, 43, 355–361.

Yap, Andy J. Abbie S. Wazlawek, Brian J. Lucas, Amy J. C. Cuddy, Dana R. Carney. The Ergonomics of Dishonesty: The Effect of Incidental Posture on Stealing, Cheating, and Traffic Violations, 24(11); 2281-2289.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/body-posture-physical-environment-determine-feelings-and-behaviour-study/

Zeinstra, Gertrude G.; M.A. Koelen; D. Colindres ; F.J. Kok; C de Graaf. Facial Expressions in School-Aged Children are a Good Indicator of ‘Dislikes’, but not of ‘Likes.’ Food Quality and Preference. 2009. 20: 620-624.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/read-kids-dislike-food-facial-expressions-accurate-detecting-dislike-not-like-children/

Body Language of The Head Toss

Body Language of The Head Toss

No picCue: Head Toss

Synonym(s): Flicking The Head.

Description: The head is tossed forward or backward.

In One Sentence: Tossing the head shows distain, or conversely, is a way to show off luscious hair (in a dating context).

How To Use it: Toss the head back and shake it to show that you disagree. You can use this in any context to send a strong nonverbal message of disapproval. Simply toss the head backward or from side-to-side to show that you do not approve. When you do so, imagine being “hit in the head” with a bad idea.

In dating, tossing the head is a way women (mostly) can show off their hair. This is especially so if it is long and free-flowing. Putting the hair in motion is a way to draw attention to it and its qualities. Television commercials use the hair toss effectively to show off their shampoo products. You can also produce a like effect. The hair toss is boosted in effectiveness when it is coupled with direct eye contact with whom you wish would notice. When the hair toss is done without eye contact, it is not anchored and therefore is a broadcast signal to anyone to which is visible.

Context: a) General, b) Dating.

Verbal Translation: a) “I’m not happy with you so I’m tossing my head back and shaking it from side to side showing my disdain and haughtiness.” b) “I’m sexually aroused and showing off my luscious hair by flicking and tossing it and hopefully you find that appealing.”

Variant: Sometimes the head is held high and tossed back showing extra verbal charge. See Hair Play.

Cue In Action: a) Eighteen year old Maggie wasn’t happy with her mom and made it known that she had no intension of serving her full punishment. She tossed her head back and shook it at the mere suggestion of being grounded. b) Eighteen year old Maggie tossed her head back while flicking her hair, batted her eyelashes and smiled coyly at the cute boy in her class.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Depending on context can be sexually suggestive or show disdain or haughtiness.

a) Disdain is usually done by women through a combination of a head backward with a small headshake. Sometimes the head is held high and shot forward to deliver a potent message. This shows no interest and no intention of complying, engaging further and certainly no interest in what is being said. b) When the head is meant to remove long hair from the face and coy eye contact is delivered to punctuate it, can mean a sexual invitation. c) Other times, the head is tossed back to remove hair from the eyes and has no other meaning.

Cue Cluster: See Meaning and Motivation for cue cluster.

Body Language Category: Adaptors, Arrogance or arrogant body language, Approach tell, Courtship display, Disengagement body language, Dislike (nonverbal), Frustration or frustrated body language, Hostile body language, Stubborn body language.

Resources:

Abrahams, Matthewf.. Perceiving flirtatious communication: An exploration of the perceptual dimensions underlying judgments of flirtatiousness. Journal of Sex Research. 1994. 31(4): 283-292.

Abbey, A., and Melby, C. (1986). The effects of nonverbal cues on gender differences in perceptions of sexual intent. Sex Roles, 15, 283-298.

Costa, M., Menzani, M., & Ricci Bitti, P. E. Head canting in paintings: An historical study. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2001. 25: 63–73.

Costa, M., & Ricci Bitti, P. E. Face-ism effect and head canting in one’s own and others’ photographs. European Psychologist. 2000. 5: 293–301.

Cari D. Goetz; Judith A. Easton; David M.G. Lewis; David M. Buss. Sexual Exploitability: Observable Cues And Their Link To Sexual Attraction. Evolution and Human Behavior. 2012; 33: 417-426.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/victim-blaming-or-useful-information-in-preventing-rape-and-sexual-exploitation/

Curtis, Yvette ; Eddy, Lisabeth ; Ashdown, Brien K. ; Feder, Holly ; Lower, Timothy. Prelude to a coitus: Sexual initiation cues among heterosexual married couples. Sexual and Relationship Therapy. 2012. 27(4): 322-334.

Cantú, Stephanie M ; Simpson, Jeffry A ; Griskevicius, Vladas ; Weisberg, Yanna J ; Durante, Kristina M ; Beal, Daniel J. Fertile and Selectively Flirty. Psychological Science. 2014. 25(2): 431-438.

Clark, A. Attracting Interest: Dynamic Displays of Proceptivity Increase the Attractiveness of Men and Women. Evolutionary Psychology. 2008., 6(4), 563-574.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/risky-versus-proceptive-nonverbal-sexual-cues/

Fink, Bernhard; Nadine Hugill and Benjamin P. Lange. Women’s Body Movements Are a Potential Cue to Ovulation. Personality and Individual Differences. 2012. 53: 759-763.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/women-use-sexier-body-language-indicate-ovulation-fertility-women-dance-walk-sexier/?preview=true

Fletcher, Garth J. O ; Kerr, Patrick S. G ; Li, Norman P ; Valentine, Katherine A. Predicting Romantic Interest and Decisions in the Very Early Stages of Mate Selection. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 2014 40(4): 540-550.

Givens D. The nonverbal basis of attraction: Flirtation, courtship, and seduction. Psychiatry. 1978. 41: 346.

Greer, Arlettee. ; Buss, Davidm. Tactics for promoting sexual encounters
Journal of Sex Research. 1994. 31(3): 185-201.

Goetz, Cari D.; Judith A. Easton; David M.G. Lewis; David M. Buss. Sexual Exploitability: Observable Cues And Their Link To Sexual Attraction. Evolution and Human Behavior. 2012; 33: 417-426.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/victim-blaming-or-useful-information-in-preventing-rape-and-sexual-exploitation/

Goetz, Cari D.; Judith A. Easton; Cindy M. Meston. The Allure of Vulnerability: Advertising Cues to Exploitability as a Signal of Sexual Accessibility. Personality and Individual Differences. 2013. 62: 121-125. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.02.019
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/allure-sexual-vulnerability-move/

Guéguen, N. The Effect Of A Woman’s Smile On Men’s Courtship Behavior. Social Behavior and Personality. 2008. 36(9): 1233-1236.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/how-women-can-use-a-simple-smile-to-attract-men/

Guéguen, Nicolas. Hair Color and Courtship: Blond Women Received More Courtship Solicitations and Redhead Men Received More Refusals. Psychol Stud. 2012. 57(4):369–375. DOI 10.1007/s12646-012-0158-6

Goodboy, Alan, K. and Maria Brann. Flirtation Rejection Strategies: Towards an Understanding of Communicative Disinterest in Flirting. The Quantitative Report. 2010. 15(2): 268-278.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/how-to-reject-flirting-using-nonverbal-and-verbal-tactics/

Givens, D. B. (1978). The non-verbal basis of attraction: Courtshipation, courtship and seduction. Psychiatry, 41, 346-351.

Grammer, Karl; Fink, Bernhard; Mller, Anders P.; Thornhill, Randy. Darwinian aesthetics: sexual selection and the biology of beauty. Biological Reviews. 2003. 78(3): 385-407.

Hugill, Nadine ; Fink, Bernhard ; Neave, Nick. The role of human body movements in mate selection. Evolutionary psychology: an international journal of evolutionary approaches to psychology and behavior. 2010 8(1): 66-89.

Hinsz, V. B., D. C. Matz, and R. A. Patience 2001 Does Women’s Hair Signal Reproductive Potential? Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 37:166-172.

Hall, Jeffrey A. and Chong Xing. The Verbal and Nonverbal Correlates of the Five Flirting Styles. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2015. 39:41–68. DOI 10.1007/s10919-014-0199-8
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/first-12-minutes-flirting-using-nonverbal-communication-study-reveals-26-body-language-cues-attraction/

Lockard, J.S., Adams, R.M. Courtship behaviors in public: Different age/sex roles. Ethology and Sociobiology l(3): 245-253 (1980).

Mesko, Norbert ; Bereczkei, Tamas. Hairstyle as an adaptive means of displaying phenotypic quality. Human Nature. 2004. 15(3): 251-270.

Moore, Monicam. Human Nonverbal Courtship Behavior—A Brief Historical Review. Journal of Sex Research. 2010 47(2-3): 171-180.

Moore, Monica. Courtship Signaling and Adolescents: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. Journal of Sex Research. 1995. 32(4): 319-328.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/girls-just-want-to-have-fun-the-origins-of-courtship-cues-in-girls-and-women/

Moore, Monica. M. Nonverbal Courtship Patterns in Women: Context and consequences. Ethology and Sociobiology. 1985. 6:237- 247.

Moore, M. M. Courtship Communication and Perception. Perceptual and Motor Skills. 2002. 94(1): 97-105. doi:10.2466/PMS.94.1.97-105.

Moore, M. M. and D. L. Butler. 1989. Predictive aspects of nonverbal courtship behavior in women. Semiotica 76(3/4): 205-215.

Moore, M. M. 2001. Flirting. In C. G. Waugh (Ed.) Let’s talk: A cognitive skills approach to interpersonal communication. Newark, Kendall-Hunt.

Martina Mara and Markus Appel. Effects of Lateral Head Tilt on User Perceptions of Humanoid and Android Robots. Computers in Human Behavior. 2015. 44: 326-334
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/nonverbal-head-tilt-says-robot/

Negriff, Sonya ; Noll, Jennie G ; Shenk, Chad E ; Putnam, Frank W ; Trickett, Penelope K. Associations between nonverbal behaviors and subsequent sexual attitudes and behaviors of sexually abused and comparison girls. Child maltreatment. 2010. 15(2): 180-9.

Patton, Tracey Owens. Hey Girl, Am I More than My Hair?: African American Women and Their Struggles with Beauty, Body Image, and Hair. NWSA Journal. 2006. 18(2): 24-51.

Rosette, Ashleigh Shelby ; Dumas, Tracy L. The hair dilemma: conform to mainstream expectations or emphasize racial identity. Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy. 2007. 14(1): 407(15).

Swami, Viren ; Barrett, Seishin. British men’s hair color preferences: An assessment of courtship solicitation and stimulus ratings. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. 2011. 52(6): 595-600.

Singh, Devendra. Mating strategies of young women: Role of physical attractiveness. Journal of Sex Research. 2004. 41(1): 43-54.

Sorokowski, Piotr. Attractiveness of blonde women in evolutionary perspective: studies with two Polish samples. Perceptual and motor skills. 2008. 106(3): 737-44.

Synott, Anthony. 1987. Shame and glory: A sociology of hair. British Journal of Sociology. 38: 381-413.

Sturman, Edward D. Involuntary Subordination and Its Relation to Personality, Mood,
and Submissive Behavior. Psychological Assessment. 2011. 23(1): 262-276 DOI: 10.1037/a0021499
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/nonverbal-submission-men-women-depression-critical-examination-use-disuse-submission/

Thompson, Cheryl. Black Women, Beauty, and Hair as a Matter of Being. Women’s Studies. 2009. 38(8): 831-856.

Underwood, M. K.. Glares of Contempt, Eye Rolls of Disgust and Turning Away to Exclude: Non-Verbal Forms of Social Aggression among Girls. Feminism & Psychology. 2004 14(3): 371-375.

Walsh, D. G., & Hewitt, J. (1985). Giving Men The Come-On: Effect Of Eye Contact And Smiling In A Bar Environment. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 61, 873-874.

Body Language of Hand To Nose

Body Language of Hand To Nose

BodyLanguageProjectCom - Hand To Nose 3Cue: Hand To Nose

Synonym(s): Nose Touching

Description: Touching the nose, usually with the index finger or pinching it with the webbing of the thumb and index finger.

In One Sentence: Touching the nose indicates discomfort, or serves to alleviate an itch.

How To Use it: When possible make touches to the nose and other parts of the face brief and directed, as persistent nose touching is often misread as dishonesty. At worst, touching the nose is read as insecurity.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m stressed, and the blood if flowing to my nose, making me want to scratch it.”

Variant: Nose touching can happen as a quick but purposeful touch, the finger might graze the side of the nose, or it can be a persistent rubbing. Sometimes the touch is quick and dirty in an up and down motion, other times it is a brief almost unnoticeable touch to the base of the nose or its side. A person might wipe the nose with the back of their hand or come up and touch it lightly with their index finger. See Hand To Eye Gesture.

Cue In Action: During the Grand Jury testimony over Monica Lewinsky, Bill Clinton touched his nose 26 times when answering highly emotional questions. When he answered questions he found easy, his hands were nowhere near his face.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Touching the nose with the hand is a discomfort gesture linked to anxiety and therefore serves as a pacifier. Other times touching the nose provides clues that a person is lying as it indicates stress.

Face touching can come in two forms, one that serves a real function, to alleviate an itch, and one that is the result of negative feelings such as being uncomfortable and stressed. Face touching that is due to an emotion is meant as a fix behind the sensation, the emotion, and not due to any physical need.

Touching the nose has been linked to lying, but like most lie-detection cues, they aren’t absolute or reliable. We can tell when something is out of the ordinary when someone touches their nose for no reason or touches their nose while delivering critical information. The astute will find it obvious when someone is touching their nose for the purpose of alleviating an itch instead of alleviating a lie (or negative thought). Scratching is directed, specific, deep and vigorous, showing that some amount of waiting was done before the gesture was performed. Thus more relief is present when the itch is real. Itching due to negative emotions is general, shallow or glancing. This type of itch is done by bringing the index finger up, by example, and lightly touching the side of the nose where the nail is not used at all. That is, no real scratching is taking place.

When nose touching is not due to itching, then it’s due to a negative or dishonest thought from either lying, being terrified, pretending to be brave or just feeling self doubt.

Chemical known as catecholamine triggers nasal tissue to swell, but that it only induces the nose to increase in size below the level of perception. This is the real life Pinocchio effect. Even though most people will not be able to detect it, the increase in blood flow and pressure often causes a tingle in the nose, which in most people, triggers an itch response.

Some people touch their nose at the end of every sentence – it’s their idiosyncrasy. Does this mean that every word that comes from their mouth is a lie? It could be, but it is not likely. Once we’ve caught someone in a lie we can backtrack and look at the clues that preceded the lie and those that followed the lie to pick up on cues that might have given him away.

Cue Cluster: Touching the nose coupled with wiping the mouth in a down-stroke, avoiding eye contact, and fidgeting, tells us that something dishonest is probably going on.

Body Language Category: Adaptors, Amplifier, Arousal, Auto contact or self touching, Disguised gestures, Lying or deceptive body language, Masked body language, Microgestures, Pacifying, Stressful body language.

Resources:

Akehurst, L., G. Kohnken, A. Vrij, and R. Bull. 1996. Lay persons’ and police officers’
beliefs regarding deceptive behaviour. Applied Cognitive Psychology 10: 461-471.

Appelbaum, P.S. The new lie detectors: Neuroscience, deception, and the courts. Psychiatric Services. 2007. 58: 460-462.

Azrin, N.H. ; Nunn, R.G. ; Frantz-Renshaw, S. Habit reversal treatment of thumbsucking. Behaviour Research and Therapy. 1980. 18(5): 395-399.

Bakwin, Harry. Thumb- and finger-sucking in children. The Journal of Pediatrics. 1948. 32(1): 99-101.

Barroso, Felix ; Feld, Jason. Self-touching and attentional processes: The role of task difficulty, selection stage, and sex differences. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1986. 10(1): 51-64.

Buckley, V., & Semple, S. (2012). Evidence that displacement activities facilitate behavioural transitions in ring-tailed lemurs. Behavioural Processes, 90, 433–435.

Bouhuys, A.L. ; Jansen, C.J. ; van den Hoofdakker, R.H. Analysis of observed behaviors displayed by depressed patients during a clinical interview: relationships between behavioral factors and clinical concepts of activation. Journal of Affective Disorders. 1991. 21(2): 79-88.

Berridge CW,Mitton E, ClarkW, Roth RH. 1999. Engagement in a non-escape (displacement) behavior elicits a selective and lateralized suppression of frontal cortical dopaminergic utilization in stress. Synapse 32:187–197.

Bond, Michael H., and Hiroshi Komai (1976). “Targets of Gazing and Eye Contact During Interviews: Effects on Japanese Nonverbal Behavior.” In Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Vol. 34), pp. 1276-84.

Blakeslee, Sandra (1995). “In Brain’s Early Growth, Timetable Maybe Crucial.” In New York Times (“Science Times,” August 29), pp. C1, C3.

Cohen, Keith N. ; Clark, James A. Hogan, Robert (editor). Transitional object attachments in early childhood and personality characteristics in later life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1984. 46(1): 106-111.

Caso, L., A. Gnisci, A. Vrij, and S. Mann. 2005. Processes underlying deception: an empirical analysis of truth and lies when manipulating the stakes. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling 2 (3): 195-202.

Costa, Marco ; Dinsbach, Wies ; Manstead, Antony ; Bitti, Pio. Social Presence, Embarrassment, and Nonverbal Behavior. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2001. 25(4): 225-240.

DeSteno, D.; Breazeal, C.; Frank, R. H.; Pizarro, D.; Baumann, J.; Dickens, L, and Lee, J. Detecting the Trustworthiness of Novel Partners in Economic Exchange. Psychological Science. 2012. 23, 1549-1556.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/use-body-language-cues-create-trust

D’alessio, M. ; Zazzetta, A. Development of Self-Touching Behavior in Childhood. Perceptual and Motor Skills. 1986. 63(1): 243-253.

Elaad, E. 2003. Effects of feedback on the overestimated capacity to detect lies and the underestimated ability to tell lies. Applied Cognitive Psychology 17(3): 349-363.

Edelstein, R. S., T. L. Luten, P. Ekman, and G. S. Goodman. 2006. Detecting lies in children and adults. Law and Human Behavior 30(1): 1-10.

Ekman, Paul, and Wallace V. Friesen (1969). “Nonverbal Leakage and Clues to Deception.” In Psychiatry (Vol. 32), pp. 88-106.

Frank M.G. and Ekman P. 1997. The ability to detect deceit generalizes across different types of high-stake lies. Source: Journal of personality and social psychology. 72: 1429 -39

Foster, Laura Gutermuth. Nervous Habits and Stereotyped Behaviors in Preschool Children. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. 1998. 37(7): 711-717.

Friman, P C ; Mcpherson, K M ; Warzak, W J ; Evans, J. Influence of thumb sucking on peer social acceptance in first-grade children. Pediatrics. 1993. 91(4): 784-6.

Gordon, A. K. and A. G. Miller. 2000. Perspective differences in the construal of lies: is deception in the eye of the beholder? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 26 (1): 46-55.

Garnefski N 2004) Cognitive emotion regulation strategies and depressive symptoms: differences between males and female. Personal Indiv Diff 36: 267–76.

Goldberg, Shelly ; Rosenthal, Robert. Self-touching behavior in the job interview: Antecedents and consequences. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1986. 10(1): 65-80.

Goodall, Jane (1986). The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior (Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University).

Givens, David B. (1976). An Ethological Approach to the Study of Human Nonverbal Communication (University of Washington Ph.D. dissertation in Anthropology, Ann Arbor: University Microfilms).

Grand, Stanley (1977). “On Hand Movements During Speech: Studies of the Role of Self-Stimulation in Communication Under Conditions of Psychopathology, Sensory Deficit, and Bilingualism.” In Norbert Freedman and Stanley Grand, eds., Communicative Structures and Psychic Structures: A Psycholanalytic Interpretation of Communication (New York: Plenum Press), pp. 199-221.

Harrigan, Jinni A. Self-touching as an indicator of underlying affect and language processes. Social Science & Medicine. 1985. 20(11): 1161-1168.

Harrigan, Jinni A.; Karen S. Lucic; Denise Kay; Anne McLaney and Robert Rosenthal. Effect of Expresser Role and Type of Self-Touching on Observers’ Perceptions. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 1991. 21(7): 585-609.

Hall, Jeffrey A. and Chong Xing. The Verbal and Nonverbal Correlates of the Five Flirting Styles. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2015. 39:41–68. DOI 10.1007/s10919-014-0199-8
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/first-12-minutes-flirting-using-nonverbal-communication-study-reveals-26-body-language-cues-attraction/

Huflejt-Łukasik M, Czarnota-Bojarska J (2006) Short Communication: Selffocused attention and self-monitoring influence on health and coping with stress. Stress Health 22: 153–59.

Heaven, Laura ; Mcbrayer, Dan ; Prince, Bob. Role of sex in externally motivated self-touching gestures. Perceptual and motor skills. 2002. 95(1): 289-94.

Heaven, L ; Mcbrayer, D. External motivators of self-touching behavior. Perceptual and motor skills. 2000. 90(1): 338-42.

Huflejt-Łukasik M, Czarnota-Bojarska J (2006) Short Communication: Selffocused attention and self-monitoring influence on health and coping with stress. Stress Health 22: 153–59.

Honzik, Marjorie P. ; McKee, John P. The sex difference in thumb-sucking. The Journal of Pediatrics. 1962. 61(5): 726-732.

Juni, Samuel ; Cohen, Phyllis. Partial impulse erogeneity as a function of fixation and object relations. Journal of Sex Research. 1985. 21(3): 275-291.

Katza, Carmit; Irit Hershkowitz; Lindsay C. Malloya; Michael E. Lamba; Armita Atabakia and Sabine Spindlera. Non-Verbal Behavior of Children Who Disclose or do not Disclose Child Abuse in Investigative Interviews. Child Abuse & Neglect. 2012. 36: 12-20.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/reading-nonverbal-behaviour-child-abuse-cases-encourage-children-divulge-information-truth-telling

Kenner, Andrew N. (1993). “A Cross-Cultural Study of Body-Focused Hand Movement.” In Journal of Nonverbal Behavior (Vol. 17, No. 4, Winter), pp. 263-79.

Lehman, E.B., Holtz, B.A., & Aikey, K.L. (1995). Temperament and self-soothing behaviour in children: Object attachment, thumbsucking, and pacifier use. Early Education and Development, 6(1), 53–72.

Mohiyeddini, Changiz ; Semple, Stuart. Displacement behaviour regulates the experience of stress in men. Stress. 2013. 16(2): 163-171.

Mohiyeddini, C., Bauer, S., & Semple, S. (2013a). Displacement behaviour is associated with reduced stress levels among men but not women. PLoS One, 8, e56355.

Mohiyeddini, C., Bauer, S., & Semple, S. (2013b). Public self-consciousness moderates the link between displacement behaviour and experience of stress in women. Stress, 16, 384–392.

Mann, S., A. Vrij, and R. Bull. 2002. Suspects, lies, and videotape: an analysis of authentic high-stake liars. Law and Human Behavior 26 (3): 365-376.

Mann, S., A. Vrij, and R. Bull. 2004. Detecting true lies: police officers’ ability to detect suspects’ lies. Journal of Applied Psychology 89(1): 137-149.

Moore, M. M. and D. L. Butler. 1989. Predictive aspects of nonverbal courtship behavior in women. Semiotica 76(3/4): 205-215.

Moore, M. M. 2001. Flirting. In C. G. Waugh (Ed.) Let’s talk: A cognitive skills approach to interpersonal communication. Newark, Kendall-Hunt.

Moore, M. M. 1985. Nonverbal courtship patterns in women: context and consequences. Ethology and Sociobiology 64: 237-247.

Moore, M. M. 2001. Flirting. In C. G. Waugh (Ed.) Let’s talk: A cognitive skills approach to interpersonal communication. Newark, Kendall-Hunt.

Mahalski, P. (1983). The incidence of attachment objects and oral habits at bedtime in two longitudinal samples of children aged 1.5–7 years. Journal of Child Psychology and
Psychiatry, 24(2), 283–295.

Maestripieri D, Schino G, Aureli F, Troisi A. 1992. A modest proposal: displacement activities as an indicator of emotions in primates. Anim Behav 44:967–979.

Morris, Desmond (1994). Bodytalk: The Meaning of Human Gestures (New York: Crown Publishers).

McGrew, W. C. (1972). “Aspects of Social Development in Nursery School Children with Emphasis on Introduction to the Group.” In N. G. Blurton Jones, ed., Ethological Studies of Child Behaviour (Cambridge: University Press), pp. 129-56.

Nolen-Hoeksema S, Aldao A (2011) Gender and age differences in emotion regulation strategies and their relationship to depressive symptoms. Personal Indiv Diff 51: 704–8.

Park, H. S., T. R. Levine, S. A. McCornack, K. Morrison, and M. Ferrara. How people really detect lies. Communication Monographs. 2002. 69: 144-157.

Pecora, Giulia ; Addessi, Elsa ; Schino, Gabriele ; Bellagamba, Francesca. Do displacement activities help preschool children to inhibit a forbidden action? Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. 2014. 126: 80-90.

Pease, Barbara and Allan Pease. 2006. The Definitive Book of Body Language Hardcover. Bantam.

Pugh, George E. (1977). The Biological Origin of Human Values (New York: Basic Books).

Rosenfeld, Howard (1973). “Nonverbal Reciprocation of Approval: An Experimental Analysis.” In Argyle *, pp. 163-72.

Sommer, Robert (1969). Personal Space: The Behavioral Basis of Design (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall).

Stromwell, L. A., P. A. Granhag, and S. Landstrom. 2007. Children’s prepared and unprepared lies: can adults see through their strategies? Applied Cognitive Psychology 21 (4): 457-471.

Sturman, Edward D. Invluntary Subordination and Its Relation to Personality, Mood,
and Submissive Behavior. Psychological Assessment. 2011. 23(1): 262-276 DOI: 10.1037/a0021499
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/nonverbal-submission-men-women-depression-critical-examination-use-disuse-submission/

Schino G, Perretta G, Taglioni AM, Monaco V, Troisi A. 1996. Primate displacement activities as an ethopharmacological model of anxiety. Anxiety 2:186–191.

Teixeira Fiquer, Juliana; Paulo Sérgio Boggio and Clarice Gorenstein. Talking Bodies: Nonverbal Behavior in the Assessment of Depression Severity. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2013. 150: 1114-1119.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/using-nonverbal-behaviour-to-assess-depression-severity/

Tamres L, Janicki D, Helgeson VS (2002) Sex differences in coping behaviour: a meta-analytic review. Personal Soc Psychol Rev 6: 2–30.

Troisi A (2002) Displacement activities as a behavioural measure of stress in nonhuman primates and human subjects. Stress 5: 47–54.

Troisi A (1999) Ethological research in clinical psychiatry: the study of nonverbal behaviour during interviews. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 23: 905–913.

Troisi A, Moles A (1999) Gender differences in depression: an ethological study of nonverbal behaviour during interviews. J Psychiatr Res 33: 243–250.

Tamres L, Janicki D, Helgeson VS (2002) Sex differences in coping behaviour: a meta-analytic review. Personal Soc Psychol Rev 6: 2–30.

von Hippel W, von Hippel C, Conway L, Preacher KJ, Schooler JW, et al. (2005) Coping with stereotype threat: denial as an impression management strategy. J Personal Soc Psychol 89: 22–35.

Vrij, A. and G. R. Semin. 1996. Lie experts’ beliefs about nonverbal indicators of deception. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior 20: 65-80.

Vrij, A. 1997. Individual differences in hand movements during deception. Source: Journal of nonverbal behavior. 21: 87-102.

Vrij, A.. 2004. Why professionals fail to catch liars and how they can improve Source: Legal and Criminological Psychology. 9:159-181.

Vrij, A., S. Mann, and S. Kristen. 2007. Cues to deception and ability to detect lies as a function of police interview styles. Law and Human Behavior 31 (5): 499-518.

Body Language of Hand To Eye Gesture or Eye Rubbing Gesture

Body Language of Hand To Eye Gesture or Eye Rubbing Gesture

BodyLanguageProjectCom - Hand To Eye Gesture 2 BodyLanguageProjectCom - Hand To Eye Gesture 4Cue: Hand To Eye Gesture

Synonym(s): Eye Rubbing, Touching The Eye, Rubbing The Eye, Eye Touching.

Description: Occurs as the hand comes up and rubs the eye with the eyelid closed or rubs the skin around the eye particularly just on the out or inside edge – the corner of the eye or the edge of the nose. Touching the eye may be stifled by coming up short and simply touching the upper cheek. At times, the gesture is done quite delicately as a mild stroke almost as if a person is simply pointing at the edge of their eye.

In One Sentence: Hand to eye gestures signal that a person can’t believe what they are seeing.

How To Use it: As the cue mostly goes unnoticed by others, it’s application is limited. However, rubbing the eyes in an exaggerated way, signals disbelief and can help reinforce your position.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: a) “I’m rubbing my eyes in disbelief because I can’t believe what I’m seeing.” b) “I’m touching my eye briefly because I don’t like what I just heard, saw or learned.” c) “I’m lying and I’m embarrassed by my own action so I’m going to cover up my eyes like I did when I was a kid – though stop short and instead just scratch my upper cheek instead.”

Variant: Instead of eye rubbing, the upper cheek may be scratched, the eyelid might be rubbed or the corner of the eye may be manipulated or itched. Sometimes the knuckle of the index finger is rubbed and twisted in the corner of the eye to relieve discomfort. See eye blocking category.

Cue In Action: a) The kid’s mom couldn’t believe what her 2-year-old had done with the flour. It was head-to-toe and top to bottom, and all over the kitchen in mere minutes. She rubbed her eyes vigorously, as if she could erase from view the miserable sight. b) The guy was obviously lying. Following his statement “I did not have sexual relations with that woman” he scratched just below his eye. The pain of his tall tale caused him to seek relief from the discomfort.

Meaning and/or Motivation: When it is not done to alleviate an itch it is a widespread gesture indicating a negative thought, doubt, or disbelieve at what is being said or seen depending on the context.

If the eyes are touched briefly it can signal that someone has said something that has caused discomfort. When eyes actually need scratching, they will happen at random rather than coupled with critical information.

People can be caught punctuating their own lies by momentarily touching their eye as if they are trying to prevent the discomfort associate with bearing witness to them. When lying is due to negative thoughts it is an abbreviated form of eye blocking. Think back to childhood when you would have covered your eyes if you saw something frightening on television. As we grow older, our cues become more constrained so instead of cupping our hands over both eyes, we just touch the corner of the eye or come up short and scratch the upper cheek instead.

When rubbing the eye has no meaning, it is done to alleviate and itch or to sooth sore eyes that are tired. When men bring their hand to their eyes they might vigorously rub, whereas women will lightly rub around the eye so as not to smear their make-up.

Cue Cluster: When eye rubbing indicates a negative thought, watch for additional nervousness such as palm scratching due to sweating, scratching the neck or pulling the collar away, voice trembling and eye contact that suddenly ceases.

Body Language Category: Adaptors, Amplifier, Auto contact or self touching, Eye blocking, Eye Language, Nervous body language, Stressful body language.

Resources:

Akehurst, L., G. Kohnken, A. Vrij, and R. Bull. 1996. Lay persons’ and police officers’
beliefs regarding deceptive behaviour. Applied Cognitive Psychology 10: 461-471.

Appelbaum, P.S. The new lie detectors: Neuroscience, deception, and the courts. Psychiatric Services. 2007. 58: 460-462.

Burgoon, Judee ; Proudfoot, Jeffrey ; Schuetzler, Ryan ; Wilson, David. Patterns of Nonverbal Behavior Associated with Truth and Deception: Illustrations from Three Experiments. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2014: 38(3) 325-354.

Barroso, Felix ; Feld, Jason. Self-touching and attentional processes: The role of task difficulty, selection stage, and sex differences. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1986. 10(1): 51-64.

Butzen, Nathan David ; Bissonnette, Victor ; Mcbrayer, Dan. Effects of modeling and topic stimulus on self-referent touching. Perceptual and motor skills. 2005. 101(2): 413-20.

Broome, Marion E.. Helping Parents Support Their Child In Pain. Pediatric Nursing. 2000. 26(3): 315.

Bornstein, Marc H. ; Tamis-Lemonda, Catherine S. Maternal responsiveness and infant mental abilities: Specific predictive relations. Infant Behavior and Development. 1997. 20(3): 283-296.

Buckley, V., & Semple, S. (2012). Evidence that displacement activities facilitate behavioural transitions in ring-tailed lemurs. Behavioural Processes, 90, 433–435.

Bernal, Gilda Rios ; Wortham, Suec. How to Calm Children through Massage. Childhood Education. 1997. 74(1): 9-14.

Bouhuys, A.L. ; Jansen, C.J. ; van den Hoofdakker, R.H. Analysis of observed behaviors displayed by depressed patients during a clinical interview: relationships between behavioral factors and clinical concepts of activation. Journal of Affective Disorders. 1991. 21(2): 79-88.

Bouhuys, A.L. ; Beersma, Domien G.M. ; van den Hoofdakker, Rutger H. Observed behavior as a predictor of the response to sleep deprivation in depressed patients. Psychiatry Research. 1989. 28(1): 47-61.

Berridge CW,Mitton E, ClarkW, Roth RH. 1999. Engagement in a non-escape (displacement) behavior elicits a selective and lateralized suppression of frontal cortical dopaminergic utilization in stress. Synapse 32:187–197.

Burgoon, Judee ; Proudfoot, Jeffrey ; Schuetzler, Ryan ; Wilson, David. Patterns of Nonverbal Behavior Associated with Truth and Deception: Illustrations from Three Experiments. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2014: 38(3) 325-354.

Bond, Michael H., and Hiroshi Komai (1976). “Targets of Gazing and Eye Contact During Interviews: Effects on Japanese Nonverbal Behavior.” In Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Vol. 34), pp. 1276-84.

Blakeslee, Sandra (1995). “In Brain’s Early Growth, Timetable Maybe Crucial.” In New York Times (“Science Times,” August 29), pp. C1, C3.

Costa, Marco ; Dinsbach, Wies ; Manstead, Antony ; Bitti, Pio. Social Presence, Embarrassment, and Nonverbal Behavior. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2001. 25(4): 225-240.

Crossman, Angela M. ; Lewis, Michael Felthous, Alan R. Adults’ ability to detect children’s lying. Behavioral Sciences & the Law. 2006. 24(5): 703-715.

Caplovitz Barrett, Karen. The origins of social emotions and self-regulation in toddlerhood: New evidence. Cognition & Emotion. 2005. 19(7): 953-979.

Castles, Duncan L. ; Whiten, Andrew ; Aureli, Filippo. Social anxiety, relationships and self-directed behaviour among wild female olive baboons. Animal Behaviour. 1999. 58(6): 1207-1215.

Caso, L., A. Gnisci, A. Vrij, and S. Mann. 2005. Processes underlying deception: an empirical analysis of truth and lies when manipulating the stakes. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling 2 (3): 195-202.

Crossman, Angela M. ; Lewis, Michael Felthous, Alan R. Adults’ ability to detect children’s lying. Behavioral Sciences & the Law. 2006. 24(5): 703-715.

D’alessio, M. ; Zazzetta, A. Development of Self-Touching Behavior in Childhood. Perceptual and Motor Skills. 1986. 63(1): 243-253.

Dimond, Stuart ; Harries, Rashida. Face touching in monkeys, apes and man: Evolutionary origins and cerebral asymmetry. Neuropsychologia. 1984. 22(2): 227-233.

DeSteno, D.; Breazeal, C.; Frank, R. H.; Pizarro, D.; Baumann, J.; Dickens, L, and Lee, J. Detecting the Trustworthiness of Novel Partners in Economic Exchange. Psychological Science. 2012. 23, 1549-1556.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/use-body-language-cues-create-trust/

Elaad, E. 2003. Effects of feedback on the overestimated capacity to detect lies and the underestimated ability to tell lies. Applied Cognitive Psychology 17(3): 349-363.

Edelstein, R. S., T. L. Luten, P. Ekman, and G. S. Goodman. 2006. Detecting lies in children and adults. Law and Human Behavior 30(1): 1-10.

Edelstein, Robin S. ; Luten, Tanya L. ; Ekman, Paul ; Goodman, Gail S. Wiener, Richard L. (editor). Detecting Lies in Children and Adults. Law and Human Behavior. 2006. 30(1): 1-10.

Edelstein, Robin S. ; Luten, Tanya L. ; Ekman, Paul ; Goodman, Gail S. Wiener, Richard L. (editor). Detecting Lies in Children and Adults. Law and Human Behavior. 2006. 30(1): 1-10.

Ekman, Paul, and Wallace V. Friesen (1969). “Nonverbal Leakage and Clues to Deception.” In Psychiatry (Vol. 32), pp. 88-106.

Frank M.G. and Ekman P. 1997. The ability to detect deceit generalizes across different types of high-stake lies. Source: Journal of personality and social psychology. 72: 1429 -39

Goodall, Jane (1986). The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior (Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University).

Givens, David B. (1976). An Ethological Approach to the Study of Human Nonverbal Communication (University of Washington Ph.D. dissertation in Anthropology, Ann Arbor: University Microfilms).

Grand, Stanley (1977). “On Hand Movements During Speech: Studies of the Role of Self-Stimulation in Communication Under Conditions of Psychopathology, Sensory Deficit, and Bilingualism.” In Norbert Freedman and Stanley Grand, eds., Communicative Structures and Psychic Structures: A Psycholanalytic Interpretation of Communication (New York: Plenum Press), pp. 199-221.

Gordon, A. K. and A. G. Miller. 2000. Perspective differences in the construal of lies: is deception in the eye of the beholder? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 26 (1): 46-55.

Goldberg, Shelly ; Rosenthal, Robert. Self-touching behavior in the job interview: Antecedents and consequences. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1986. 10(1): 65-80.

Harrigan, Jinni A. Self-touching as an indicator of underlying affect and language processes. Social Science & Medicine. 1985. 20(11): 1161-1168.

Harrigan, Jinni A.; Karen S. Lucic; Denise Kay; Anne McLaney and Robert Rosenthal. Effect of Expresser Role and Type of Self-Touching on Observers’ Perceptions. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 1991. 21(7): 585-609.

Heaven, Laura ; Mcbrayer, Dan ; Prince, Bob. Role of sex in externally motivated self-touching gestures. Perceptual and motor skills. 2002. 95(1): 289-94.

Heaven, L ; Mcbrayer, D. External motivators of self-touching behavior. Perceptual and motor skills. 2000. 90(1): 338-42.

Kammers, Marjolein P.M. ; de Vignemont, Frédérique ; Haggard, Patrick. Cooling the Thermal Grill Illusion through Self-Touch. Current Biology. 2010. 20(20): 1819-182.

Kenner, Andrew N. (1993). “A Cross-Cultural Study of Body-Focused Hand Movement.” In Journal of Nonverbal Behavior (Vol. 17, No. 4, Winter), pp. 263-79.

Lee, S. W. S., & Schwarz, N. (2010). Dirty hands and dirty mouths: Embodiment of the moral-purity metaphor is specific to the motor modality involved in moral transgression.
Psychological Science, 21, 1423–1425.

Lee Ann Renninger, T. Joel Wade, Karl Grammer. Getting that female glance: Patterns and consequences of male nonverbal behavior in courtship contexts. Evolution and Human Behavior. 2004; 25: 416–431.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/part-i-how-to-read-male-sexual-body-language-a-study-for-women-and-the-men-who-wish-to-cheat-the-system/

Morris, Desmond (1994). Bodytalk: The Meaning of Human Gestures (New York: Crown Publishers).

McGrew, W. C. (1972). “Aspects of Social Development in Nursery School Children with Emphasis on Introduction to the Group.” In N. G. Blurton Jones, ed., Ethological Studies of Child Behaviour (Cambridge: University Press), pp. 129-56.

Mann, S., A. Vrij, and R. Bull. 2002. Suspects, lies, and videotape: an analysis of authentic high-stake liars. Law and Human Behavior 26 (3): 365-376.

Mann, S., A. Vrij, and R. Bull. 2004. Detecting true lies: police officers’ ability to detect suspects’ lies. Journal of Applied Psychology 89(1): 137-149.

Moore, M. M. and D. L. Butler. 1989. Predictive aspects of nonverbal courtship behavior in women. Semiotica 76(3/4): 205-215.

Moore, M. M. 2001. Flirting. In C. G. Waugh (Ed.) Let’s talk: A cognitive skills approach to interpersonal communication. Newark, Kendall-Hunt.

Moore, M. M. 1985. Nonverbal courtship patterns in women: context and consequences. Ethology and Sociobiology 64: 237-247.

Maestripieri D, Schino G, Aureli F, Troisi A. 1992. A modest proposal: displacement activities as an indicator of emotions in primates. Anim Behav 44:967–979.

Mohiyeddini, C., Bauer, S., & Semple, S. (2013a). Displacement behaviour is associated with reduced stress levels among men but not women. PLoS One, 8, e56355.

Mohiyeddini, C., Bauer, S., & Semple, S. (2013b). Public self-consciousness moderates the link between displacement behaviour and experience of stress in women. Stress, 16, 384–392.

Mohiyeddini, C., & Semple, S. (2013). Displacement behaviour regulates the experience of stress in men. Stress, 16, 163–171.

Park, H. S., T. R. Levine, S. A. McCornack, K. Morrison, and M. Ferrara. How people really detect lies. Communication Monographs. 2002. 69: 144-157.

Pease, Barbara and Allan Pease. 2006. The Definitive Book of Body Language Hardcover. Bantam.

Pecora, Giulia ; Addessi, Elsa ; Schino, Gabriele ; Bellagamba, Francesca. Do displacement activities help preschool children to inhibit a forbidden action? Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. 2014. 126: 80-90.

Pugh, George E. (1977). The Biological Origin of Human Values (New York: Basic Books).

Rosenfeld, Howard (1973). “Nonverbal Reciprocation of Approval: An Experimental Analysis.” In Argyle *, pp. 163-72.

Sommer, Robert (1969). Personal Space: The Behavioral Basis of Design (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall).

Stromwell, L. A., P. A. Granhag, and S. Landstrom. 2007. Children’s prepared and unprepared lies: can adults see through their strategies? Applied Cognitive Psychology 21 (4): 457-471.

Swerts, Marc ; van Doorenmalen, Anniek ; Verhoofstad, Lynn. Detecting cues to deception from children’s facial expressions: On the effectiveness of two visual manipulation techniques. Journal of Phonetics. 2013. 41(5): 359-368.

Schaafsma, Juliette ; Krahmer, Emiel ; Postma, Marie ; Swerts, Marc ; Balsters, Martijn ; Vingerhoets, Ad. Comfortably Numb? Nonverbal Reactions to Social Exclusion. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2015. 39(1): 25-39.

Schino G, Perretta G, Taglioni AM, Monaco V, Troisi A. 1996. Primate displacement activities as an ethopharmacological model of anxiety. Anxiety 2:186–191.

Supplee, Lauren H ; Skuban, Emily Moye ; Shaw, Daniel S ; Prout, Joanna. Emotion regulation strategies and later externalizing behavior among European American and African American children. Development and Psychopathology. 2009. 21(2): 393-415.

Troisi A. 1999. Ethological research in clinical psychiatry: the study of nonverbal behaviour during interviews. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 23:905–913.

Troisi A. 2002. Displacement activities as a behavioral measure of stress in nonhuman primates and human subjects. Stress 5: 47–54.

Tamres L, Janicki D, Helgeson VS (2002) Sex differences in coping behaviour: a
meta-analytic review. Personal Soc Psychol Rev 6: 2–30.

Troisi A (2002) Displacement activities as a behavioural measure of stress in nonhuman primates and human subjects. Stress 5: 47–54.

Troisi A, Moles A (1999) Gender differences in depression: an ethological study
of nonverbal behaviour during interviews. J Psychiatr Res 33: 243–250.

Vrij, A. and G. R. Semin. 1996. Lie experts’ beliefs about nonverbal indicators of
deception. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior 20: 65-80.

Vrij, A. 1997. Individual differences in hand movements during deception. Source: Journal of nonverbal behavior. 21: 87-102.

Vrij, A.. 2004. Why professionals fail to catch liars and how they can improve Source: Legal and Criminological Psychology. 9:159-181.

Vrij, A., S. Mann, and S. Kristen. 2007. Cues to deception and ability to detect lies as a function of police interview styles. Law and Human Behavior 31 (5): 499-518.

von Hippel W, von Hippel C, Conway L, Preacher KJ, Schooler JW, et al. (2005) Coping with stereotype threat: denial as an impression management strategy. J Personal Soc Psychol 89: 22–35.

Walker, Gareth. Young Children’s Use of Laughter After Transgressions. Research on Language and Social Interaction. 2013. 46(4): 363-382

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.

Zhong, C. B., & Liljenquist, K. (2006). Washing away your sins: Threatened morality and physical cleansing. Science, 313, 1451–1452. doi:10.1126/science.1130726.