Category: Anger body language

Body Language of Eyebrows Knit or Oblique Eyebrows Of Grief

Body Language of Eyebrows Knit or Oblique Eyebrows Of Grief

BodyLanguageProjectCom - Eyebrows Knit or Oblique Eyebrows Of Grief 1Cue: Eyebrows Knit or Oblique Eyebrows Of Grief

Synonym(s): Grief Muscle Flex, Worry Facial Expression, Eyebrow Scrunch, Oblique Eyebrows Of Grief.

Description: The eyebrows are raised simultaneously and drawn inward toward each other producing both horizontal creases in the forehead and vertical creases between the eyebrows. In the oblique eyebrows of grief cue, the eyebrows are pulled upward more so than the other ends.

In One Sentence: Knitting the eyebrows together signals grief or physical pain.

How To Use it: Knit the eyebrows by flexing the muscles between the brows. This is most effective when upset or angry and you want someone else to know it. Parents can use this on children, or partners on each other, to show that they disapprove.

Research has shown that children are able to read the facial expressions of adults, and that the messages they carry are more salient to them, than are verbal expressions. In other words, an angry voice is less detectable to children than an angry face so the latter is more effective than the former.

Avoid knitting the eyebrows in airports near security as officers are specially trained to catch grief in high risk situations.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m in deep pain due to emotional or physical pain and I’m showing you this by pulling my eyebrows together.”

Variant: See Eyebrow Cock, Eyebrow Hold, Eyebrow Lowering, Eyebrow Flash, Eyebrow Raise.

Cue In Action: At the boarder crossing, he was asked if he carried any drugs with him. He said no, but his eyebrows immediately came together. Spotting his grief, he was detained and questioned. His micro-expression showed that he was probably lying.

Meaning and/or Motivation: When the eyebrows pinch together it is a universal signal of pain, even if it flashes for a split second. Personnel who analyze high-risk events such as boarder crossings, airport security, police officers and detectives are trained to spot momentary expresses of grief. The muscle between the brows can flex at anytime when negative thoughts are held.

The French call the area between the eyebrows, the “grief muscle.” It is active when expressing both pain, as well as when you wish to inflict it. The fearful face carries a momentary raise in the upper eyelids and a grimace comes across the mouth. Anger appears with a lowering of the eyebrows, flaring of the eyes and a tightening of the mouth or jaw.

Fear, grief and surprise in addition to other facial expressions can quickly flash across the face in the form of micro expressions.

Cue Cluster: Eyebrows of grief are combined with other close facial expressions such as lip pursing, squinted eyes, grimacing, as well as nervous cues such as touching the face or ears, scratching the neck, smoothing and adjusting clothing, eye avoidance and even tears in extreme cases.

Body Language Category: Amplifier, Anger, Closed facial gestures, Emotional body language, Negative body language, Stressful body language, Suppressed facial expression.

Resources:

Bonanno, George A. ; Keltner, Dacher Strauss, Milton E. (editor). Facial Expressions of Emotion and the Course of Conjugal Bereavement. Journal of Abnormal Psychology. 1997. 106(1): 126-137.

Bartlett Marian S, Littlewort Gwen C, Frank Mark G, Lee K. Automatic decoding of facial movements reveals deceptive pain expressions. Curr Biol 2014;24:738–43.

Boucher, J D. Facial displays of fear, sadness and pain. Perceptual and motor skills 1969. 28(1): 239-42.

Craig, Kenneth D. ; Patrick, Christopher J. Hogan, Robert (editor). Facial Expression During Induced Pain. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1985 48(4): 1080-109.

Cannon, W. B. (1929). Bodily changes in pain, hunger, fear and rage (2nd ed.). New York: Appleton, Century, Crofts.

Daniele Marzoli, Mariagrazia Custodero, Alessandra Pagliara, and Luca Tommasi. Sun-Induced Frowning Fosters Aggressive Feelings. Cognition And Emotion. 2013; 27 (8): 1513-1521.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/the-sun-can-produce-feelings-of-anger-and-aggression-it-makes-us-frown/

Frijda, Nico H.. What is pain facial expression for? Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 2002. 25(4): 460-460.

Geisser M, Robinson M, Keefe F, Weiner M. Catastrophizing, depression and the sensory, affective and evaluative aspects of chronic pain. PAIN. 1994;59:79–83.

Hermann, Christiane; Flor, Herta. Facial expression of pain more than a fuzzy expression of distress? Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 2002. 25(4): 462-463.

Han, Changsu ; Park, Geun-Young ; Wang, Sheng-Min ; Lee, Seung-Yeop ; Lee, Soo-Jung ; Bahk, Won-Myong ; Pae, Chi-Un. Can botulinum toxin improve mood in depressed patients? Expert review of neurotherapeutics. 2012 12(9): 1049-51.

Keogh E. Gender differences in the nonverbal communication of pain: A new direction for sex, gender, and pain research? PAIN_ 2014;155:1927–31.

Kunz, Miriam ; Mylius, Veit ; Schepelmann, Karsten ; Lautenbacher, Stefan. Impact of age on the facial expression of pain. Journal of Psychosomatic Research. 2008. 64(3): 311-318.

Keogh, Edmund; Holdcroft, Anita. Sex differences in pain: Evolutionary links to facial pain expression. Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 2002. 25(4): 465-465.

Kunz, Miriam ; Peter, Jessica ; Huster, Sonja ; Lautenbacher, Stefan Gray, Marcus (Editor). Pain and Disgust: The Facial Signaling of Two Aversive Bodily Experiences (Comparing Facial Expressions of Pain and Disgust). 2013. 8(12): p.e83277

LeResche, Linda ; Dworkin, Samuel F. Facial expression accompanying pain
Social Science & Medicine. 1984. 19(12): 1325-1330.

McGrath P, Johnson G, Goodman J, Schillinger J, Dunn J, Chapman J. CHEOPS—a behavioral-scale for rating postoperative pain in children. Adv Pain Res Ther 1985;9:395–402.

Pantic, Maja; Rothkrantz, Leon J. M. Machine understanding of facial expression of pain. Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 2002. 25(4): 469-470.

Simon D, Craig K, Gosselin F, Belin P, Rainville P. Recognition and discrimination of prototypical dynamic expressions of pain and emotions. PAIN_ 2008;135:55–64.

Vlaeyen, Johan W.S. ; Hanssen, Marjolein ; Goubert, Liesbet ; Vervoort, Tine ; Peters, Madelon ; van Breukelen, Gerard ; Sullivan, Michael J.L. ; Morley, Stephen. Threat of pain influences social context effects on verbal pain report and facial expression. Behaviour Research and Therapy. 2009 47(9): 774-782.

Walsh, Joseph ; Eccleston, Christopher ; Keogh, Edmund. Pain communication through body posture: The development and validation of a stimulus set. Pain. 2014. 155(11): 2282-2290.

Body Language of Eyebrow Lowering

Body Language of Eyebrow Lowering

No picCue: Eyebrow Lowering

Synonym(s): Lowering The Eyebrows, Anger Eyebrows.

Description: Eyebrows that are lowered.

In One Sentence: Lowering the eyebrows signals anger, aggression, or fear.

How To Use it: Lower the eyebrows to tell others that you disapprove of their conduct and wish for them to correct it. Likewise you may lower your brows to show that you are experiencing an internal struggle. Overall, the cue can be useful when trying to manipulate other people into changing their behaviour.

The anger expression has been shown to be a signal of strength and helps reinforce dominance so it is useful in creating the impression of authority. Even if one lacks the physical power to back up aggression, the anger expression can still be used to create the illusion of force. Lowering the eyebrows should be used whenever you wish to be taken seriously and want that seriousness to be backed up by visible threat.

Avoid keeping the eyebrows lowered for too long, however, as this will be perceived as being weakness and dejection.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m angry and my face is squishing all up including my eyebrows.”

Variant: N/A

Cue In Action: When she saw the girl who posted rude remarks on her online profile, she lowered her eyebrows to show her anger.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Eyebrows can squint just like eyes can and have many different meanings. Eyebrows can be lowered to indicate confrontation due to anger or aggression, fear from threats, when we feel displeasure or are annoyed.

If eyebrows are dropped low enough and kept there it indicates weakness and insecurity. This is true universally and so can even appear in children especially those who are abused. Lowered eyebrows is submissive, cowering, facial expression. Lowered eyebrows is a sign of being defeated and weak. It shows that one is unlikely to put up a fight. Bullies at school will also look for the expression to single out children as prey and so will social predators and psychopaths.

Cue Cluster: Varied depending on context.

Body Language Category: Amplifier, Aggressive body language, Anger, Closed facial gestures, Dislike (nonverbal), Dominant body language, Emotional body language, Eye Language, Fearful body language, Frustration or frustrated body language, Hostile body language, Negative body language, Threat displays.

Resources:

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http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/facial-expressions-versus-bodily-expressions-nonverbal-communication/

Aviezer, Hillel; Ran R. Hassin; Jennifer Ryan; Cheryl Grady; Josh Susskind; Adam Anderson; Morris Moscovitch and Shlomo Bentin. Angry, Disgusted, or Afraid? Studies on the Malleability of Emotion Perception. Psychological Science. 2008. 19(7): 724-732.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/emotions-read-context-study/

Aaron, Sell; Cosmides, Leda and Tooby, John. The Human Anger Face Evolved to Enhance Cues of Strength. Evolution and Human Behavior. 2014. 35(5): 425-429.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/the-universal-anger-face/

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Carroll E. 1994. Innate and universal facial expressions: Evidence from developmental and cross-cultural research Izard, Psychological Bulletin. 115(2): 288-299.

de Waal, F. B. M. (2003). Darwin’s legacy and the study of primate visual communication. In P. Ekman, J. Campos, R. J. Davidson & F. B. M. De Waal (Eds.), Emotions inside out: 130 years after Darwin’s The Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals (pp. 7-31). New York: New York Academy of Sciences.

Darwin, Charles (1872). The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, third edition (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998).

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Body Language of Eye Squinting or Narrowing Eyes

Body Language of Eye Squinting or Narrowing Eyes

BodyLanguageProjectCom - Eye Squinting or Narrowing Eyes 2Cue: Eye Squinting or Narrowing Eyes

Synonym(s): Narrowing Eyes, Furrowing Eyes, Compressed Eyelids, Wincing Eyes, Eye Constriction, Eye Blocking, Eye Shield, Shielding The Eyes, Squinting.

Description: Eye squinting happens when the eyelids are compressed together serving to constrict the eyes. It can sometimes occur in just a fraction of a second before disappearing.

In One Sentence: Narrowing the eyes is due to physical or emotional pain.

How To Use it: When you do not like what is being said or seen, simply narrow your eyes. This tells others that you do not like what you are seeing or hearing. You may perform this eye language in brief within just fractions of a seconds. While people may not consciously perceive the signal, it will likely still register subconsciously. If the person for whom the cue is intended, notices, they may revisit their proposal and add additional incentives to ease your negative judgment.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “What I’m seeing is causing me emotional or physical pain and to prevent all that negativity from coming into my body I’m going to squint and block to resist.”

Variant: See Anger Facial Expression, Hand To Eye Gesture.

Cue In Action: a) A person will wince when reading objectionable portions of a contract. b) She winced when the student missed the correct note on the piano. It caused her visceral pain.

Meaning and/or Motivation: An eye blocking form of body language designed to prohibit distasteful images or even thoughts from being received at full view. Narrowing eyes indicates contempt, distaste and anger. A person will not only squint from seeing objectionable sights, but also negative thoughts or sounds.

Wincing falls into the category of microexpressions since it can happen in only fractions of a second before disappearing, yet it remains full of meaning.

Wincing can also be due to the sudden approach of projectiles toward the eyes or body as well as the sun’s glare. Eyes can also be squinted in order to help a person see print that is too small. Thus, at times, squinting forms a functional purpose not exclusively driven by emotion.

A delayed opening or prolonged eye closure can be due to negative emotions or displeasure. A full wince with the eyes closed tightly signifies the desire to totally block out information.

Cue Cluster: General tightening of the face will occur such as mouth pursing. We may also see lip biting, hand clenching, shoulders and feet turned away, arms pulled in to protect and arms crossed.

Body Language Category: Attentive, Aggressive body language, Anger, Confused, Closed body language, Closed facial gestures, Dislike (nonverbal), Doubt or disbelief body language, Eye blocking, Eye Language, Microexpressions, Micromessaging, Negative body language, Pensive displays, Protective reflexes, Suppressed facial expression, Suspicious body language.

Resources:

Aviezer, Hillel; Ran R. Hassin; Jennifer Ryan; Cheryl Grady; Josh Susskind; Adam Anderson; Morris Moscovitch and Shlomo Bentin. Angry, Disgusted, or Afraid? Studies on the Malleability of Emotion Perception. Psychological Science. 2008. 19(7): 724-732.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/emotions-read-context-study/

Aaron, Sell; Cosmides, Leda and Tooby, John. The Human Anger Face Evolved to Enhance Cues of Strength. Evolution and Human Behavior. 2014. 35(5): 425-429.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/the-universal-anger-face/

Biehl, M., Matsumoto, D., Ekman, P., Hearn, V., Heider, K., Kudoh, T., et al. (1997). Matsumoto and Ekman’s Japanese and Caucasian Facial Expressions of Emotion (JACFEE): Reliability Data and Cross-National Differences. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 21, 3-21.

Brooks, C. I., Church, M. A., & Fraser, L. 1986. Effects of duration of eye contact on judgments of personality characteristics. Journal of Social Psychology. 126: 71–78.

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Gilliam, Harold V. B.; Van Den Berg, Sjef. 1980. Different Levels of Eye Contact: Effects on Black and White College Students. Urban Education. 15 (1): 83-92.

Goldman. 1980. Effect of Eye Contact and Distance on the Verbal Reinforcement of Attitude. The Journal of social psychology 111(1): 73 -78.

Greene 1979. Title: Need-Fulfillment and Consistency Theory: Relationships Between Self-Esteem and Eye Contact. Source: Western journal of speech communication. 43(2): 123 -133.

Galin, D. and Ornstein, R., 1974. Individual Differences in Cognitive Style – Reflective Eye Movements; Neuropsychologia, 12: 376-397.

Craig, Kenneth D. ; Patrick, Christopher J. Hogan, Robert (editor). Facial Expression During Induced Pain. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1985 48(4): 1080-109.

Frijda, Nico H.. What is pain facial expression for? Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 2002. 25(4): 460-460.

Hatz, Jessica L. and Martin J. Bourgeois. Anger as a Cue to Truthfulness. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 2010. 46: 680-683.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/anger-nonverbal-cue-truth-telling/

Hermann, Christiane; Flor, Herta. Facial expression of pain more than a fuzzy expression of distress? Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 2002. 25(4): 462-463.

Kunz, Miriam ; Mylius, Veit ; Schepelmann, Karsten ; Lautenbacher, Stefan. Impact of age on the facial expression of pain. Journal of Psychosomatic Research. 2008. 64(3): 311-318.

Keogh, Edmund; Holdcroft, Anita. Sex differences in pain: Evolutionary links to facial pain expression. Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 2002. 25(4): 465-465.

Kunz, Miriam ; Peter, Jessica ; Huster, Sonja ; Lautenbacher, Stefan Gray, Marcus (Editor). Pain and Disgust: The Facial Signaling of Two Aversive Bodily Experiences (Comparing Facial Expressions of Pain and Disgust). 2013. 8(12): p.e83277

Konopacki 1987. Eye Movement Betrays a Prospect’s Inner Feelings Source: Marketing news 21(10): 4.

Langer, Julia and Rodebaugh, Thomas. Social Anxiety and Gaze Avoidance: Averting Gaze but not Anxiety. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 2013, Vol.37(6): 1110-1120.

LeResche, Linda ; Dworkin, Samuel F. Facial expression accompanying pain
Social Science & Medicine. 1984. 19(12): 1325-1330.

Mobbs, N.A. 1968. Eye-contact in Relation to Social Introversion-Extraversion. British Journal of Social Clinical Psychology 7: 305-306.

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

Pantic, Maja; Rothkrantz, Leon J. M. Machine understanding of facial expression of pain. Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 2002. 25(4): 469-470.

Rutter, D.C; D. C. Pennington, M. E. Dewey and J. Swain. 1984. Eye-contact as a chance product of individual looking: Implications for the intimacy model of Argyle and Dean. Source: Journal of nonverbal behavior. 8(4): 250-258.

Richard Tessler and Lisa Sushelsky. 1978. Effects of eye contact and social status on the perception of a job applicant in an employment interviewing situation. Journal of Vocational Behavior 13(3): 338-347.

Sitton, Sarah C; Griffin, Susan T. 1981. Detection of deception from clients’ eye contact patterns. Journal of Counseling Psychology. 28(3): 269-271.

Sell, A., Cosmides, L. and Tooby, J., The Human Anger Face Evolved to Enhance Cues of Strength. Evolution and Human Behavior. 2014, doi: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2014.05.008
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/human-anger-face-signal-strength

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.

Vlaeyen, Johan W.S. ; Hanssen, Marjolein ; Goubert, Liesbet ; Vervoort, Tine ; Peters, Madelon ; van Breukelen, Gerard ; Sullivan, Michael J.L. ; Morley, Stephen. Threat of pain influences social context effects on verbal pain report and facial expression. Behaviour Research and Therapy. 2009 47(9): 774-782.

Zhao, Ke; Wen-Jing Yan; Yu-Hsin Chen; Xi-Nian Zuo and Xiaolan Fu. Amygdala Volume Predicts Inter-Individual Differences in Fearful Face Recognition. PLOS one. August 2013. (8): 8: e74096. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0074096.g001
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/fear-amygdala

Body Language of The Extended Eye Blink or Double Wink

Body Language of The Extended Eye Blink or Double Wink

No picCue: Extended Blink or Double Wink

Synonym(s): Extended Eye Closure, Double Wink, Lengthy Eye Closure, Eyes Super-Blink, Super Blinking Eyes, Eye Blink Hold, Blink Hold, Prolonged Blinking.

Description: The extended wink is done by blinking both eyes at the same time and holding them closed for a slightly longer period of time than that which is found in a natural blink. An exaggerated closing of the eyelids that is slow in speed but high in amplitude. The eyes will seem to close tightly together and spring open.

In One Sentence: The extended eye blink is a signal of disbelief.

How To Use it: Use the extended blink to show others that you can’t believe what you just heard. Reacting nonverbally is a great way to show others how you really feel without having to put it into words. When someone says something shocking, hold your eyes closed for a long second, then open them brightly. This says “I can’t believe what I just heard!”

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I seriously can’t believe what I’m seeing and I’m showing my displeasure by shutting my eyes for longer then normal in hopes that when I re-open them, the offensive stimuli will have disappeared.”

Variant: Eyes can be closed cheekily in a more playful way to show less severe disbelief or even flirtation – a double wink. Also see Wink.

Cue In Action: a) It was time for 3-year-old Charlie to change out of his pajamas and into his shirt and pants. He hated doing this more than anything because the shirt would always catch on his ears and cause him pain. When his Mom approached, he ran away, but she quickly cornered him and calmed him down. She told him it was time to change and he closed his eyes and held them closed for a second before reopening them. He didn’t like what he was seeing. b) It was yet another superfluous TPS report meeting, she closed her eyes, held them closed for a second and popped them open. Her colleagues laughed.

Meaning and/or Motivation: It signifies negative emotions, displeasure, disbelief or feigned surprise. Imagine the eyes as if they are trying to change the channel (or the scene) by forcing them close and popping them open quickly.

The extended blink is a form of eye blocking which protects a person from distasteful images and ideas.

If the extended eye blink is performed routinely, then we can assume that the person is arrogant as they seek to repeatedly shut off the outside world due to their belief of their superior thought process. They are sending a message to others that they feel they are irrelevant, boring and a waste of time.

Cue Cluster: The extended blink is usually a stand-alone cue and needs no other cues in cluster to have a negative disbelief meaning.

Body Language Category: Amplifier, Anger, Closed body language, Closed facial gestures, Doubt or disbelief body language, Eye Language, Frustration or frustrated body language, Negative body language, Rejection body language.

Resources:

Brooks, C. I., Church, M. A., & Fraser, L. 1986. Effects of duration of eye contact on judgments of personality characteristics. Journal of Social Psychology. 126: 71–78

Barbato, Giuseppe ; De Padova, Vittoria ; Paolillo, Antonella Raffaella ; Arpaia, Laura ; Russo, Eleonora ; Ficca, Gianluca. Increased spontaneous eye blink rate following prolonged wakefulness. Physiology & Behavior. 2007. 90(1): 151-154.

Dawson, Michael E. ; Hazlett, Erin A. ; Filion, Diane L. ; Nuechterlein, Keith H. ; Schell, Anne M. Mineka, Susan (editor). Attention and Schizophrenia: Impaired Modulation of the Startle Reflex. Journal of Abnormal Psychology. 1993. 102(4): 633-641.

Drew, G. C. (1951). Variations in reflex blink-rate during visual motor tasks. Quaterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 3, 73–88.

Davis 1978. Camera Eye-Contact by the Candidates in the Presidential Debates of 1976 Source: The journalism quarterly. 55 (3): 431 -437.

Ellsworth, Phoebe; Carlsmith, J Merrill. 1973. Eye contact and gaze aversion in an aggressive encounter. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 28(2): 280-292.

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/

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.

Gilliam, Harold V. B.; Van Den Berg, Sjef. 1980. Different Levels of Eye Contact: Effects on Black and White College Students. Urban Education. 15 (1): 83-92.

Goldman. 1980. Effect of Eye Contact and Distance on the Verbal Reinforcement of Attitude. The Journal of social psychology 111(1): 73 -78.

Greene 1979. Title: Need-Fulfillment and Consistency Theory: Relationships Between Self-Esteem and Eye Contact. Source: Western journal of speech communication. 43(2): 123 -133.

Galin, D. and Ornstein, R., 1974. Individual Differences in Cognitive Style – Reflective Eye Movements; Neuropsychologia, 12: 376-397.

Goldstein, R., Bauer, L. O., & Stern, J. A. (1992). Effect of task difficulty and interstimulus interval on blink parameters. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 13, 111–118.

Holland, M. K., & Tarlow, G. (1972). Blinking and mental load. Psychological Reports, 31, 119–127.

Holland, M. K., & Tarlow, G. (1975). Blinking and thinking. Psychological Reports, 41, 403–406. READ

Huang, Zhinjin ; Stanford, Matthew S. ; Barratt, Ernest S.. Blink rate related to impulsiveness and task demands during performance of event-related potential tasks.
Personality and Individual Differences. 1994. 16(4): 645-648.

Hocking. 1985. Eye contact contrast effects in the employment interview. Communication research reports 2(1): 5-10.

Kinsbourne, M., 1972. Eye and Head Turning Indicates Cerebral Lateralization; Science, 179: 539-541.

Kocel, K., et al.,1972. Lateral Eye Movement and Cognitive Mode; Psychon Sci. 27: 223-224.

Knackstedt, G., & Kleinke, C. L. (1991). Eye contact, gender, and personality judgments. Journal of Social Psychology, 131: 303-304.

Konopacki 1987. Eye Movement Betrays a Prospect’s Inner Feelings Source: Marketing news 21(10): 4.

Karson, Craig N. ; Berman, Karen Faith ; Donnelly, Edward F. ; Mendelson, Wallace B. ; Kleinman, Joel E. ; Wyatt, Richard Jed. Speaking, thinking, and blinking Psychiatry Research. 1981. 5(3): 243-246.

Leal, Sharon ; Vrij, Aldert. Blinking During and After Lying. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2008. 32(4): 187-194.

Mobbs, N.A. 1968. Eye-contact in Relation to Social Introversion-Extraversion. British Journal of Social Clinical Psychology 7: 305-306.

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

Rutter, D.C; D. C. Pennington, M. E. Dewey and J. Swain. 1984. Eye-contact as a chance product of individual looking: Implications for the intimacy model of Argyle and Dean. Source: Journal of nonverbal behavior. 8(4): 250-258.

Richard Tessler and Lisa Sushelsky. 1978. Effects of eye contact and social status on the perception of a job applicant in an employment interviewing situation. Journal of Vocational Behavior 13(3): 338-347.

Sitton, Sarah C; Griffin, Susan T. 1981. Detection of deception from clients’ eye contact patterns. Journal of Counseling Psychology. 28(3): 269-271.

Siegle, Greg J ; Ichikawa, Naho ; Steinhauer, Stuart. Blink before and after you think: blinks occur prior to and following cognitive load indexed by pupillary responses. Psychophysiology. 2008. 45(5): 679-87.

Body Language of Direct Eye Contact

Body Language of Direct Eye Contact

BodyLanguageProjectCom - Direct Eye ContactCue: Direct Eye Contact

Synonym(s): Eye Contact

Description: Eyes that meet someone else’s (versus looking away or at the mouth, chin, or body).

In One Sentence: Direct eye contact signals to others that one is intently listening and focused on the person whose eyes they have met.

How To Use it: Use direct eye contact to signal that you are dominant and can withstand reciprocal eye contact without wavering. Alternatively, use eye contact in dating to signal sexual interest. While with friends, eye contact can also send a warm glow when it is not done in a piercing fashion. Various cultures use direct eye contact in different ways – therefore, it would pay to be conscious of these social norms when traveling.

Context: a) General, b) Dating.

Verbal Translation: “I’m interested in you and I want you to know that so my eyes are meeting yours.”

Variant: Eyes are an important source of information; see other eye cues for more details. See Friendly Social Gaze, Staring or The Evil Eye, Gaze Omission, Gazing Adoringly, Intimate Gaze (The) or Triangular Gaze Pattern.

Cue In Action: When speaking, the lovers made frequent eye contact.

Meaning and/or Motivation: An indication of active honest listening. Practiced liars feign eye contact to study whether or not a lie is being rejected or accepted. In a dating context, direct eye contact is a sign of interest. The meaning of direct eye contact is hugely varied and one should look at the associated cues to determine the true intent of direct eye contact.

Eye contact can be piercing and studied, an attack, or alluring and coy such as gazing. See variants for more specific meaning of eye contact.

Cue Cluster: Varied depending on context.

Body Language Category: Amplifier, Arousal, Attentive, Aggressive body language, Anger, Authoritative body language, Courtship display, Confident, Dominant body language, High confidence body language, Indicator of interest (IoI), Leadership body language, Liking, Rapport or rapport building.

Resources:

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Aviva Musicus, Aner Tal, and Brian Wansink. Eyes in the Aisles: Why is Cap’n Crunch Looking Down at My Child? Environment & Behavior. 2014. Forthcoming.
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Aguinis, Herman ; Simonsen, Melissam. ; Pierce, Charlesa. Effects of Nonverbal Behavior on Perceptions of Power Bases. The Journal of Social Psychology. 1998. 138(4): 455-469.

Aguinis, Herman ; Henle, Christinea. Effects of Nonverbal Behavior on Perceptions of a Female Employee’s Power Bases. The Journal of Social Psychology. 2001 141(4): 537-549.

Bowers, Andrew L. ; Crawcour, Stephen C. ; Saltuklaroglu, Tim ; Kalinowski, Joseph
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Baxter, James C., and Richard M. Rozelle (1975). “Nonverbal Expression as a Function of Crowding During a Simulated Police-Citizen Encounter.” In Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Vol. 32, No. 1), pp. 40-54.

Beausoleil, Ngaio J. ; Stafford, Kevin J. ; Mellor, David J. Burghardt, Gordon M. (editor). Does Direct Human Eye Contact Function as a Warning Cue for Domestic Sheep (Ovis aries)? Journal of Comparative Psychology. 2006. 120(3): 269-279.

Baltazar M; Hazem N; Vilarem E; Beaucousin V; Picq JL, and Conty L. Eye Contact Elicits Bodily Self-Awareness in Human Adults. Cognition. 2014. 133 (1): 120-7 PMID: 25014360
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Bolmont, Mylene; John T. Cacioppo and Stephanie Cacioppo. Love Is in the Gaze: An Eye-Tracking Study of Love and Sexual Desire. Psychological Science July 16, 2014. Published online before print. July 16, 2014, doi: 10.1177/0956797614539706
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/lust-like-eyes-read-body-language-eyes/

Brooks, C. I., Church, M. A., & Fraser, L. 1986. Effects of duration of eye contact on judgments of personality characteristics. Journal of Social Psychology. 126: 71–78.
Beekman, S. The relation of gazing and smiling behaviors to status and sex in interacting pairs of children. Unpublished master’s thesis, University of Chicago, 1970.

Bond, C. F., Kahler, K. N., & Paolicelli, L. M. (1985). The miscommunication of deception: An adaptive perspective. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 21, 331–345. doi:10.1016/0022-1031(85)90034-4

Burns, J. A., & Kintz, B. L. (1976). Eye contact while lying during an interview. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 7, 87–89.

Chen, Frances S, Minson, Julia A ; Schöne, Maren ; Heinrichs, Markus. In the Eye of the Beholder, Psychological Science. 2013; 24(11): 2254-2261.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/eye-contact-increases-resistance-to-persuasion/

Davis 1978. Camera Eye-Contact by the Candidates in the Presidential Debates of 1976 Source: The journalism quarterly. 55 (3): 431 -437.

Davis, Flora (1971). Inside Intuition: What We Know About Nonverbal Communication (San Francisco: McGraw-Hill).

Einav, Shiri ; Hood, Bruce M. García Coll, Cynthia (editor). Tell-Tale Eyes: Children’s Attribution of Gaze Aversion as a Lying Cue. Developmental Psychology. 2008. 44(6): 1655-1667.

Ellsworth, Phoebe; Carlsmith, J Merrill. 1973. Eye contact and gaze aversion in an aggressive encounter. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 28(2): 280-292.

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

Geangu, Elena; Petra Hauf; Rishi Bhardwaj and Wolfram Bentz. Infant Pupil Diameter Changes in Response to Others’ Positive and Negative Emotions. 2011. PLoS ONE 6(11): e27132. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0027132
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/distress-happiness-reflected-infants-eyes/

Guéguen, Nicolas and Céline Jacob. Direct Look Versus Evasive Glance and Compliance With a Request, The Journal of Social Psychology. 2002.142(3): 393-396. DOI: 10.1080/00224540209603907. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00224540209603907
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/direct-eye-contact-best-making-request/

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.

Gilliam, Harold V. B.; Van Den Berg, Sjef. 1980. Different Levels of Eye Contact: Effects on Black and White College Students. Urban Education. 15 (1): 83-92.

Goldman. 1980. Effect of Eye Contact and Distance on the Verbal Reinforcement of Attitude. The Journal of social psychology 111(1): 73 -78.

Greene 1979. Title: Need-Fulfillment and Consistency Theory: Relationships Between Self-Esteem and Eye Contact. Source: Western journal of speech communication. 43(2): 123 -133.

Galin, D. and Ornstein, R., 1974. Individual Differences in Cognitive Style – Reflective Eye Movements; Neuropsychologia, 12: 376-397.

Hocking. 1985. Eye contact contrast effects in the employment interview. Communication research reports 2(1): 5-10.

Horley K, Williams LM, Gonsalvez C, Gordon E (2003) Social phobics do not see eye to eye: a visual scanpath study of emotional expression processing. J Anxiety Disord 17:33–44

Hemsley, G. D., & Doob, A. N. (1978). The effects of looking behavior on perceptions of a communicator’s credibility. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 8, 136–144. doi: 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1978.tb00772.x

Haith, M. M., Bergman, T., & Moore, M. J. (1979). Eye contact and face scanning in early infancy. Science, 198, 853–855.

J. E. S. Choi, P. A. Vaswani, R. Shadmehr. Vigor of Movements and the Cost of Time in Decision Making. Journal of Neuroscience, 2014; 34 (4): 1212.
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Johansson-Stenmen, O. (2008). Who are the trustworthy, we think? Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 68, 456–465. doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2008.08.004

Keating, C. F., Mazur, A., & Segall, M. H. Facial gestures which influence the perception of status. Sociometry, 1977, 40, 374-378.

Kinsbourne, M., 1972. Eye and Head Turning Indicates Cerebral Lateralization; Science, 179: 539-541.

Kocel, K., et al.,1972. Lateral Eye Movement and Cognitive Mode; Psychon Sci. 27: 223-224.

Knackstedt, G., & Kleinke, C. L. (1991). Eye contact, gender, and personality judgments. Journal of Social Psychology, 131: 303-304.

Konopacki 1987. Eye Movement Betrays a Prospect’s Inner Feelings Source: Marketing news 21(10): 4.

Kampe, K.K.W. ; Frith, C.D. ; Dolan, R.J. ; Frith, U. Direct eye contact with attractive faces activates brain areas associated with ‘reward’ and ‘reward expectation’ Neuroimage. 2001. 13(6): 425-425.

Lauri Nummenmaa; Jukka Hyönä and and Jari K. Hietanen. I’ll walk this way: Eyes Reveal the Direction of Locomotion and Make Passersby Look and Go the Other Way. Journal of The Association for Psychological Science. 2009. 20(12):1454-1458.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/eye-can-tell-youre-walking-way-read-body-language-eyes

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/

Lance, Brent ; Marsella, Stacy. Glances, glares, and glowering: how should a virtual human express emotion through gaze? Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems, 2010. 20(1): 50-69

Langer, Julia and Rodebaugh, Thomas. Social Anxiety and Gaze Avoidance: Averting Gaze but not Anxiety. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 2013, Vol.37(6): 1110-1120.

Levine TR, Asada KJK, Park HS (2006) The lying chicken and the gaze avoidant egg: eye contact, deception and causal order.

Mobbs, N.A. 1968. Eye-contact in Relation to Social Introversion-Extraversion. British Journal of Social Clinical Psychology 7: 305-306.

Moore, Monica. Courtship Signaling and Adolescents: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. Journal of Sex Research. 1995. 32(4): 319-328.
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Mccarthy, Anjanie ; Lee, Kang. Children’s Knowledge of Deceptive Gaze Cues and Its Relation to Their Actual Lying Behavior. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. 2009. 103(2): 117-134.

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Sitton, Sarah C; Griffin, Susan T. 1981. Detection of deception from clients’ eye contact patterns. Journal of Counseling Psychology. 28(3): 269-271.

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Body Language of Cornering and Blocking

Body Language of Cornering and Blocking

BodyLanguageProjectCom - Cornering and Blocking 3Cue: Cornering and Blocking

Synonym(s): Door Frame Proper (The), Doorway Intimidator (The), Blocking Someone In, Hand Against The Doorway, Blocking Someone In, Preventing Someone From Leaving, Cornering Someone.

Description: The act of eliminating exits by preventing people from leaving or moving about freely. Leaning against the doorway to prevent someone from exiting or cornering someone so they can’t leave are examples. Cornering can be done with the arms, legs, tables and so forth.

In One Sentence: Blocking the exits such that people can not escape is a signal that one wishes to control and dominant a person.

How To Use it: It is generally not advised to corner and block other people as it will usually cause others to feel controlled.

One exceptions exist. Here, men can use the cornering tactic on women in a dating context to arouse. However, this should only be done under conditions where trust has been built. When done properly, cornering, such as by moving a girl into a controlled situation including for example, the corner of a room, against a countertop, table, desk, and so forth, can create sexual excitement through dominance. One should be careful to heed any verbal or nonverbal signals of disapproval, as if done against another’s wishes, will result in sexual harassment charges.

Bullies often use cornering tactics to control other people. However, I can not advise such tactics. In the right context, though, as mentioned, cornering can produce desirable sexual excitement – in fact, sexual intercourse physically requires cornering.

Blocking, on the other hand, can be used to nonverbally demarcate territory. When unwanted solicitors arrive at my door, I usually prop myself against the door jam so they understand that I am not prepared to welcome them inside. Arms and legs can be used to create boundaries and private space for which you do not want others to enter.

Context: a) Dating b) Business c) General

Verbal Translation: “I’m going to stop you from exiting the situation with my body until I’m through with you.” “I’m trying to intimidate you by blocking you in.”

Variant: See Encroaching.

Cue In Action: a) She wasn’t happy and wanted to leave but he wrapped each arm around her and pinned her against the bar so she couldn’t leave. a) In effort to seduce her, he worked her into the corner and began to make out with her. His use of force turned her on.

b) Another door-to-door salesman had just solicited him at the house. To prevent this salesman from entering, he propped himself up against the jam of the front door.

c) She was set to confront her husband about his work around the house. She cornered him while he was sitting at his desk with her arms akimbo in the doorway. She used the posture to make it clear that she was prepared to barricade his exit.

Meaning and/or Motivation: The intention of the “doorway intimidator” is to control the situation through dominance. This person will habitually corner a subject and then subject them to confrontation and intimidation.

In some cases, those who corner have sexual interests. They wish to corner in effort to seduce, but the primary motive is to prevent escape and then subject them to a high level dominance.

a) A common mistake done especially by men in dating situations whereby they cut off exit points and block women. It signals aggression, dominance and a desire to control if it’s unwanted. If it is welcomed and she finds him attractive, blocking can excite her and build intimacy through closeness and dominance.

b) In business and other general context, blocking and cornering is an exercise in control and dominance. However, when people become cornered, they become nervous or aggressive due to the fight or flight response. While dominance is achieved in the short-term, the long-term results can be toxic and produce undesirable results. This person is trying to prevent escape while they espouse their thoughts upon others. It is a high confrontation posture because it traps people.

Cue Cluster: Cornering is accompanied by an invasion of space, head lowered in a judgment posture, arms pointing, physical touching, sometimes aggressive and loud or forceful voices, encroaching on space liberally, use of the index fingers to point while speaking, and holding the arms akimbo when not propped against the exit.

Body Language Category: Arrogance or arrogant body language, Aggressive body language, Anger, Authoritative body language, Barriers, Dominant body language, Hostile body language, Ownership gestures, Power play, Space invasion, Territorial displays, Threat displays.

Resources:

Aranguren, Martin. “Nonverbal interaction patterns in the Delhi Metro: interrogative looks and play-faces in the management of interpersonal distance.” Interaction Studies. 2016. 16(1) forthcoming.

Aranguren, Martin and Stephane Tonnelat. Emotional Transactions in the Paris Subway: Combining Naturalistic Videotaping, Objective Facial Coding and Sequential Analysis in the Study of Nonverbal Emotional Behavior. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2014. 38:495–521. DOI 10.1007/s10919-014-0193-1
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/seriously-stop-touching-use-nonverbal-signaling-manage-unwanted-touching-busy-public

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Body Language of Compressed Lips or Stiff Upper Lip

Body Language of Compressed Lips or Stiff Upper Lip

BodyLanguageProjectCom - Compressed Lips 2Cue: Compressed Lips

Synonym(s): Tight Lips, Lip Compression, Disappearing Lips, Stiff Upper Lip, Inward Lip Roll, Lip Pursing, Lip Puckering, Pursed Lips, Puckering, Prune Lips.

Description: Done by pressing the lips together to the point where they begin to disappear.

In One Sentence: Lip compression is a negative thought indicator.

How To Use it: Compress the lips when you want others to know that you disapprove of them or their ideas but do not wish to speak out and say so verbally. Compressing the lips also shows others that you are anxious or stressed. By demonstrating this “honest cue” one can show others that you wish for them to change their tactic to better suit your stance.

Context: General

Verbal Translation: “I’m having a hard time with this and so I’m going to suck my lip in and consume it while I deal with negative thought or while I am in deep concentration.” “I’m biting back my words.” “I’m holding something back with my mouth by pressing my lips together so no negative thoughts escape which may get me into trouble.”

Variant: The jaw is often tensed coupled with compressed lips showing additional negative thoughts.  Note that Compressed Lips (lips flattened) is related, but not the same as a Lip Pucker (lips pushed out).

Cue In Action: a) She really wanted to speak out about the eighteen year old would-be-wife but she maintained a stiff upper lip and kept quiet. b) He was really contemplating a thought, and wanted to speak-up, you could tell from his compressed lips, but instead he kept steady and quiet. c) She rarely held full, relaxed lips, she carried many negative thoughts around with her throughout the day.

Meaning and/or Motivation: A universal trait done to signify stress, anxiety, anger, frustration and an overall negative thought indicator. The lips are tightened to contain and stifle emotion or signal deep concentration and internal turmoil. It is opposite to full expressive lips that show contentment. The subconscious mind is essentially telling the body to close down and not let anything out – to bottle it up and withhold information or feelings.

Tight compressed lips happen honestly and immediately so reflect true stress sentiments revealing a troubled mind.

Alternatively, a tight lip indicates thought process when someone is indecisive. This can be particularly useful in business. Picture someone reading a document or contract aloud. Lip pursing will happen in real time as judgment arises. Other times, lip pursing is done to show outright disagreement. Usually the eyebrows will frown in unison with pursed lips. Lip pursing is a very reliable indicator of different thought processing, and it would be foolish to ignore it. Watch the lips for these quick flashes will tell you a lot about what is going on inside someone’s head. Tight lips can also form due to sexual arousal and sexual tension, but this comes across more as pursing with accompanying sexual clues.

Cue Cluster: Compressed lips are accompanied by other restraint postures such as hand to the back of the neck, hand clenching, eye contact avoidance, head turned away and ventral denial and jaw clenching.

Body Language Category: Anger, Clenching and gripping, Closed body language, Closed facial gestures, Emotional body language, Honest body language, Frustration or frustrated body language, Leaked or involuntary body language, Masked body language, Negative body language.

Resources:

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Body Language of The Cold Shoulder

Body Language of The Cold Shoulder

BodyLanguageProjectCom - Cold Shoulder 1Cue: Cold Shoulder

Synonym(s): N/A

Description: Turning away from someone is the cold shoulder.

In One Sentence: Turning away from another person signifies that one is diverging away from them and/or their ideas.

How To Use it: Turn the cold shoulder when you want to tell others that you disagree with them. The cold shoulder can be used in relationships to show that you are not willing to follow the same path. To use the cold shoulder make sure that it is done quickly and in immediate conjunction with whatever idea sparked the disapproval.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I don’t like what you saying or doing and so I’m going to turn my body away in disgust.”

Variant: See Blading Body Language, Body Angling or Ventral Displays.

Cue In Action: When Jane found out that the other girls were invited to a sleep over and she wasn’t, she quickly turned her body away and sulked.

Meaning and/or Motivation: The cold shoulder indicates aloofness, indifference and dismissal. It creates a barrier and separation between two people. People will turn the cold shoulder when they have disagreement with others and want to block them off from communication.

Its historical origins are believed to be a reference to the serving of an inferior cut of meat to undesirable guests. The cold shoulder of mutton versus more fanciful meal of roast and fixings.

Cue Cluster: The cold shoulder can be amplified with a downturned mouth, a quick glance with a look of disdain and create feelings of scorn and derision.

Body Language Category: Anger, Barriers, Body pointing, Blading, Closed body language, Disengagement, Dislike (nonverbal), Distancing or moving away, Escape movements, Negative body language, Orienting reflex or orienting response, Protective reflexes.

Resources:

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Body Language of The Chin Jut and Chin Lift

Body Language of The Chin Jut and Chin Lift

No picCue: Chin Jut

Synonym(s): Chin Lift, Jutting The Chin, Lifting The Chin, Pushing The Chin Out.

Description: Pushing the chin out and up by slightly tilting the head backwards.

In One Sentence: Jutting the chin out and away from the body tells others that one is ready to confront rather than conform.

How To Use it: Use the signal to show your dominance and to intimidate others. In competition you can use the chin to taunt your opponent and tempt them into submission by demonstrating your pride and smugness. The cue can also be done during normal conversation to issue a challenge of another person’s authority. As the cue is subtle, it is often registered under conscious awareness, but the message will be received as an insult against another person and their position.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: a) “I’m sticking my chin out to say hello there, I see and acknowledge you.” b) “I’m sticking my chin out to tempt you into punching me and fighting me. It is a challenge as I’m not going to back down.”

Variant: See Chin Stroking, Chin Tuck, Head Lowered.

Cue In Action: a) When passing each other on their bikes, the two riders tilted their chins upward as an acknowledgement. b) It almost came to blows; he stuck his chin out, balled up his first and made threatening remarks.

Meaning and/or Motivation: When the gesture is not done as a greeting or acknowledgement gesture, jutting the chin out means smugness, confidence, pride and confrontation. It is a challenge display, almost like a dare to attack. Lifting the chin exposes the neck to attack but it also puts the chin on full exposure. During physical conflict, a quick jab to the chin often puts people unconscious because it compresses the nerve that runs behind the jaw. Just ask any professional boxer! Keeping the chin tucked, on the other hand, keeps it protected and reduces it as a target making it a submissive posture.

a) A greeting gesture done by quickly forcing the chin outward and returning it to its origin. It is done to acknowledge someone else without having to directly interact with them and done most often by dominant individuals. It signifies superiority, fearlessness and arrogance. b) This is a signal used to display pride, confidence and smugness because it exposes the vulnerable neck to attack. This can be a gesture done subtly as a slight protrusion of the lower jaw.

Cue Cluster: When the chin jut is used in conflict it is accompanied by other threatening language such as balled up fists, arms either lose at the side of the body taunting, or raised and batoning.

Body Language Category: Greeting gesture, Aggressive body language, Anger, Closed facial gestures, Emotional body language, Hostile body language, Negative body language, Power play, Expansive movements, Threat displays, Up nonverbals.

Resources:

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Body Language of Chest Thumping

Body Language of Chest Thumping

No picCue: Chest Thumping

Synonym(s): Thumping The Chest.

Description: A smacking of the chest with the closed fist either lightly during low emotion or quickly and forcefully during high emotion.

In One Sentence: Chest thumping is a primitive gesture done to show animal-like dominance.

How To Use it: Use the chest thump to draw attention to the self after winning a dominance competition. It is applicable especially in sports, but it can be used when competing intellectually as well. During an argument between lovers, a single chest thump can show that you are sincere about your assertions. Chest thump can be used to show high passion. Caution should be used as the gesture is quite primitive and can backfire by appearing too animal-like.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: a) “I’m smacking my chest because I want to emphasis something I’m saying that’s important to me.” b) “I just scored a goal or did something important, that was me that did that, I’m important, I’m the boss.” c) “I’m thumping my chest like a gorilla in a show of confidence and dominance.”

Variant: See Batoning Gesture.  The fist may also pounding a table or the hand might chop violently.

Cue In Action: a) He wanted to make his point heard so when he asserted that he really needed to go fishing, he smacked his fist against his chest (each time he referenced himself) and said “I, me, I, need to get some time to myself or I’m going to explode.” b) While talking about his the recent passing of his wife, he pounded his chest with his fist as if emphasizing what he lost and how it felt to him. c) They neared blows. Clothing was removed and chests were thumped. The drunken fools acted like gorillas.

Meaning and/or Motivation: A primitive throwback to chimpanzee behaviour. Thumping the chest is a high authority and high aggression display meant to intimidate others and draw attention to the prowess of the person delivering it so as to collect adulation and attention from others as the context warrants.

Other times, chest thumping is done lightly to emphasis something that is important and dear to the heart.

Cue Cluster: Chest thumping is associated with other dominant cues such as expansive movements, arms out and away from the body, high gesticulation, arms akimbo, angry or happy facial expression, loud voice, gravity defying behaviour such as jumping up and down (in celebration) and chest puffing or broad side displays.

Body Language Category: Arrogance or arrogant body language, Aggressive body language, Anger, Authoritative body language, Confident, Dominant body language, Enthusiasm (nonverbal), Frustration or frustrated body language, High confidence body language, Hostile body language, Power play, Threat displays.

Resources:

Berkowitz, L., & Harmon-Jones, E. (2004). Toward an understanding of the determinants of anger. Emotion, 4, 107-130.

Bjorkqvist, K., Osterrnan, K. and Lagerspetz, K.M.I. (1994) ‘Sex Differences in Covert Aggression among Adults’, Aggressive Behaviour 20: 27–33.

Craig, A. D. (2002). How do you feel? Interoception: The sense of the physiological condition of the body. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 3, 655-666.

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Enquist, M. (1985). Communication during aggressive interactions with particular reference to variation in choice of behaviors. Anim. Behav. 33, 1152-1161.

Freedman, Norbert ; Blass, Thomas ; Rifkin, Arthur ; Quitkin, Frederic Lanzetta, John T. (editor). Body movements and the verbal encoding of aggressive affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1973. 26(1): 72-85.

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.
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Ginsburg, Harvey J. ; Pollman, Vicki A. ; Wauson, Mitzi S. Odom, Richard D. (editor). An ethological analysis of nonverbal inhibitors of aggressive behavior in male elementary school children. Developmental Psychology. 1977 13(4): 417-418.

Lagerspetz, K.M.J., Bjorkqvist, K. and Peltonen, T. (1988) ‘Is Indirect Aggression Typical of Females? Gender Differences in Aggressiveness in 11- to 12-year-old Children’, Aggressive Behavior 14: 403–14.

Maestripieri, Dario ; Schino, Gabriele ; Aureli, Filippo ; Troisi, Alfonso. A modest proposal: displacement activities as an indicator of emotions in primates. Animal Behaviour, 1992, Vol.44(5), pp.967-979

Mcgurk, Barry J. ; Davis, John D. ; Grehan, John. Assaultive behavior personality and personal space. Aggressive Behavior. 1981. 7(4): 317-324.

Morgan, M. H. and Carrier, D. R. (2013). Protective buttressing of the human fist and the evolution of hominin hands. J. Exp. Biol. 216, 236-244.

Nickle, David C. and Leda M. Goncharoff. Human Fist Evolution: A Critique. J Exp Biology. 2013. 216: 2359-2360. doi: 10.1242/jeb.084871.

Nadler, Ronald. Sexual initiation in wild mountain gorillas. International Journal of Primatology. 1989. 10(2): 81-92.

Parker, G. A. (1974). Assessment strategy and the evolution of fighting behaviour. J. Theor. Biol. 47, 223-243.

Topel, Eva-Maria ; Lachmann, Frankm. Nonverbal Dialogues: Orienting and Looking Behaviors Between Aggressive and Violent Children and Adolescents and Their Therapist. Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy. 2007. 6(4): 285-307.

Young, R. W. (2003). Evolution of the human hand: the role of throwing and clubbing. J. Anat. 202, 165-174.

Yamagiwa, Juichi. Activity rhythm and the ranging of a solitary male mountain gorilla (Gorilla gorilla beringei). Primates, 1986, Vol.27(3), pp.273-282.