Category: Appease

Appease, Clenching and gripping, Closed facial gestures, Defensive body language, Dislike (nonverbal), Lying or deceptive body language, Masked emotions, Negative body language

Body Language of Grin, Smirk or Closed-Lip Grin

by Chris • October 22, 2014 • 4 Comments

Body Language of Grin, Smirk or Closed-Lip Grin

Cue: Grin, Smirk or Closed-Lip Grin

Synonym(s): Smirk, Closed-Lip Grin

Description: This is a smile done by keeping the mouth closed, teeth hidden, and curling up the corners of your lips.

In One Sentence: The grin is a type of smile that is mischievous.

How To Use it: Use the grin to signal that you are “up to no good.” This can work well in intimate relationships as a way to tease. Men can use this to good effect to create a ‘bad-boy’ type impression which can leave women guessing. This can help spark sexual interest.

Children can also use the grin to good effect against parents as it is often seen as playful and cheeky and not particularly troublesome.

One should avoid the grin when dealing with authoritative figures as these people, especially when under stress, may not take well to humour.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m holding back information and not being totally open and honest which is why I’m not doing a full smile and exposing all my teeth.”

Variant: See Smiling, Fear Smile, Friendly Smile, Frown (the) or Downturned Smile, Honest Smile or Duchenne Smile, Jaw Drop Smile, Nervous Smile, Polite Smile (the), Uneven Smile Or Lopsided Smile, Upper Lip Smile, Artificial Smile or Fake Smile, Nervous Smile, Honest Smile or Duchenne Smile, Contempt Facial Expression.

Cue In Action: Dave set up a prank on his good buddy when he was away picking up lunch. When his buddy realized that his cubicle had been “redecorated,” Dave cracked his lips in a grin.

Meaning and/or Motivation: This smile indicates smugness, arrogance, or hiding of information or feelings.

It is a tight lipped smile with the addition of a degree self satisfaction for good measure.

The close lipped smile is a restraint and concealment smile commonly associated with politicians and those who are up to no good. Children are sometimes seen sporting this smile, as are people who are teasing or being playful. If someone is speaking, but holding a tight grin, you can be assured that they aren’t telling you everything.

Sometimes the smile is done to hide bad or yellow teeth. An honest smile bares the teeth.

Cue Cluster: The smirk has accompanying dominant body language such as head back, shoulders back, open postures along with dialogue riddle with exuberant pride.

Body Language Category: Appease, Clenching and gripping, Closed facial gestures, Defensive, Dislike (nonverbal), Lying or deceptive body language, Masked emotions, Negative body language.

Resources:

Abel, Ernest L. and Michael L. Kruger. Smile Intensity in Photographs Predicts Longevity. Psychological Science. 2010. 21(4): 542-544.
Seder, J. Patrick and Shigehiro Oishi. Intensity of Smiling in Facebook Photos Predicts Future Life Satisfaction. Social Psychological and Personality Science. 2012. 3(4): 407-413.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/facebook-smile-predicts-life-satisfaction/

Colonnesi, Cristina; Susan M. Bogels; Wieke de Vente and Mirjana Majdandzic. What Coy Smiles Say About Positive Shyness in Early Infancy. Infancy. 2013. 18(2): 202–220. ISSN: 1525-0008 print / 1532-7078 online
DOI: 10.1111/j.1532-7078.2012.00117.x
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/nonverbal-meaning-coy-smiles-infants/

Fairbairn, Catharine E.; Michael A. Sayette; Odd O. Aalen and Arnoldo Frigessi. Alcohol and Emotional Contagion: An Examination of the Spreading of Smiles in Male and Female Drinking Groups. Clinical Psychological Science. 2014. DOI: 2167702614548892
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/alcohol-social-lubricant-male-smiles/

Gosselin, Pierre; Reem Maassarani; Alastair Younger and Mélanie Perron. Children’s Deliberate Control of Facial Action Units Involved in Sad and Happy Expressions. Journal of Nonverbal Behaviour. 2011. 35:225–242. DOI 10.1007/s10919-011-0110-9.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/childrens-control-facial-actions-improve-age-create-accurate-emotional-expressions/

Gunnery, Sarah D.; Judith A. Hall and Mollie A. Ruben. The Deliberate Duchenne Smile: Individual Differences in Expressive Control. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2013. 37:29–41. DOI 10.1007/s10919-012-0139-4
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/can-probably-fake-honest-smile-deliberate-duchenne-smile/

Golle, Jessika; Fred W.; Mast and Janek S. Lobmaier. Something to Smile About: The Interrelationship Between Attractiveness and Emotional Expression. Cognition and Emotion, 2014. 28:2: 298-310. DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2013.817383.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/smiles-arent-just-cameras/

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, N., & Fischer-Lokou, J. (2004). Hitchhiker’s Smiles And Receipt Of Help. Psychological Reports. 94: 756-760.

Gueguen, Nicolas. Weather and Smiling Contagion: A Quasi Experiment With the Smiling Sunshine. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2013. 37:51–55. DOI 10.1007/s10919-012-0140-y
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/weather-smile-not-contagion-smile-linked-weather-conditions/

Hertenstein, Matthew J.; Carrie A. Hansel; Alissa M. Butts and Sarah N. Hile. Smile Intensity In Photographs Predicts Divorce Later In Life. Motiv Emot. 2009; 33:99-105
DOI 10.1007/s11031-009-9124-6
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/small-smiles-predicts-divorce/

Harker, L., & Keltner, D. (2001). Expressions Of Positive Emotion In Women’s College Yearbook Pictures And Their Relationship To Personality And Life Outcomes Across Adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80(1), 112–124. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.80.1.112.

Kraft, Tara L ; Pressman, Sarah D. Grin and Bear It. Psychological Science. 2012. 23(11): 1372-1378.

Kalokerinos, Elise K. ; Greenaway, Katharine H. ; Pedder, David J. ; Margetts, Elise A. Desteno, David (editor). Don’t Grin When You Win: The Social Costs of Positive Emotion Expression in Performance Situations. Emotion. 2014. 14(1): 180-186.

Krumhuber, E., Manstead, A., & Kappas, A. Temporal Aspects of Facial Displays in Person and Expression Perception: The Effects of Smile Dynamics, Head-tilt, and Gender. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2007. 31(1), 39-56.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/slow-onset-smile-best/

Krause, Michael W. and Teh-Way David Chen. A Winning Smile? Smile Intensity, Physical Dominance, and Fighter Performance. Emotion. 2013. 13 (2): 270–279. DOI: 10.1037/a0030745
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/smile-lose-smile-intensity-predicts-fighting-ability

Krumhuber, Eva G.; Manstead and Antony S. R. Can Duchenne smiles be feigned? New evidence on felt and false smiles. Emotion. 2009. 9 (6): 807-820.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/can-fake-real-smile-practice/

Krumhuber, Eva; Antony S. R.; Manstead; and Arvid Kappas. Temporal Aspects of Facial Displays in Person and Expression Perception: The Effects of Smile Dynamics, Head-tilt, and Gender. Journal Nonverbal Behavior. 2007; 31: 39-56. DOI 10.1007/s10919-006-0019-x
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/head-tilt-and-slow-onset-smile-nonverbals-trust-attraction-dominance-and-flirting-a-brief-report/

Labroo, Aparna A.; Anirban Mukhopadhyay; Ping Dong. Not Always the Best Medicine: Why Frequent Smiling Can Reduce Wellbeing. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 2014. 53:156-162.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/why-too-much-smiling-can-be-bad-for-you/

Lockard, J. S., McVittie, R. I., & Isaac, L. M. (1977). Functional Significance Of The Affiliative Smile. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 9, 367-370.

Okubo, Matia; Akihiro, Kobayashi and Kenta Ishikawa. A Fake Smile Thwarts Cheater Detection. Journal of Nonverbal Behaviour. 2012. 36:217–225. DOI 10.1007/s10919-012-0134-9
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/fake-till-make-cheaters-fake-smile-make-lies-difficult-detect/

Reissland, Nadja; Brian Francis, James Mason, Karen Lincoln. Do Facial Expressions Develop before Birth? August 2011. 6(8): e24081. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0024081.g001
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/the-cry-and-laugh-face-in-the-human-fetus/

Reed, Lawrence Ian; Katharine N. Zeglen and Karen L. Schmidt. Facial Expressions as Honest Signals of Cooperative Intent in a One-Shot Anonymous Prisoner’s Dilemma Game. Evolution and Human Behavior. 2012. 33: 200-209.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/facial-expressions-honest-signals-smiling-contempt-predict-cooperation-defection/

Samuele Centorrino, Elodie Djemai, Astrid Hopfensitz, Manfred Milinski, Paul Seabright. Honest Signaling in Trust Interactions: Smiles Rated as Genuine Induce Trust and Signal Higher Earning Opportunities. Evolution and Human Behavior DOI: dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2014.08.001.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/smile-great-gain-smiling-key-negotiation/

Tidd, K., & Lockard, J. (1978). Monetary Significance Of The Affiliative Smile: A Case For Reciprocal Altruism. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 11, 344-346.

Vazire, S., Naumann, L.P., Rentfrow, P. J., and Gosling, S. D. (2009). Smiling reflects different emotions in men and women. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 32:5, 403–405.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/smiling-reflects-different-emotions-men-women/

Vigil, J. M. (2009). A socio-relational framework of sex differences in the expression of emotion. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 32, 375–428.

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.

Appease, Nonthreatening body language, Open facial gestures

Body Language of Friendly Smile

by Chris • October 22, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Friendly Smile

Cue: Friendly Smile.

Synonym(s): Tight-Lipped Smile With High Intensity.

Description: The Friendly Smile (or Tight-lipped smile with high intensity) is a variation of the Polite Smile (or tight-lipped smile with low intensity). In the friendly smile, however, the corners of the lips rise even further with some teeth showing. The lips are slightly separated, the corners of the mouth are upturned, gaze is steady and warm, and the posture is relaxed.

In One Sentence: The friendly smile is a greeting gesture between acquaintances.

How To Use it: Use the friendly smile when you want to show others that you are open and honest, but are not intimate or close. Contrary to popular belief, one should not always use a full open Duchenne smile. In fact, the friendly smile is the correct smile when meeting with people with which you are not closely affiliated. Using the friendly smile tells them that you correctly understand your relationship. A smile that is too intimate, in other words, can be seen as being dishonest and insincere and therefore create distrust and suspicion. Whatever the situation, be sure to use the appropriate body language.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m open and warm to your presence, but I’m not letting my guard down. The best you get from me is a smile that lacks true warmth. This is generated by contractions of the muscles at the corners of my eyes.”

Cue In Action: The coworkers shared a friendly smile as they passed each other in the cafeteria.

Meaning and/or Motivation: The friendly smile appears when meeting new acquaintances, therefore, the friendly smile it’s not a full “honest smile.” It does, however, show openness to others. The tight-lipped smile with high intensity is more appropriate for acquaintances because a full smile is reserved for our friends and family.

In new company, the full honest smile has the reverse effect and appears insincere. A full smile around new people would lead them to think “What’s that guy’s problem, he’s grinning like we were the best of friends, yet we just met!” So while we may think that the honest smile is the best smile with the best results, it is not so. Appearing honest and trustworthy is a valued goal, however, at times it causes undesired results. Thus, there are times when flashing a simple friendly smile will create the type of interaction we desire.

Cue Cluster: Expect a mixture of open and closed body language showing an overall timidity. Therefore you might see the hands in the pockets most of the time, but they might be removed during gesticulation. The head might be upright with eye contact intermixed with head lowered and eye contact avoidance. This shows that a person is not totally ready to move to the friendship level, but isn’t rejecting friendship either.

Body Language Category: Appease, Nonthreatening body language, Open facial gestures.

Resources:

Guéguen, N., & Fischer-Lokou, J. (2004). Hitchhiker’s Smiles And Receipt Of Help. Psychological Reports. 94: 756-760.

Krumhuber, Eva; Antony S. R.; Manstead; and Arvid Kappas. Temporal Aspects of Facial Displays in Person and Expression Perception: The Effects of Smile Dynamics, Head-tilt, and Gender. Journal Nonverbal Behavior. 2007; 31: 39-56.
DOI 10.1007/s10919-006-0019-x
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/head-tilt-and-slow-onset-smile-nonverbals-trust-attraction-dominance-and-flirting-a-brief-report/

Lockard, J. S., McVittie, R. I., & Isaac, L. M. (1977). Functional Significance Of The Affiliative Smile. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 9, 367-370.

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/

Samuele Centorrino, Elodie Djemai, Astrid Hopfensitz, Manfred Milinski, Paul Seabright. Honest Signaling in Trust Interactions: Smiles Rated as Genuine Induce Trust and Signal Higher Earning Opportunities. Evolution and Human Behavior DOI:
dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2014.08.001.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/smile-great-gain-smiling-key-negotiation/

Tidd, K., & Lockard, J. (1978). Monetary Significance Of The Affiliative Smile: A Case For Reciprocal Altruism. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 11, 344-346.

Vigil, J. M. (2009). A socio-relational framework of sex differences in the expression of emotion. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 32, 375–428.

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.

Appease, Embarrassment (nonverbal), Energy Displacement, Excited body language, Fearful body language, Nervous Body Language, Shy nonverbal, Stressful body language, Submissive body language

Body Language of Forced Laughter

by Chris • October 22, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Forced Laughter

Cue: Forced Laughter

Synonym(s): Stress Laugh.

Description: Laughter that is not due to real enjoyment.

In One Sentence: Forced laughter indicates the desire to appease another person.

How To Use it: Stress laughing shows that you are willing to submit to the authority of another person or laugh to be part of a group or simply to be polite. Laughing at bad jokes is useful to lower ranking employees whom should, by all means, laugh at the jokes of their bosses, no matter how funny they are found to be. This sends the message that you are willing to be a “team player” and placate.

Context: General, Stress.

Verbal Translation: “I’m not really happy nor do I find that funny, but I’m laughing to show my appeasement and submission to you and to join in on your amusement.”

Variant: See Laughter.

Cue In Action: a) The boss made a joke that no one found funny, but everyone still laughed. b) She was presenting her findings to the University. She giggled often showing her nervousness and lack of confidence, making everyone take her a little less seriously, but still welcoming her speech and empathizing with her discomfort.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Laughter that is meant to disguise hidden anxiety or disagreement, stress, be polite, or in effort to connect with new people. We use a stress-laugh to dispel and ease tension both for our own purpose and that of others. Laughter is a fear based response and also shows others that we are submitting to them.

Cue Cluster: Other agreement indicators such as head nods, eye contact and will accompany a forced laughter. It can also be accompanied by blushing, uneasy or quivering voice, and pacifying cue such as face and neck touching.

Body Language Category: Appease, Embarrassment (nonverbal), Energy Displacement, Excited body language, Fearful body language, Nervous body language, Shy nonverbal, Stressful body language, Submissive body language.

Resources:

Foley, Erin ; Matheis, Robert ; Schaefer, Charles. Effect of forced laughter on mood.(Abstract). Psychological Reports. 2002 90(1): 184(1).

Grammer, K., & Eibl-Eibesfeldt, I. 1990. The ritualisation of laughter. In W. Koch (Ed.), Naturalichkeit der Sprache un der Kultur: Acta colloquii 192–214

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/

Kawakami, Kiyobumi; Takai-Kawakami, Kiyoko; Tomonaga, Masaki; Suzuki, Juri; Kusaka, Tomiyo; Okai, Takashi. 2006. Origins of smile and laughter: a preliminary study. Early Human Development. 82 (1): 61.

Keltner, Dacher; Bonanno, George A. 1997. A study of laughter and dissociation: Distinct correlates of laughter and smiling during bereavement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 73(4): 687-702.

MacDonald, C., 2004. A Chuckle a Day Keeps the Doctor Away: Therapeutic Humor & Laughter. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services 42(3):18-25.

Martin, Rod A. 2001. Humor, laughter, and physical health: Methodological issues and research findings Psychological Bulletin. 127(4): 504-519.

Neuhoff, Charles C ; Schaefer, Charles. Effects of laughing, smiling, and howling on mood. Psychological reports. 2002 91(3 Pt 2): 1079-80.

Owren, Michael J.; Bachorowski, Jo-Anne 2003. Reconsidering the evolution of nonlinguistic communication: the case of laughter Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 27(3): 183-200.

Panksepp, J., Burgdorf, J., “Laughing” rats and the evolutionary antecedents of human joy? Physiology & Behavior (2003) 79: 533-547.

Provine, Robert R.. 2000. The laughing species. Natural History. 109(10): 72-76.

Provine, Robert R. 2000. Laugh and the world laughs with you. Scientific American. 283(6): 108-110.

Provine, R. R. 1992. Contagious laughter: Laughter is a sufficient stimulus for laughs and smiles. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society 30: 1- 4.

Provine, R. R. 1993. Laughter punctuates speech: Linguistic, social and gender contexts of laughter. Ethology 95: 291-298.

Provine, R. R., and K. R. Fischer. 1989. Laughing, smiling, and talking: Relation to sleeping and social context in humans. Ethology 83: 295-305.

Provine, R. R., and Y. L. Yong. 1991. Laughter: A stereotyped human vocalization. Ethology 89: 115-124.

Provine, R.R. Contagious yawning and laughing: Everyday imitation and mirror-like behavior. Behavioral and Brain Science. 28: 142.

Priest, RF; Thein, MT. 2003. Humor appreciation in marriage: Spousal similarity, assortative mating, and disaffection. Humor-international journal of humor research, 16(1): 63-78.

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/

*No Photo, Appease, Closed body language, Conflicting gestures, Emotional body language, Fearful body language, Masked emotions, Negative body language, Stressful body language, Submissive body language

Body Language of Fear Smile or Stress Smile

by Chris • October 21, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Fear Smile or Stress Smile

Cue: Fear Smile

Synonym(s): Stress Smile, Fear Grin.

Description: A smile where the lips are stretched to form a rectangular shape. These muscles sometimes pull the corners of the mouth upwards slightly to produce a grimace. Accompanying the lips stretch is a contraction of the eyebrows together coupled with an upward lift and widened eyes.

In One Sentence: The fear smile indicates emotional stress.

How To Use it: The fear smile is more of a reactive nonverbal signal then one to be used to influence other people. In other words, when stressed, our natural inclination is to smile in fear, however, this is usually taken as a demonstration of smugness as the smile appears out of context. Most often, when it appears people wonder why you are laughing and will command you wipe that smug look off your face. This is especially the case when the fear smile appears when being reprimanded.

Therefore, concealing or stifling the fear smile is probably the best recourse. Stifling an expression, especially the fear smile, while dishonest, does make one appear more stoic when facing a particularly difficult situation.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m scared and my smile is motivated by stress, rather than joy, and it’s a way to mask my truly felt emotions.”

Cue In Action: She came up to him yelling and screaming. He backed away and put his arms over his chest and smiled awkwardly. He had no idea she had been brooding and was not expecting her to confront him in this way. She continued, “wipe that smug look off your face.” She didn’t realize that his smile was due to feeling overwhelmed.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Not all smiles are due to happiness. Sometimes people will smile when they are under high stress. Being confronted can produce the fear smile. If we’re careful to watch for it, it appears like a goofy looking smile. For great examples of the fear smile, watch television courtroom shows. When Judge Judy asks the defendant to wipe that smile off their face – you know she’s asking them to be more stoic rather than flash the fear smile. She is misperceiving the fear smile as smugness.

We see stress smiles when people are at a loss for words in a verbal confrontation and have no way to escape. Research has theorized that the smile actually has roots as a sign of fear where the teeth are bared to confront aggressive challenges. When people show the fear grin they are usually labeled as smug, but the emotion behind this smile is anything but. Human smiles are a universally submissive gesture but they can also symbolize pleasure, amusement, aggression, or anxiety (grimace). However, these other emotions never truly supercede the most common purpose of the smile, which is to show submission.

Cue Cluster: The fear smile is accompanied by defensive postures such as arm crossing, leaning away, head turned away, eyes averted and a deadpan look on the face.

Body Language Category: Appease, Closed body language, Conflicting gestures, Emotional body language, Fearful body language, Masked emotions, Negative body language, Stressful body language, Submissive body language.

Resources:

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

Ekman, Paul. 1994. Strong evidence for universals in facial expressions: A reply to Russell’s mistaken critique Psychological Bulletin. 115(2): 268-287.

Ekman, Paul. 1986. A new pan-cultural facial expression of emotion. Source: Motivation and Emotion Ekman. 10(2): 159-168.

Ekman, Paul and Friesen, W. V. 1987. Universals and cultural differences in the judgments of facial expressions of emotion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 53(4): 712-717.

Ekman, Paul; Friesen, Wallace V. 1971. Constants across cultures in the face and emotion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 17(2): 124-129.

Ekman, Paul. 1972. Universals and cultural differences in facial expressions of emotion. In J. Cole (Ed.), Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, 1971. 19: 207-282. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

Fulcher, J. S. “Voluntary” facial expression in blind and seeing children. Archives of Psychology, 1942. 38: 272.

Friesen, W. V. 1972. Cultural differences in facial expressions in a social situation: An experimental test of the concept of display rules. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, San Francisco.

Guéguen, N., & Fischer-Lokou, J. (2004). Hitchhiker’s Smiles And Receipt Of Help. Psychological Reports. 94: 756-760.

James A. Russell, Naoto Suzuki and Noriko Ishida. 1993. Canadian, Greek, and Japanese freely produced emotion labels for facial expressions. Motivation and Emotion. 17(4): 337 -351

Krumhuber, Eva; Antony S. R.; Manstead; and Arvid Kappas. Temporal Aspects of Facial Displays in Person and Expression Perception: The Effects of Smile Dynamics, Head-tilt, and Gender. Journal Nonverbal Behavior. 2007; 31: 39-56.
DOI 10.1007/s10919-006-0019-x
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/head-tilt-and-slow-onset-smile-nonverbals-trust-attraction-dominance-and-flirting-a-brief-report/

Lockard, J. S., McVittie, R. I., & Isaac, L. M. (1977). Functional Significance Of The Affiliative Smile. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 9, 367-370.

McClure, Erin B 2000. A meta-analytic review of sex differences in facial expression processing and their development in infants, children, and adolescents
Psychological Bulletin. 126(3): 424-453.

Mead, M. 1975. Review of “Darwin and facial expression.” Journal of Communication, 25: 209-213.

Russell, James A. 1995. Facial Expressions of Emotion: What Lies Beyond Minimal Universality? Psychological bulletin. 118(3): 379-391.

Russell, James A. 1994. Is There Universal Recognition of Emotion From Facial Expression? A Review of the Cross-Cultural Studies. Psychological Bulletin. 115(1): 102-141.

Samuele Centorrino, Elodie Djemai, Astrid Hopfensitz, Manfred Milinski, Paul Seabright. Honest Signaling in Trust Interactions: Smiles Rated as Genuine Induce Trust and Signal Higher Earning Opportunities. Evolution and Human Behavior DOI:
dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2014.08.001.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/smile-great-gain-smiling-key-negotiation/

Tidd, K., & Lockard, J. (1978). Monetary Significance Of The Affiliative Smile: A Case For Reciprocal Altruism. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 11, 344-346.

Vigil, J. M. (2009). A socio-relational framework of sex differences in the expression of emotion. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 32, 375–428.

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.

Appease, Approach tell, Courtship display, Eye Language, Indicator Of Sexual Interest (IOsI), Open facial gestures, Power play, Pseudo-infantile gestures, Remotivating gesture, Signature gestures, Submissive body language, Tie signals

Body Language of Eye Widening

by Chris • October 21, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Eye Widening

Cue: Eye Widening

Synonym(s): Baby Eyes, Wide Eyes.

Description: Making the eyes appear bigger than normal through plucking the eyebrows, raising the eyebrows or lifting the eyelids.

In One Sentence: Eye widening is a signal that says one is enjoying what they are seeing.

How To Use it: Show positive emotions by keeping the eyes open and inviting. Women can effectively and near permanently increase the perception of their eye size by plucking their brows. This creates the illusion of having larger eyes that actual fact.

While men do not benefit in the same way from this cue, open eyes in women signals that they are more childlike and therefore worthy of protection. If women desire special treatment, emphasizing the size of the eyes is highly effective.

Context: General, Dating.

Verbal Translation: “By widening my eyes you can see how big and childlike my eyes are, therefore you need to help and protect me.”

Variant: Related to Eye Flash, Eye Pop and Flashbulb Eyes as well as Eye Squinting or Narrowing Eyes (for opposite cue).

Cue In Action: It was a cold morning and she didn’t want to go out to the car and warm it. She turned her head to the side, batted her eyes, raised her eyebrows and opened her eyes wide, pleading. Her Dad had no choice but to give her a hand.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Eye widening is a positive nonverbal cue indicating that someone is observing positive stimuli that bring them joy and happiness. It may indicate surprise and shock.

Raising the eyebrows and eyelids can also be used to simulate widened eyes. Plucking the eyebrows has the same effect as eye widening, except it is permanent. The appearance of big bright eyes may be why we have culturally encouraged women to shrink the size of their brow.

Have you ever noticed the size of a newborns eyes in relation to their body and face? What about cartoon characters? Eye widening evokes protective feelings in others and women will use this to gain sympathy from men during courtship. Research has shown that when women widen their eyes, men release hormones that motive them to protect and defend.

Eye widening is a form of gravity defying behaviour that is ubiquitous in showing positive emotions and joy. When true contentment is present the eyes will lack any tension at all and will appear relaxed. The size of the eyes directly indicates how positive someone feels about a topic. While making eyes bigger and flashing them means that good thoughts are held, squinting, where the eyes are compressed, means negative thought are held.

Cue Cluster: Eye widening is clustered with head to the side, batting eyelashes, raised eyebrows, eyelids opened, shoulders turned inward, head up with smiling or pouting to gain sympathy.

Body Language Category: Appease, Approach tell, Courtship display, Eye Language, Indicators of sexual interest (IOsI), Open facial gestures, Pseudo-infantile gestures, Power play, Remotivating, Signature gestures, Submissive body language, Tie signals.

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.

Daniel H. Lee, Reza Mirza, John G. Flanagan and Adam K. Anderson. Optical Origins of Opposing Facial Expression Actions. Psychological Science published online 24 January 2014 DOI: 10.1177/0956797613514451
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/eyes-and-facial-expressions-may-be-biologically-controlled-serve-a-real-non-emotional-purpose-says-research/

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

Duan, Xujun ; Dai, Qian ; Gong, Qiyong ; Chen, Huafu. Neural mechanism of unconscious perception of surprised facial expression. NeuroImage. 2010. 52(1): 401-407.

e Charlesworth, W. R. (1964). Instigation and maintenance of curiosity behavior as a function of surprise versus novel and familiar stimuli. Child Development, 35, 1169–1186.

Ekman, P. & O’Sullivan, M. (1991). Who can catch a liar? American Psychologist. 46, 913-920.

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.

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.

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.

Ludden, G. D. S., Schifferstein, H. N. J., & Hekkert, P. (2009). Visual–tactual incongruities in products as sources of surprise. Empirical Studies of the Arts, 27, 63–89.

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.

Parzuchowski, Michal ; Szymkow-Sudziarska, Aleksandra. Well, slap my thigh: expression of surprise facilitates memory of surprising material. Emotion. 2008. 8(3): 430-4.

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.

Reisenzein, R. (2000). Exploring the strength of association between the components of emotion syndromes: the case of surprise. Cognition and Emotion, 14, 1–38.

Reisenzein, R., Bördgen, S., Holtbernd, T., & Matz, D. (2006). Evidence for strong dissociation between emotion and facial displays: the case of surprise. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 295–315.

Reisenzein, R., & Studtmann, M. (2007). On the expression and experience of surprise: no evidence for facial feedback, but evidence for a reverse self-inference effect. Emotion, 7, 612–627.

Scherer, K. R., Zentner, M. R., & Stern, D. (2004). Beyond surprise: the puzzle of infants’ expressive reactions to expectancy violation. Emotion, 4, 389–402.

Schützwohl, Achim ; Reisenzein, Rainer. Facial expressions in response to a highly surprising event exceeding the field of vision: a test of Darwin’s theory of surprise. Evolution and Human Behavior. 2012. 33(6): 657-664.

Susskind, Joshua M and Adam K Anderson. Facial Expression Form and Function. Communicative Integrative Biology. 2008. 1(2): 148–149. PMCID: PMC2686004
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/emotional-facial-expressions-evolve/

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

Vrticka, Pascal ; Lordier, Lara ; Bediou, Benoît ; Sander, David Desteno, David (editor). Human Amygdala Response to Dynamic Facial Expressions of Positive and Negative Surprise. Emotion. 2014. 14(1): 161-169.

Vanhamme, J. (2000). The link between surprise and satisfaction: an exploratory research on how to best measure surprise. Journal of Marketing Management, 16, 565–582.

Appease, Dislike (nonverbal), Eye Language, Indicators of disinterest (IOD), Nonthreatening body language

Body Language of Eye Catch And Look Away

by Chris • October 21, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Eye Catch And Look Away

Cue: Eye Catch And Look Away

Synonym(s): N/A

Description: An immediate aversion of the eyes upon eye contact – either down or to the side.

In One Sentence: Eye catch and look away is a signal that one does not want to be noticed looking.

How To Use it: This is generally a cue you will not want to apply as it is perceived as being socially awkward. The exception worth noting, however, and one which women may find effective, is in a dating context. Women can catch the eyes of men and then quickly avert them. However, this is best done by looking down rather than away as this perceived as scanning. Usually eye contact is required to be coupled with a slight smile. When women break eye contact with men in this quick fashion, it tells them that they are submissive to their dominance. This is the most natural dating arrangement and is alluring for both parties.

Context: a) Dating b) General.

Verbal Translation: a) “I find you attractive but don’t want to be caught staring or showing too much interest. Besides, I find your attractiveness and dominance intimidating.”

b) “I made eye contact with you by accident and I am uncomfortable holding it for any length of time because I see you as more dominant than me.”

b) “I’m averting my eyes after eye contact because I don’t like you. I don’t want to talk to you or acknowledge you exist.”

b) “I caught your eye by accident as I was casually scanning the room.”

Variant: See Eye Aversion, Gaze Avoidance and Wandering Eyes, Downcast Eyes or Eyes Down.

Cue In Action: a) When scanning the room for someone to approach, he caught the eye of an attractive woman. She continued to scan the room rather than looking down and no smile was present – she was disinterested. b) He was angry and nearing a boiling point. Then he made eye contact with a young man to his dismay. The young man quickly averted his eyes pretending not to notice the raging veins about to burst through his forehead.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Eye catch and look away is defined by its context.

When done to strangers it indicates submission. Usually the weaker party will look away first while the more dominant might see eye contact as a personal challenge and hold his gaze longer.

Eyes that catch other eyes when scanning a room will continue to scan despite eye contact. This shows others that eye contact happened by accident and lacked intent or meaning.

In a dating context, eyes that look down after eye contact show submission while eyes that look left or right, as in a general context, simply mean that a person was scanning the room. Looking down is usually done by woman followed by a smile and other indicators of interest such as neck or wrist exposure, preening the hair or blushing due to nervousness.

Cue Cluster: Watch for submissive cues in people that habitually break eye contact first such as head lowered, shoulders shrugged, arms pulled in legs crossed tightly, touching the face and neck, and so forth. In dating, eyes that look away, right or left, rather than down signal lack of interest. A coy smile indicates the opposite especially when done by a woman.

Body Language Category: Appease, Dislike (nonverbal), Eye Language, Indicators of disinterest (IOD), Nonthreatening body language.

Resources:

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.

Argyle, M., & Dean, I. Eye contact, distance and affiliation. Sociometry, 1965, 28, 289-304.

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.

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.

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.

Cook, M. Experiments on orientation and proxemics. Human Relations, 1970, 23, 61-67.

Chen, Yi-Chia ; Yeh, Su-Ling. Look into my eyes and I will see you: Unconscious processing of human gaze. Consciousness and Cognition. 2012 21(4): 1703-1710.

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).

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.

Friesen, C.K., & Kingstone, A. (1998). The eyes have it: Reflexive orienting is triggered by nonpredictive gaze. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 5, 490–493.

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.

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.

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

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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.

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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.

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.

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Ponari, Marta ; Trojano, Luigi ; Grossi, Dario ; Conson, Massimiliano. “Avoiding or approaching eyes”? Introversion/extraversion affects the gaze-cueing effect. Cognitive Processing. 2013. 14(3): 293-299.

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Appease, Arrogance or arrogant body language, Authoritative body language, Body size reduction, Closed body language, Courtship display, Defensive body language, Disengagement body language, Dislike (nonverbal), Distancing or moving away, Embarrassment (nonverbal), Escape movements, Eye Language, Fearful body language, Indicator Of Sexual Interest (IOsI), Negative body language, Nervous Body Language, Nonthreatening body language, Power play, Readiness to submit postures, Rejection body language, Shy nonverbal, Submissive body language

Body Language of Eye Aversion, Gaze Avoidance and Wandering Eyes

by Chris • October 21, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Eye Aversion, Gaze Avoidance and Wandering Eyes

Cue: Eye Aversion and Wandering Eyes

Synonym(s): Eye Avoidance, Eye Withdrawal, Gaze Avoidance, Averting Eyes, Roving Eyes.

Description: When eyes avoid making contact with other eyes on purpose.

In One Sentence: Avoiding eye contact signals that a person wants to avoid being called upon or that they want to create an air of superiority.

How To Use it: Eye contact can be powerful especially when it is avoided. You can show your disdain for someone by simply ignoring their presence on purpose. Likewise, avoiding eye contact can have the effect of making you disappear as well. For example, if you want to avoid being called upon by the teacher or your boss, simply avert your eyes. This tells them that you’re not prepared to interact with them and nonverbally suggests that they move along and pick on someone else.

In a dating context, women should avoid eye contact with potential suitors they do not find agreeable. Even a small amount of eye contact can be seen to be an invitation to solicit especially when combined with a smile. Thus, if possible, keep eyes only for the types of men you wish would approach. This isn’t to say, however, that women should be unfriendly, but women should realize that with friendliness, comes the responsibility of having to acknowledge and interact. If you (accidentally) make eye contact, follow through with a polite verbal decline. Here is an example: “Hi, I’m sorry, I have to leave, I’m supposed to meet with someone.”

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: a) “I don’t want to cause any more problems for myself so I’m going to avoid making eye contact with other more dominant people so I don’t draw attention and provoke people into attacking.” b) “I’m superior to you and so I’m withdrawing my eye contact and affection, and pretending you are an object not worthy of my attention or acknowledgment.”

Variant: Many other variants in eye language exist. See Eye Language category.

Cue In Action: a) The pupil didn’t want to draw any more attention to himself after throwing the paper air plane so he ducked his head down and averted his eyes in shame. His teacher knew that he was embarrassed for what he had done so she went easier on him. b) They went to bed angry at each other and instead of talking it out the next morning; they avoided each other – pretending that they didn’t exist. c) The seducer had eyes for her, but she wasn’t game. Instead of acknowledging him, she chose to avert her eyes by looking at the ground instead.

Meaning and/or Motivation: The general meaning of eyes avoiding is to show submission or discomfort. Averting the eyes has two primary purposes. One is to avoid conflict and other to power play. Eye avoidance might mean defensiveness, submission, defeat, or negative feelings. It may be done to tease and allure.

People who avert their eyes might also do so because of uncomfortable feelings such as sadness, shame or embarrassment.

Eye aversion is used to prevent others from resorting to an attack response and prevents others from seeing us as a threat. Subordinates commonly avoid eye contact with dominant individuals to indicate submission and respect. Eyes might wander to avoid being reprimanded. Eyes that avoid can serve to “flee” from an encounter, a protective response, as a person subconsciously tries to make distance between himself and his aggressor.

This is the case even if an argument is minor – the eyes will withdraw first showing that a person does not wish to pursue the debate. Eyes can also avoid eye contact thus demonstrating submission. For example, a pupil will look away from his teacher to avoid reprimand. As such, avoidant eyes can be used to reduce conflict, and at the same time, search for possible escape routes to vacate the threat.

Alternatively, eyes can show other people that they aren’t worthy of being acknowledged. We see this when people act passive aggressive. They will avoid eye contact with another person at all costs. When women walk down the street, they will purposely avoid eye contact with men so as to avoid initiating conversation, and their nonverbal message says “I don’t see you as a person worthy of my gaze, so don’t bother me.”

Other times eye contact withdrawal is a way to tease and play such as the peek-a-boo game where the absence of eye contact is part of the allure and so is a signal of interest.

Cue Cluster: When eye aversion is linked to negative thoughts it will be coupled with head dropping, shoulders turned inward and down, cowering, slouching, arm withdrawal and other protective and shrinking body language

During a power play we will see signs of both dominance and apathy. For example, a person might ignore personal space by brushing up against the other person or bumping into them, orient their bodies away, talk over or around them. Likewise, they may purposely show affection to someone else thereby creating discomfort in another.

Body Language Category: Appease, Arrogance or arrogant body language, Anger, Authoritative body language, Body size reduction, Courtship displays, Closed body language, Defensive, Disengagement, Dislike (nonverbal), Distancing or moving away, Embarrassment (nonverbal), Escape movements, Eye Language, Fearful body language, Indicators of sexual interest (IOsI), Nervous body language, Negative body language, Nonthreatening body language, Power play, Rejection body language, Readiness to submit postures, Shy nonverbal, Submissive body language.

Resources:

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http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/people-can-read-dominance-split-second

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.
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Williams. 1993. Effects of Mutual Gaze and Touch on Attraction, Mood, and Cardiovascular Reactivity Source: Journal of Research in Personality. 27(2): 170-183.

Weisfeld, Glenn E. and Jody M. Beresford. Erectness of Posture as an Indicator of Dominance or Success in Humans. Motivation and Emotion. 1982. 6(2): 113-130.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/body-language-cues-dominance-submission-children/

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Appease, Courtship display, Embarrassment (nonverbal), Escape movements, Indicator Of Sexual Interest (IOsI), Pensive displays, Readiness to submit postures, Shy nonverbal, Submissive body language

Body Language of Downcast Eyes or Eyes Down

by Chris • October 20, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Downcast Eyes or Eyes Down

Cue: Downcast Eyes or Eyes Down.

Synonym(s): Downward Gaze, Eye Dip, Eyes Down.

Description: Eyes that are averted by looking down rather than by looking left or right.

In One Sentence: Eyes cast downward signals that one is submissive or embarrassed.

How To Use it: Women are advised to use eyes cast downward in a dating context to show men that they are interested. This is one of the best ways to show that a woman is prepared to accept the dominance of a man. While this is not the only way women can show interest, it is the most universal.

Likewise, small children should use eyes down in order to gain the sympathy and care of adults. When children cast their eyes down, it makes them seem helpless which cues the desire to protect. The same effect is useful for teenagers and even adults who are looking for special privileges which they wish to receive from others.

Reducing eye contact has been shown to help reduce the level of punishment as it shows that one is shameful and submissive and thus, no longer a threat. Thus, use eyes down to placate more dominant individuals.

To avoid being called upon, such as in class, cast they eyes down to show lack of confidence.

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

Verbal Translation: a) “I’m shy and I’m submit to you because I’m attracted to you.” b) “You’re the boss and I’m looking down because you are dominant and I feel threatened by you and respect you.” c) “I’m embarrassed and shamed so I’m acting like a child and submitting to your authority.”

Variant: See Eye Aversion, Gaze Avoidance and Wandering Eyes, Eye Squinting or Narrowing Eyes, Downcast Eyes or Eyes Down.

Cue In Action: a) She was casually looking around the room when her eyes met with a cute guy, she panicked and didn’t know what to do so she averted her eyes by looking down and smiled coyly as she knew she was caught with “her hand in the cookie jar.”

b) The intern kept her gaze low and listened attentively at her new boss to keep the peace and remain low on her radar.

c) When the boss came in with an angry expression, he knew this was headed in the wrong direction. He averted his eyes downward and readied to be scolded.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Indicates submission, coyness, lack of certainty, defeat, guilt, shame or embarrassment depending on the context. Down cast eyes is an indication of submission and serves to placate other more dominant people. Downcast Eyes or Eyes Down can also signify interest especially in a dating context.

Usually the person who looks away first is the more submissive or passive so long as it is done by looking down rather than left or right. The eyes averted downward evoke a protective response from others so we do it in hopes of lessening punishment. When women do it in dating, it signals interest because unlike eyes that move left and right – scanning, eyes down punctuations the eye contact to a specific person.

Alternatively, eyes down can mean someone is concentrating or evaluating information and needs to focus on a problem.

Cue Cluster: a) If she spots someone she is interested in she will quickly avert her eyes downward to show that she isn’t a threat and to show submission, and then she will take a second look. This second glance is directed only toward a man of interest and is not cast around the room. It will be short and she will rotate her head twenty-five to forty degrees to the side then look away (usually downward) within about three seconds. Women usually continue this behavior until they meet their target’s eyes. b) Eyes down in a business context when concentrating is coupled with putting up blinders such as hand to the sides of the face, hand to chin, a blank face, head bobbled from side to side weighing information and so forth. c) When downcast eyes wish to avoid confrontation they will be accompanied by a shrinking body such as shoulders down, head sunk in, palms up, torso down or away and head bowed.

Body Language Category: Appease, Courtship displays, Embarrassment (nonverbal), Escape movements, Indicators of sexual interest (IOsI), Pensive displays, Protective reflexes, Readiness to submit postures, Shy nonverbal, Submissive body language.

Resources:

Allison, T., Puce, A., & McCarthy, G. (2000). Social perception from visual cues: role of the STS region. Trends in Cognitive Neurosciences, 4, 267–278.

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.

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http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/eye-contact-makes-us-uncomfortable-curious-case-stare-rape/