Category: Crotch display

Body Language of Uncrossing and Re-Crossing Legs

Body Language of Uncrossing and Re-Crossing Legs

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Context: a) General b) Dating.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Resources:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Body Language of Leg Spreading

Body Language of Leg Spreading

BodyLanguageProjectCom - Leg Spreading 5 BodyLanguageProjectCom - Leg Spreading 6Cue: Leg Spreading

Synonym(s): Spreading The Legs, Open Legs, Leg Placed Over The Arm Of The Chair, Uncrossed Legs.

Description: Legs that are spread while seated or standing rather than crossed.

In One Sentence: Leg spreading is a sign of dominance as it puts the genitals on display.

How To Use it: Spread your legs when you want others to see you as dominant and authoritative. The posture serves both women and men in the same fashion, but men are afforded more social liberty when it comes to dominance displays.

Men can benefit most from this posture in business and in dating as dominance is a valued trait in these context. Women should resist the urge to display dominance in this fashion, but if they absolutely feel comfortable displaying this way, they must wear long pants. Opening the legs with feminine attire including skirts and dresses, or even shorts can give the impression of sexual easiness and will have quite the opposite connotation to that desired.

Resources:

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

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

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

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

Bartholomewn, Morgan E.; Sheri L. Johnson. Nonverbal Dominance Behavior Among Individuals at Risk for Mania. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2014. 159: 133-138.
Burgoon, J. K., Johnson, M. L., & Koch, P. T. (1998). The nature and measurement of interpersonal dominance. Communication Monographs, 65, 308–335.

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

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

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

Carney, D. R., Hall, J. A., & LeBeau, L. S. (2005). Beliefs about the nonverbal expression of social power. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 29, 105–123.

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

Cashdan, Elizabeth. Smiles, Speech, and Body Posture: How Women and Men Display Sociometric Status and Power. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1998. 22(4): 209-228.

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

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

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

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/

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

Jacob, Heike ; Kreifelts, Benjamin ; Brück, Carolin ; Erb, Michael ; Hösl, Franziska ; Wildgruber, Dirk. Cerebral integration of verbal and nonverbal emotional cues: Impact of individual nonverbal dominance. NeuroImage. 2012. 61(3): 738-747.

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/

Locke, Connson C. and Cameron Anderson. The Downside of Looking Like a Leader: Leader’s Powerful Demeanor Stifles Follower Voice in Participative Decision-Making.. Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings. 2010. 8(1): 1-6.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/power-body-language-goes-far/

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

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

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

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

Meier, B. P., Hauser, D. J., Robinson, M. D., Friesen, C. K., & Schjeldahl, K. (2007b). What’s ‘up’ with God?: Vertical space as a representation of the divine. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93, 699–710.

Meier, B. P., & Robinson, M. D. (2004). Why the sunny side is up: Associations between affect and vertical position. Psychological Science, 15, 243–247.

Meier, B. P., & Robinson, M. D. (2005). The metaphorical representation of affect. Metaphor and Symbol, 21, 239–257.

Melamed, T. (1992). Personality correlates of physical height. Personality and Individual Differences, 13, 1349–1350.

Middleton, W. C., &Moffett, D. C. (1940). The relation of height and weight measurements to intelligence and to dominance-submission among a group of college freshmen. Research Quarterly of the American Association for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, 11, 53–59.

Montepare, J. M. (1995). The impact of variations in height on young children’s impressions of men and women. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 19, 31–47.

Meier, B.P., Robinson, M.D., & Caven, A.J. (in press). Why a big mac is a good mac: Associations between affect and size. Basic and Applied Social Psychology.

Matsumura, Shuichi ; Hayden, Thomas J. When should signals of submission be given?–A game theory model. Journal of Theoretical Biology. 2006. 240(3): 425-433.

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

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

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

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

Prieto, A. G., & Robbins, M. C. (1975). Perceptions of height and self-esteem. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 40, 395–398.

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

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

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

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

Rule, Nicholas, O.; Reginald B. Adams Jr.; Nalini Ambady and Jonathan B. Freeman. Perceptions Of Dominance Following Glimpses Of Faces And Bodies. Perception. 2012; 41: 687-706 doi:10.1068/p7023
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/people-can-read-dominance-split-second

Ranehill, Eva; Anna Dreber; Magnus Johannesson; Susanne Leiberg; Sunhae Sul and Roberto A. Weber. Assessing the Robustness of Power Posing: No Effect on Hormones and Risk Tolerance in a Large Sample of Men and Women. Psychological Science, March, 2015. doi: 10.1177/0956797614553946
http://pss.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/03/30/0956797614553946.full.pdf
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/power-posing-no-effect-hormones-amy-cuddy-wrong/

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

Robinson, Michael D. ; Zabelina, Darya L. ; Ode, Scott ; Moeller, Sara K. The vertical nature of dominance-submission: Individual differences in vertical attention. Journal of Research in Personality. 2008. 42(4): 933-948.

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

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

Schubert, T. W. (2005). Your highness: Vertical positions as perceptual symbols of power. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 1–21.

Schwartz, B., Tesser, A., & Powell, E. (1982). Dominance cues in nonverbal behavior. Social Psychology Quarterly, 45, 114–120.

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

Schenkel, Rudolf. Submission: Its Features and Function in the Wolf and Dog. American Zoologist. 1967. 7(2): 319-329.

Schwartz, Barry ; Tesser, Abraham ; Powell, Evan. Dominance Cues in Nonverbal Behavior. Social Psychology Quarterly. 1982. 45(2): 114-120.

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

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

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

Tracy, J. L., & Robins, R. W. (2004). Show your pride: Evidence for a discrete emotion expression. Psychological Science, 15, 194–197.

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

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

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

For this reason, leg spreading has two very different implications for men and women. For women, opening the legs permits sexual access, whereas men’s sexuality, while it can be displayed via legs open, is not required to complete the act of sex. Given the aforementioned sexual differences between men and women, legs open is more in line with taking up space in men than it is for women. Recall that taking up space is inherent in all dominance displays. In women, leg spreading, whilst it does indeed function to take up more space, it is confounded with it as an overt sexual access display thereby rending it as less dominant and more sexual.

However, in dating, if women wish to tease men, they might permit men to see the inside of their thigh or even flash men outright by un-crossing a re-crossing the legs.

An exaggerated leg spread amplifies the meaning. So to appear highly dominant, spread the legs as wide as possible. To appear overly sexual, also spread the legs out further.

It is ill advised to for men to spread the legs in full view of more dominant people than themselves including bosses, father-in-law’s, and so forth. Leg spreading may be seen by other highly dominant men as a challenge which may invite confrontation.

Context: a) General b) Dating.

Verbal Translation: a) “I’m dominant and open at the same time so I’m spreading my legs open to put my genitals on open display for others to see and judge. I’m not ashamed.” a) “I’m careless and improper and do not hold gentleman or feminine body postures – or just don’t care how I am perceived.” a) “I’m more comfortable with my legs uncrossed than with them crossed and do not intend to send any particular signal.” b) “I’m a sexually open or liberated (or dominant) woman so I’m keeping my legs open as a sexual invitation.” b) “I’m a sexually dominant man and keep my legs open so you can admire my masculinity.”

Variant: The leg over the chair is as a particularly overt and offensive way of spreading the legs.

Cue In Action: a) He sat at the corner of the couch with his legs spread as wide as he could. Being particularly cowardly, he followed this up by holding his drink between his legs serving as a shield. b) Sharon Stone in the movie Basic Instinct sent a clear message as she slowly uncrossed and re-crossed her legs while being interrogated.

Meaning and/or Motivation: When done by men it is a dominant crotch display, and when done by women usually construed as a sexual invitation or that they have a crass attitude or are “easy.”

Other times, women spread their legs when they are either unaware that it is not socially acceptable or that they have an easy-going personality. In modern times, women have been encouraged to carry more male-like characteristics and are not scorned when they do not close their legs. This has been a recent cultural shift. Generally, as women graduate into adulthood in their late teens, they will adopt more “lady-like” postures on their own, motivated by their own instincts and tend to cross their legs or at the least keep them tightly pressed together unless relaxing in their own domain.

Legs uncrossed is a signal of openness, acceptance and signal of being easy going. This is of particular importance as it pertains to women, as it can taken as a sexual signal or invitation, making women appear easy, “loose” or at best crass or improper. Women wishing to appear dominant will find this posture comfortable, but it will be accompanied by other male typical gestures such as throwing an arm over the back of the chair to take up more space and loud boisterous behaviour.

Men, on the other hand, have the benefit of using the uncrossed legs signal for more than one reason. Men can have their legs uncrossed to display dominance and authority. This is often culturally permitted in men. In men, the meaning of the leg spread is determined by its context and the manner in which it occurs. Men in seated positions spread their legs as a dominance display as it puts the genitals out for everyone to see.

The leg spreading posture is one which is best analyzed by picturing people fully nude as it helps us visualize the image they wish to portray. While we may wish for equality between the sexes, leg spreading is one such posture that illustrates a key difference between men and women’s sexuality and dominance. While spreading the legs shows assertiveness in men, it often comes across negatively when done by sexually mature woman.

The degree to which leg spreading happens is important in both sexes. Spreading is positively correlated with dominance display. That is, the greater the leg spread, the greater is the dominance display. The legs cocked at shoulder width while seated, is comfortable and natural, even for both sexes (while wearing pants), but once the legs break that distance, the signal becomes much more overt. In other words, once the legs meet their maximum angle, it is as if the genitals are yelling at the top of their lungs through a loudspeaker begging to be noticed!

In a standing position, legs spread at or slightly beyond shoulder width signals dominance in a more acceptable way. In fact, having the legs uncrossed while standing is the most appropriate way to stand since it appears open, accepting and confident.

Cue Cluster: The leg spread is accompanied by other dominant body language such as spreading the arms out, such as on the arm of the next chair, leaning back, hands on the hips if standing and hands away from the face and not fidgeting.

Body Language Category: Arrogance or arrogant body language, Authoritative body language, Courtship displays, Confident body language, Crotch display, Dominant body language, Expansive movements, High confidence body language.

Body Language of The Head Toss

Body Language of The Head Toss

No picCue: Head Toss

Synonym(s): Flicking The Head.

Description: The head is tossed forward or backward.

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

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

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

Context: a) General, b) Dating.

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

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

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

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

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

Cue Cluster: See Meaning and Motivation for cue cluster.

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

Resources:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Body Language of The Figure Four Leg Clamp or Figure Four Leg Lock

Body Language of The Figure Four Leg Clamp or Figure Four Leg Lock

BodyLanguageProjectCom - Figure Four Leg Clamp or Figure Four Leg Lock 2Cue: Figure Four Leg Clamp or Figure Four Leg Lock

Synonym(s): Leg Clamp

Description: The figure four leg clamp is similar to the regular figure four leg cross where the ankle is pulled over the knee of the opposite leg forming the figure four position, except in this case, the arm grabs the ankle to lock it in place.

In One Sentence: The figure four leg clamp is a dominance display coupled with a locked leg indicating a rigid attitude.

How To Use it: Use the figure four to demonstrate dominance and lock your posture in place with your hand to show that you are a fortress that protects your own unique ideals. This posture is generally ill-advised, but can find its place when there is a struggle for power and you feel that your judgment is superior.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m dominant so I’m crossing my legs to expose my genitals, but I’m also stubborn so I’m making a barrier with my forearm and locking this in place to show you just how serious I am about my opinions.”

Variant: See Figure Four Seating Position (The) or The Ankle-Knee Cross.

Cue In Action: The salesman knew he wasn’t getting anywhere with the client as soon as his client’s body language changed from the European leg cross to the figure four leg cross with his arm locking the cross in place. When he began the pitch, his posture as open, he was leaning in and asking questions, but when the final bill came due, he leaned back and crossed his ankle over his knee. When the taxes where added, he grabbed his ankle and scowled. It was clear that major roadblocks would have to be overcome if they were to sign a deal.

Meaning and/or Motivation: The figure four seating position can be closed off entirely by placing each hand on the shin so as to lock the leg in place. This posture indicates that someone is extremely stubborn and most likely apt to reject opinions of others.

The leg locker is also highly opinionated in most every way and may lead you into disagreement at every turn. If selling an idea or product, it might be best to drop the pitch altogether and seek more agreeable company unless you are comfortable using extreme tact, or are skilled at building relationships quickly.

Cue Cluster: The figure four hand lock is often coupled with negative facial expressions, scowls, or frowns.

Body Language Category: Amplifier, Barriers, Body cross, Blocking or Shielding, Clenching and gripping, Closed body language, Crotch display, Defensive, Dislike (nonverbal), Doubt or disbelief body language, Negative body language.

Resources:

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

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

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

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

Balzarotti, Stefania ; Piccini, Luca ; Andreoni, Giuseppe ; Ciceri, Rita “I Know That You Know How I Feel”: Behavioral and Physiological Signals Demonstrate Emotional Attunement While Interacting with a Computer Simulating Emotional Intelligence. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2014. 38(3): 283-299.

Bartholomewn, Morgan E.; Sheri L. Johnson. Nonverbal Dominance Behavior Among Individuals at Risk for Mania. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2014. 159: 133-138.

Burgoon, J. K., Johnson, M. L., & Koch, P. T. (1998). The nature and measurement of interpersonal dominance. Communication Monographs, 65, 308–335.

Cashdan, Elizabeth. Smiles, Speech, and Body Posture: How Women and Men Display Sociometric Status and Power. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1998. 22(4): 209-228.

Carney, D. R., Hall, J. A., & LeBeau, L. S. (2005). Beliefs about the nonverbal expression of social power. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 29, 105–123.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Carney, Dana R.; Amy J.C. Cuddy; Andy J. Yap. Power Posing: Brief Nonverbal Displays Affect Neuroendocrine Levels and Risk Tolerance. Psychological Science, 2010; 21 (10): 1363-1368.

Gifford, Robert ; O’Connor, Brian. Nonverbal intimacy: Clarifying the role of seating distance and orientation. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1986 10(4): 207-214.

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

Gunderson, Virginia M. ; Lockard, Joan S. Human postural signals as intention movements to depart: African data. Animal Behaviour. 1980 28(3): 966-967.

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

Harrigan, Jinni ; Oxman, Thomas ; Rosenthal, Robert. Rapport expressed through nonverbal behavior. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1985 9(2): 95-110.

Lockard, J.S. ; Allen, D.J. ; Schiele, B.J. ; Wiemer, M.J. Human postural signals: Stance, weight-shifts and social distance as intention movements to depart. Animal Behaviour. 1978 26: 219-224.

LaFrance, M. (1979). Nonverbal synchrony and rapport: Analysis by the cross-lag panel technique. Social Psychology Quarterly, 42, 66-70.

LaFrance, M. (1982). Posture mirroring and rapport. In M. Davis (Ed.), Interaction
rhythms: Periodicity in communicative behavior (pp. 279-298).New York: Human Sciences Press.

LaFrance, M., & Broadbent, M. (1976). Group rapport: Posture sharing as a nonverbal indicator. Group and Organization Studies, 1, 328-333.

Locke, Connson C. and Cameron Anderson. The Downside of Looking Like a Leader: Leader’s Powerful Demeanor Stifles Follower Voice in Participative Decision-Making.. Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings. 2010. 8(1): 1-6.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/power-body-language-goes-far/

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mehrabian, A. (1968) Inference of attitudes from the posture, orientation, and distance of a communicator. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 32, 296–308.

Mehrabian, A. (1969). Significance of posture and position in the communication of attitude and status relationship. Psychological Bulletin, 71, 359–372.

Meier, B.P., Robinson, M.D., & Caven, A.J. (in press). Why a big mac is a good mac: Associations between affect and size. Basic and Applied Social Psychology.

Matsumura, Shuichi ; Hayden, Thomas J. When should signals of submission be given?–A game theory model. Journal of Theoretical Biology. 2006. 240(3): 425-433.

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

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

Matsumoto, D., & Willingham, B. (2006). The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat: Spontaneous expressions of medal winners of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91(3), 568–581.

Mouterde, S. C., Duganzich, D. M., Molles, L. E., Helps, S., Helps, R., & Waas, J. R. (2012). Triumph displays inform eavesdropping little blue penguins of new dominance asymmetries. Animal Behaviour, 83, 605–611.

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

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

Pitterman, Hallee ; Nowicki Jr, Stephen. A Test of the Ability to Identify Emotion in Human Standing and Sitting Postures: The Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy-2 Posture Test (DANVA2-POS). Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs. 2004. 130(2): 146-162.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Riskind, J. H., & Gotay, C. C. (1982). Physical posture: Could it have regulatory or feedback effects upon motivation and emotion? Motivation and Emotion, 6, 273–296.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sartori, Luisa ; Becchio, Cristina ; Castiello, Umberto. Cues to Intention: The Role of Movement Information. Cognition. 2011. 119(2): 242-252.

Schwartz, B., Tesser, A., & Powell, E. (1982). Dominance cues in nonverbal behavior. Social Psychology Quarterly, 45, 114–120.

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

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

Tamir, M., Robinson, M. D., Clore, G. L., Martin, L. L., & Whitaker, D. J. (2004). Are we puppets on a string? The contextual meaning of unconscious expressive cues. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 237–249.

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

Tracy, J. L., & Robins, R. W. (2004). Show your pride: Evidence for a discrete emotion expression. Psychological Science, 15, 194–197.

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

Welker, Keith M. ; Oberleitner, David E. ; Cain, Samantha ; Carré, Justin M. Upright and left out: Posture moderates the effects of social exclusion on mood and threats to basic needs. European Journal of Social Psychology. 2013 43(5): 355-361

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

Body Language of Figure Four Seating Position (The) or The Ankle-Knee Cross

Body Language of Figure Four Seating Position (The) or The Ankle-Knee Cross

BodyLanguageProjectCom - Figure Four Seating Position (The) or The Ankle-Knee Cross 1Cue: Figure Four Seating Position (The) or The Ankle-Knee Cross

Synonym(s): Ankle-Knee Cross (The)

Description: This body position occurs as one leg is bent, oriented horizontally and pulled over the opposite knee, to form the number four. The leg produces a figure four when viewed from above.

In One Sentence: The figure four leg cross is a dominant and authoritative posture meant to showcase the groin area.

How To Use it: Use the figure four leg cross to show that you are not afraid of being exposed to others but not crass enough for a full uncrossed leg posture. It is generally ill-advised for women to hold this posture as it is masculine in nature, however, in some circles, it can be seen as acceptable but only if pants are worn. It is most certainly is not advisable for women to hold the posture with skirts or dresses of any kind.

The posture finds a welcome place in business and dating where men are working to assert their dominance over others. The figure four is even acceptable amongst friends and is a more tolerated dominance display than is legs uncrossed.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m feeling good about myself. I’m dominant, authoritative, and not afraid to put my genitals on display – but not totally be spreading my legs apart – I still need a bit of a shield.”

Variant: See Figure Four Leg Clamp or Figure Four Leg Lock.

Cue In Action: People knew the guy was arrogant and smug. He’d sit there with his arms up against the back of his head ‘hooding’, with his legs cross ankle over knee leaning backward in his chair. Even when the boss was around, he wouldn’t drop the posture.

Meaning and/or Motivation: It is more or less an open posture and should be taken as a mild version of the crotch display since the legs are open. This posture is milder because it doesn’t fully expose the crotch since one leg partially blocks the genitals from view.

Women aren’t normally seen in this posture, but since wearing pants have become more popular recently, it does tend to happen more often than it has in the recent past. When performed by women, it is as an attempt to be one of the boys. The figure four tells us that a person is relaxed and youthful, (mature gentlemen are seen with a full leg cross, or European Leg Cross where the legs end up parallel to one another) and dominant.

Cue Cluster: The figure four leg cross can be accompanied by the hooding posture or the leg clamp by placing the hand on the ankle or shin to show even more stubbornness.

Body Language Category: Arrogance or arrogant body language, Authoritative body language, Body cross, Blocking or Shielding, Confident body language, Dominant body language, Expansive movements, Open body language, Crotch display.

Resources:

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

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

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

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

Balzarotti, Stefania ; Piccini, Luca ; Andreoni, Giuseppe ; Ciceri, Rita “I Know That You Know How I Feel”: Behavioral and Physiological Signals Demonstrate Emotional Attunement While Interacting with a Computer Simulating Emotional Intelligence. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2014. 38(3): 283-299.

Bartholomewn, Morgan E.; Sheri L. Johnson. Nonverbal Dominance Behavior Among Individuals at Risk for Mania. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2014. 159: 133-138.

Burgoon, J. K., Johnson, M. L., & Koch, P. T. (1998). The nature and measurement of interpersonal dominance. Communication Monographs, 65, 308–335.

Carney, D. R., Hall, J. A., & LeBeau, L. S. (2005). Beliefs about the nonverbal expression of social power. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 29, 105–123.

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

Cashdan, Elizabeth. Smiles, Speech, and Body Posture: How Women and Men Display Sociometric Status and Power. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1998. 22(4): 209-228.

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

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

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

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

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

Carney, Dana R.; Amy J.C. Cuddy; Andy J. Yap. Power Posing: Brief Nonverbal Displays Affect Neuroendocrine Levels and Risk Tolerance. Psychological Science, 2010; 21 (10): 1363-1368.

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

Gifford, Robert ; O’Connor, Brian. Nonverbal intimacy: Clarifying the role of seating distance and orientation. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1986 10(4): 207-214.

Gunderson, Virginia M. ; Lockard, Joan S. Human postural signals as intention movements to depart: African data. Animal Behaviour. 1980 28(3): 966-967.

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

Harrigan, Jinni ; Oxman, Thomas ; Rosenthal, Robert. Rapport expressed through nonverbal behavior. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1985 9(2): 95-110.

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

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

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

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

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

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

LaFrance, M. (1979). Nonverbal synchrony and rapport: Analysis by the cross-lag panel technique. Social Psychology Quarterly, 42, 66-70.

LaFrance, M. (1982). Posture mirroring and rapport. In M. Davis (Ed.), Interaction
rhythms: Periodicity in communicative behavior (pp. 279-298).New York: Human Sciences Press.

LaFrance, M., & Broadbent, M. (1976). Group rapport: Posture sharing as a nonverbal indicator. Group and Organization Studies, 1, 328-333.

Locke, Connson C. and Cameron Anderson. The Downside of Looking Like a Leader: Leader’s Powerful Demeanor Stifles Follower Voice in Participative Decision-Making.. Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings. 2010. 8(1): 1-6.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/power-body-language-goes-far/

Lockard, J.S. ; Allen, D.J. ; Schiele, B.J. ; Wiemer, M.J. Human postural signals: Stance, weight-shifts and social distance as intention movements to depart. Animal Behaviour. 1978 26: 219-224.

Meier, B.P., Robinson, M.D., & Caven, A.J. (in press). Why a big mac is a good mac: Associations between affect and size. Basic and Applied Social Psychology.

Matsumura, Shuichi ; Hayden, Thomas J. When should signals of submission be given?–A game theory model. Journal of Theoretical Biology. 2006. 240(3): 425-433.

Mehrabian, A. (1968) Inference of attitudes from the posture, orientation, and distance of a communicator. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 32, 296–308.

Mehrabian, A. (1969). Significance of posture and position in the communication of attitude and status relationship. Psychological Bulletin, 71, 359–372.

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

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

Matsumoto, D., & Willingham, B. (2006). The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat: Spontaneous expressions of medal winners of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91(3), 568–581.

Mouterde, S. C., Duganzich, D. M., Molles, L. E., Helps, S., Helps, R., & Waas, J. R. (2012). Triumph displays inform eavesdropping little blue penguins of new dominance asymmetries. Animal Behaviour, 83, 605–611.

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

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

Pitterman, Hallee ; Nowicki Jr, Stephen. A Test of the Ability to Identify Emotion in Human Standing and Sitting Postures: The Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy-2 Posture Test (DANVA2-POS). Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs. 2004. 130(2): 146-162.

Riskind, J. H., & Gotay, C. C. (1982). Physical posture: Could it have regulatory or feedback effects upon motivation and emotion? Motivation and Emotion, 6, 273–296.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sartori, Luisa ; Becchio, Cristina ; Castiello, Umberto. Cues to Intention: The Role of Movement Information. Cognition. 2011. 119(2): 242-252.

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

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

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

Schwartz, B., Tesser, A., & Powell, E. (1982). Dominance cues in nonverbal behavior. Social Psychology Quarterly, 45, 114–120.

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

Tamir, M., Robinson, M. D., Clore, G. L., Martin, L. L., & Whitaker, D. J. (2004). Are we puppets on a string? The contextual meaning of unconscious expressive cues. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 237–249.

Tracy, J. L., & Robins, R. W. (2004). Show your pride: Evidence for a discrete emotion expression. Psychological Science, 15, 194–197.

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

Welker, Keith M. ; Oberleitner, David E. ; Cain, Samantha ; Carré, Justin M. Upright and left out: Posture moderates the effects of social exclusion on mood and threats to basic needs. European Journal of Social Psychology. 2013 43(5): 355-361

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

Body Language of The Dominant Stance

Body Language of The Dominant Stance

BodyLanguageProjectCom - Dominant Male Stance (The) 1Cue: Dominant Stance (The)

Synonym(s): N/A

Description: A stance where the feet lie flat on the ground, weight is across both feet, the arms are placed to the side rather than in pockets and hands do not prop up against a wall or table. The hips are forced forward slight, with the legs just wider than shoulder width.

In One Sentence: Standing with the feet even and stable shows others that one is in control of one’s body and prepared to stand one’s ground.

How To Use it: Use the dominant stance to show other that you are ready for action and also ready to stand your ground. A wide base shows others that you are confident. The cue is useful in many situations so as when pitching ideas in business, or for men, in dating, when trying to seduce. Those in charge of groups of people including various leaders should use a dominant stance nearly all of the time. This will help them gain and hold authority.

Context: General

Verbal Translation: “I’m right here, proud and confident. I don’t need to lean against anything and I can stand alone. I’ve got my feet firmly planted on the ground and my legs are wide enough to ‘show off my junk’ (genitals) and form a wide base.”

Variant: Related to Arms Akimbo, Cowboy Pose Stance, Broadside Display or Chest Protrusion.

Cue In Action: While presenting to the audience, Dave commanded respect by taking up lots of room and using his arms freely. When he wasn’t on the stage, he often stood at ease with his legs apart, flat and even across his feet. He appeared to be confident and in control.

Meaning and/or Motivation: The dominant stance is one that depicts confidence and authority.

Cue Cluster: The dominant stance can be coupled with expansive movements such as arms gesticulating, arms over the back of a chair, or out and relaxed, shoulders up and back, head held high, arms out and relaxed, legs apart. The greater the area the body takes up, the more dominant the body language.

Body Language Category: Authoritative body language, Crotch display, Dominant body language, Leadership body language, Relaxed body language.

Resources:

Atkinson A, Dittrich W, Gemmell A, Young A. Emotion perception from dynamic and static body expressions in point-light and full-light displays. Perception 2004;33:717–46.

Aviezer H, Trope Y, Todorov A. Body cues, not facial expressions, discriminate between intense positive and negative emotions. Science 2012;338:1225–9.

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

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

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

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

Boyson, A. R., Pryor, B., & Butler, J. (1999). Height as power in women. North American Journal of Psychology, 1, 109–114.

Burgoon, J. K., & Hoobler, G. (2002). Nonverbal signals. In M. L. Knapp & J. A. Daly (Eds.), Handbook of interpersonal communication (3rd ed., pp. 240–299). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Burgoon, J. K., Johnson, M. L., & Koch, P. T. (1998). The nature and measurement of interpersonal dominance. Communication Monographs, 65, 308–335.

Bartholomewn, Morgan E.; Sheri L. Johnson. Nonverbal Dominance Behavior Among
Individuals at Risk for Mania. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2014. 159: 133-138.
Brandt, David R. 1980. A systemic approach to the measurement of dominance in human face-to-face interaction Source: Communication quarterly. 28 (1):31-43.

Brown, Clifford E.; Dovidio, John F.; Ellyson, Steve L. 1990. Reducing Sex Differences in Visual Displays of Dominance: Knowledge is Power. Personality And Social Psychology Bulletin. 16(2): 358-368.

Bertamini, Marco ; Byrne, Christopher ; Bennett, Kate M. Attractiveness is influenced by the relationship between postures of the viewer and the viewed person. i-Perception. 2013. 4(3): 170-179.

Blidstein, Gerald J. The Nonverbal Language of Prayer (review).Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies. 2007 25(2): 195-196.

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

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

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

Cunha, U. ; Leduc, M. ; Nayak, U.S.L. ; Isaacs, B.. Why do old people stoop? Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics. 1987 6(4): 363-369.

Cashdan, Elizabeth. Smiles, Speech, and Body Posture: How Women and Men Display Sociometric Status and Power. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1998. 22(4): 209-228.

Carney, D. R., Hall, J. A., & LeBeau, L. S. (2005). Beliefs about the nonverbal expression of social power. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 29, 105–123.

Dunn, Cynthia Dickel. Speaking politely, kindly, and beautifully: ideologies of politeness in Japanese business etiquette training. Multilingua: Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage Communication. 2013. 32(2): 225(21).

Dovidio JF, Ellyson SL, Keating CF, Heltman K, Brown CE. 1988. The relationship of social power to visual displays of dominance between men and women. Source: Journal of personality and social psychology. 54: 233-42.

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

Ellis, L. (1994). The high and the mighty among man and beast: How universal is the relationship between height (or body size) and social status? In L. Ellis (Ed.). Social stratification and socioeconomic inequality (Vol. 2, pp. 93–111). Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.

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

Glenn E. Weisfeld and Jody M. Beresford. 1982. Erectness of posture as an indicator of dominance or success in humans. Motivation and Emotion. 6(2):113 -131.

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

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.

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

Hall, Judith ; LeBeau, Lavonia ; Reinoso, Jeannette ; Thayer, Frank. Status, Gender, and Nonverbal Behavior in Candid and Posed Photographs: A Study of Conversations Between University Employees. Sex Roles. 2001 44(11): 677-692.

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

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

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

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

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

Mondloch, Catherine J. Sad or Fearful? The Influence of Body Posture on Adults’ and Children’s Perception of Facial Displays of Emotion. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. 2012. 111(2): 180-196.

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

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

Matsumoto, D., & Willingham, B. (2006). The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat: Spontaneous expressions of medal winners of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91(3), 568–581.

Mouterde, S. C., Duganzich, D. M., Molles, L. E., Helps, S., Helps, R., & Waas, J. R. (2012). Triumph displays inform eavesdropping little blue penguins of new dominance asymmetries. Animal Behaviour, 83, 605–611.

Meier, B. P., Hauser, D. J., Robinson, M. D., Friesen, C. K., & Schjeldahl, K. (2007b). What’s ‘up’ with God?: Vertical space as a representation of the divine. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93, 699–710.

Meier, B. P., & Robinson, M. D. (2004). Why the sunny side is up: Associations between affect and vertical position. Psychological Science, 15, 243–247.

Meier, B. P., & Robinson, M. D. (2005). The metaphorical representation of affect. Metaphor and Symbol, 21, 239–257.

Meier, B.P., Robinson, M.D., & Caven, A.J. (in press). Why a big mac is a good mac: Associations between affect and size. Basic and Applied Social Psychology.

Melamed, T. (1992). Personality correlates of physical height. Personality and Individual Differences, 13, 1349–1350.

Middleton, W. C., &Moffett, D. C. (1940). The relation of height and weight measurements to intelligence and to dominance-submission among a group of college freshmen. Research Quarterly of the American Association for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, 11, 53–59.

Montepare, J. M. (1995). The impact of variations in height on young children’s impressions of men and women. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 19, 31–47.

Matsumura, Shuichi ; Hayden, Thomas J. When should signals of submission be given?–A game theory model. Journal of Theoretical Biology. 2006. 240(3): 425-433.

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

Prieto, A. G., & Robbins, M. C. (1975). Perceptions of height and self-esteem. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 40, 395–398.

Pitterman, Hallee ; Nowicki Jr, Stephen. A Test of the Ability to Identify Emotion in Human Standing and Sitting Postures: The Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy-2 Posture Test (DANVA2-POS). Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs. 2004. 130(2): 146-162.

Rule, Nicholas, O.; Reginald B. Adams Jr.; Nalini Ambady and Jonathan B. Freeman. Perceptions Of Dominance Following Glimpses Of Faces And Bodies. Perception. 2012; 41: 687-706 doi:10.1068/p7023
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/people-can-read-dominance-split-second

Robinson, Michael D. ; Zabelina, Darya L. ; Ode, Scott ; Moeller, Sara K. The vertical nature of dominance-submission: Individual differences in vertical attention. Journal of Research in Personality. 2008. 42(4): 933-948.

Riskind, John H. Manis, Melvin (editor). They stoop to conquer: Guiding and self-regulatory functions of physical posture after success and failure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1984 47(3): 479-493.

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

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

Roberts, Tomi-Ann and Yousef Arefi-Afshar. Not All Who Stand Tall Are Proud: Gender Differences in the Proprioceptive Effects of Upright Posture. Cognition and Emtion. 2007. 21(4):714-727.

Ranehill, Eva; Anna Dreber; Magnus Johannesson; Susanne Leiberg; Sunhae Sul and Roberto A. Weber. Assessing the Robustness of Power Posing: No Effect on Hormones and Risk Tolerance in a Large Sample of Men and Women. Psychological Science, March, 2015. doi: 10.1177/0956797614553946
http://pss.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/03/30/0956797614553946.full.pdf

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

Schubert, T. W. (2005). Your highness: Vertical positions as perceptual symbols of power. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 1–21.

Schwartz, B., Tesser, A., & Powell, E. (1982). Dominance cues in nonverbal behavior. Social Psychology Quarterly, 45, 114–120.

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

Schenkel, Rudolf. Submission: Its Features and Function in the Wolf and Dog. American Zoologist. 1967. 7(2): 319-329.

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

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

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

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

Tracy, J. L., & Matsumoto, D. (2008). The spontaneous expression of pride and shame: Evidence for biologically innate nonverbal displays. Proceedings from the National Academy of Sciences, 105(33), 11655–11660.

Tracy, J. L., & Robins, R. W. (2007). The prototypical pride expression: Development of a nonverbal behavior coding system. Emotion, 7(4), 789–801.

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

Tiedens, Larissa Z ; Fragale, Alison R. Power moves: complementarity in dominant and submissive nonverbal behavior. Journal of personality and social psychology. 2003. 84(3): 558-68.

Tracy, J. L., & Robins, R. W. (2004). Show your pride: Evidence for a discrete emotion expression. Psychological Science, 15, 194–197.

Locke, Connson C. and Cameron Anderson. The Downside of Looking Like a Leader: Leader’s Powerful Demeanor Stifles Follower Voice in Participative Decision-Making.. Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings. 2010. 8(1): 1-6.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/power-body-language-goes-far/

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.

Welker, Keith M. ; Oberleitner, David E. ; Cain, Samantha ; Carré, Justin M. Upright and left out: Posture moderates the effects of social exclusion on mood and threats to basic needs. European Journal of Social Psychology. 2013 43(5): 355-361.

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.

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

Body Language Of The Cowboy Pose Stance

Body Language Of The Cowboy Pose Stance

BodyLanguageProjectCom - Cowboy Pose Stance 2Cue: The Cowboy Pose Stance

Synonym(s): Male Crotch Display (The), The Standing Crotch Display, Thumbs In Belt Loops, Framing The Genitals.

Description: This posture happens by placing the thumbs in the waistband/belt/belt loops with the remaining fingers pointed downwards towards the crotch.

In One Sentence: Placing the hands in the loops of the belt is a dominance display serving to draw attention to the groin area.

How To Use it: Use this posture to show that you are in control and are self-assured. While the cue is generally permissible for men, it should be used cautiously by women. While men derive much of their power from their genitals, it can appear overly crass when done by women. However, in recent times, the gesture has been more acceptable for women of the West.

If women should wish to adopt a ‘near-posture’ they should consider aiming their fingers backwards such that they point to their buttocks, thus drawing attention backwards. When done facing children, it will have the affect of appearing dominant, but inquisitive.

Men can boost their dominance further by propping up their leg on the cross-brace of a chair. This puts their genitals on full display.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m dominant and in charge and to prove that I’m going to lock my thumbs in my belt loops with the rest of my fingers pointed toward my genitals – notice them!” “There are issues here”, “Things are not right”, “I’m standing my ground” or “I’m a virile male so check me out!”

Variant: See Arms Akimbo, Leg Spreading.

Cue In Action: While standing at the bar he put his fingers into his belt loops and faced away from the bar. He was sending a broadcast signal to the room hoping to attract some sexual attention.

Meaning and/or Motivation: The cowboy pose was popularized by old western movies. Cowboys would use a combination of this posture and the hands on hips (or arms akimbo) to show how macho they were. Because it draws attention to the crotch, it is infrequently used by women.

When women are seen holding the posture they will hold their hands on their hips and point their fingers to their buttocks rather than to their genitals. Pointing therefore, puts emphasis on our best assets while we state our case. Fingers pointed backwards as women do, is perceived as more of an inquisitive posture than an authoritarian one. It also draws less attention to the genital area which is not normally associated with a source of power and dominance.

A second version of the crotch display is to keep the legs spread open where the hand may be found on the inside of the thigh in a “ready position” or propped up on a knee (The Captain Morgan). These signals are less of a sexual invitation than they are signal of their dominance over others in the room, which in and of itself, makes them appear more attractive to women.

Cue Cluster: The cowboy pose is accompanied by head held high, rigid posture, a stern or confident face, reduced gesticulation, legs spread at or wider than shoulder width and other confident indicators.

Body Language Category: Courtship displays, Confident, Crotch display, Dominant body language, Expansive movements, High confidence body language, Indicators of sexual interest (IOsI), Open body language.

Resources:

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

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

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

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

Bartholomewn, Morgan E.; Sheri L. Johnson. Nonverbal Dominance Behavior Among Individuals at Risk for Mania. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2014. 159: 133-138.

Cashdan, Elizabeth. Smiles, Speech, and Body Posture: How Women and Men Display Sociometric Status and Power. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1998. 22(4): 209-228.

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

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

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

Cuddy, A. J. C., Wilmuth, C., Yap, A. J., & Carney, D. R. (in press). Preparatory power posing affects nonverbal presence and job interview performance. Journal of Applied Psychology.

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

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

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

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

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/

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rule, Nicholas, O.; Reginald B. Adams Jr.; Nalini Ambady and Jonathan B. Freeman. Perceptions Of Dominance Following Glimpses Of Faces And Bodies. Perception. 2012; 41: 687-706 doi:10.1068/p7023
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/people-can-read-dominance-split-second

Ranehill, Eva; Anna Dreber; Magnus Johannesson; Susanne Leiberg; Sunhae Sul and Roberto A. Weber. Assessing the Robustness of Power Posing: No Effect on Hormones and Risk Tolerance in a Large Sample of Men and Women. Psychological Science, March, 2015. doi: 10.1177/0956797614553946
http://pss.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/03/30/0956797614553946.full.pdf
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/power-posing-no-effect-hormones-amy-cuddy-wrong/

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Locke, Connson C. and Cameron Anderson. The Downside of Looking Like a Leader: Leader’s Powerful Demeanor Stifles Follower Voice in Participative Decision-Making.. Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings. 2010. 8(1): 1-6.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/power-body-language-goes-far/

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

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

Body Language of The Chair Straddler or Seat Straddling

Body Language of The Chair Straddler or Seat Straddling

BodyLanguageProjectCom - Chair StraddlingCue: Chair Straddling

Synonym(s): Seat Straddling

Description: A sitting posture where a person sits on a chair backwards with their legs spread wide open and the forearms rested on the back of the chair.

In One Sentence: The chair straddler is perceived as cowardly as his genitals are on display, but he hides behind the shield of the chair.

How To Use it: Use this posture to appear timid and cowardly, but also dominant and aggressive. In other words, its use is limited to appearing socially awkward. Perhaps its use is best left to television characters trying to appear socially challenged.

Context: General

Verbal Translation: “I’m going to spread my legs behind this protective barrier showing myself to be dominant, authoritative and yes cowardly at the same time.”

Variant: See Leg Spreading.

Cue In Action: Charles made himself comfortable by pulling up a chair from another table, turning it around and sitting in it. His folded arms were placed on the back of the chair and his legs spread wide open facing everyone else.

Meaning and/or Motivation: A dominant body position where the back of the chair is utilized as a barrier or shield to separate the individual from others. So while leg spreading appears dominant since the genitals are fully exposed, the back of the chair acts like a shield making the chair straddler appear cowardly. Chair straddlers are people who wish to remain protected while interacting with others.

If the straddler is the type who habitually tosses figurative spears or flings arrows from behind his barrier, then he may be read as insecure and lacking in confidence. The chair straddler might defend his seating style by saying “it’s comfortable,” but the body language reader should ask himself “what it is about the posture, that makes the straddler feel so comfortable?”

Cue Cluster: The arms are usually folded across the back of the chair coupled with a crooked smile, leaning in to invade space, and a boisterous attitude.

Body Language Category: Dominant body language, Arrogance or arrogant body language, Aggressive body language, Barriers, Defensive, Low confidence body language, Expansive movements, Threat displays, Crotch Display.

Resources:

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

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

Balzarotti, Stefania ; Piccini, Luca ; Andreoni, Giuseppe ; Ciceri, Rita “I Know That You Know How I Feel”: Behavioral and Physiological Signals Demonstrate Emotional Attunement While Interacting with a Computer Simulating Emotional Intelligence. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2014. 38(3): 283-299.

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

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.

Boucher, Michael L. Holzberg, Jules D. (editor). Effect of seating distance on interpersonal attraction in an interview situation. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 1972 38(1): 15-19.

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

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

Bernstein, Constance. Winning trials nonverbally: six ways to establish control in the courtroom. Trial. 1994. 30(1).61(5).

Brownell, Judi. Communicating with credibility: The gender gap. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly. 1993. 34(2): 52-61.

Beaulieu, Catherine. Intercultural Study of Personal Space: A Case Study. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 2004 34(4):794-805.

Cacioppo, J. T., Priester, J. R., & Berntson, G. G. (1993). Rudimentary determinants of attitudes: II. Arm flexion and extension have differential effects on attitudes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 5–17.

Cashdan, Elizabeth. Smiles, Speech, and Body Posture: How Women and Men Display Sociometric Status and Power. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1998. 22(4): 209-228.

Cuddy, Amy J.C. ; Glick, Peter ; Beninger, Anna. The dynamics of warmth and competence judgments, and their outcomes in organizations. Research in Organizational Behavior. 2011. 31: 73-98.

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

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

Cuddy, A. J. C., Wilmuth, C., Yap, A. J., & Carney, D. R. (in press). Preparatory power posing affects nonverbal presence and job interview performance. Journal of Applied Psychology.

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

Coutts, Larrym. ; Ledden, Maribeth. Nonverbal Compensatory Reactions to Changes in Interpersonal Proximity. The Journal of Social Psychology. 1977 102(2): 283-290.

Desteno, David ; Breazeal, Cynthia ; Frank, Robert H ; Pizarro, David ; Baumann, Jolie ; Dickens, Leah ; Lee, Jin Joo. Detecting the Trustworthiness of Novel Partners in Economic Exchange. Psychological Science. 2012. 23(12): 1549-1556.

Dolphin, Carol Zinner. Beyond hall: Variables in the use of personal space in intercultural transactions. Howard Journal of Communications. 1988. 1(1): 23-38.

Edinger, Joyce A. ; Patterson, Miles L. Zeaman, David (editor). Nonverbal involvement and social control. Psychological Bulletin. 1983. 93(1): 30-56.

Fatt, James P. T. It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.(nonverbal communication). Communication World. 1999. 16(6): 37(4).

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

Friedman, R. S., & Fo¨rster, J. (2000). The effects of approach and avoidance motor actions on the elements of creative insight. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 477–492.

Gifford, Robert ; O’Connor, Brian. Nonverbal intimacy: Clarifying the role of seating distance and orientation. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1986 10(4): 207-214.

Gardin, Hershel ; Kaplan, Kalman J. ; Firestone, Ira J. ; Cowan, Gloria A. Lanzetta, John T. (editor). Proxemic effects on cooperation, attitude, and approach-avoidance in a Prisoner’s Dilemma game. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1973. 27(1): 13-18.

Graziano, Michael S.A. and Cooke, Dylan F. Parieto-frontal interactions, personal space, and defensive behavior. Neuropsychologia. 2006. 44(6): 845-859.

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

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

Greenberg, Carl I. ; Firestone, Ira J. Greenwald, Anthony G. (editor). Compensatory responses to crowding: Effects of personal space intrusion and privacy reduction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1977. 35(9): 637-644.

Graziano, Michael S.A. and Cooke, Dylan F. Parieto-frontal interactions, personal space, and defensive behavior. Neuropsychologia. 2006. 44(6): 845-859.

Haase, Richard F. ; Dimattia, Dominic J. Berdie, Ralph F. (editor). Proxemic behavior: Counselor, administrator, and client preference for seating arrangement in dyadic interaction. Journal of Counseling Psychology. 1970 17(4): 319-325.

Holt, Daphne J ; Cassidy, Brittany S ; Yue, Xiaomin ; Rauch, Scott L ; Boeke, Emily A ; Nasr, Shahin ; Tootell, Roger B H ; Coombs, Garth. Neural correlates of personal space intrusion. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. 2014. 34(12): 4123-34.

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

Koppensteiner, Markus ; Grammer, Karl. Body movements of male and female speakers and their influence on perceptions of personality. Personality and Individual Differences. 2011. 51(6): 743-747.

Koppensteiner, Markus ; Stephan, Pia ; Jäschke, Johannes Paul Michael. From body motion to cheers: Speakers’ body movements as predictors of applause. Personality and Individual Differences. 2015. 74: 182-185.

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/

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

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

Leigh, Thomas W. ; Summers, John O. An initial evaluation of industrial buyers’ impressions of salespersons’ nonverbal cues. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management. 2002. 22(1): 41(13).

Mehrabian, Albert ; Williams, Martin Mcguire, William J. (editor). Nonverbal concomitants of perceived and intended persuasiveness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1969. 13(1): 37-58.

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

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

Mcelroy, James C. ; Morrow, Paula C. Personal space, personal appearance, and personal selling. Psychological Reports. 1994 74(2): 425(2).

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

Neumann, R., & Strack, F. (2000). Approach and avoidance: The influence of proprioceptive and exteroceptive cues on encoding of affective information. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 39–48.

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

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

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

Roll, William V. ; Schmidt, Lyle D. ; Kaul, Theodore J. Berdie, Ralph F. (editor). Perceived interviewer trustworthiness among black and white convicts. Journal of Counseling Psychology. 1972. 19(6): 537-541.

Ryan, Mary E. Good nonverbal communication skills can reduce stress. (Law Office Management). Trial. 1995. 31(1): 70(5).

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

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

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

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

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

Sharpley, Christopher F ; Halat, Jennifer ; Rabinowicz, Tammy ; Weiland, Birgit ; Stafford, Jane. Standard posture, postural mirroring and client-perceived rapport. Counselling Psychology Quarterly. 2001. 14(4): 267-280.

Scherer, S. E., & Schiff, M. R. Perceived intimacy, physical distance, and eye contact. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1973, 36, 835-841.

Scott, J. A. Comfort and seating distance in living rooms: The relationship of interactants and topic of conversation. Environment and Behavior, 1984, 16, 35-54.

Sommer, R. Studies in personal space. Sociometry, 1959, 22,247-260.

Sommer, R. The distance for comfortable conversation: A further study. Sociometry, 1962, 25, 111-116.

Sommer, R. Personal space: The behavioral basis of design. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. 1969.

Tamir, M., Robinson, M. D., Clore, G. L., Martin, L. L., & Whitaker, D. J. (2004). Are we puppets on a string? The contextual meaning of unconscious expressive cues. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 237–249.

Tiedens, L. Z., & Fragale, A. R. (2003). Power moves: Complementarity in dominant and submissive nonverbal behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 558–568.

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

Werner, Carol ; Brown, Barbara ; Damron, Gary Steiner, Ivan D. (editor). Territorial marking in a game arcade. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1981. 41(6): 1094-1104.

Weiss, M., & Keys, C. The influence of proxemic variables on dyadic interaction between peers. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Association; Chicago, 1975, August.

Yuksel, Atila. Nonverbal Service Behavior and Customer’s Affective Assessment. Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism. 2008. 9(1): 57-77.

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