Category: Indicator of interest (IoI)

Attentive body language, Confident body language, Eye Language, Indicator of interest (IoI), Liking

Body Language of Friendly Social Gaze

by Chris • October 22, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Friendly Social Gaze

Cue: Friendly Social Gaze

Synonym(s): Friendly Eye Contact.

Description: In the friendly gaze, the eyes travel in a triangular pattern from eye-to-eye then to the mouth with some infrequent looks to the rest of the body.

In One Sentence: The friendly social gaze is a nonverbal eye pattern signally a platonic relationship.

How To Use it: To use the friendly gaze, keep the eyes moving about the face with rare glances to the rest of the body. Unlike the business gaze, it is permissible to drop the eyes to the rest of the body, but not to focus on sexual aspects such as breasts, chests, shoulders (in men), and genitals/buttocks. Use the friendly gaze when you want to be clear about a lack of sexual interest. This is especially important to married men and women, whom do not wish to send the wrong impression. In other words, those already in relationships should avoid any other type of eye gaze pattern (besides the business eye gaze pattern) or it may demonstrate unwanted insinuations and therefore may lead to unwanted results.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “We’re friends and I show this to you by not looking at your sexual parts, although I do infrequently inspect the rest of your body (to size you up). However, I do spend most of the time looking at your face to judge your reactions and emotions.”

Variant: See Gazing Adoringly, Gaze Omission, Eye Aversion, Gaze Avoidance and Wandering Eyes.

Cue In Action: During coffee, Dave and Jill engaged in a long conversation about computer programming never once checking each other out below the chin.

Meaning and/or Motivation: When friends talk to one another they aren’t trying to peer into their souls, rather, they gaze.

The gaze is non-threatening and like the intimate gaze, the eyes travel over the face in a specific pattern. The reason we cast our eyes infrequently over other parts of the body in the friendly gaze is simply due to the reason that it is of less interest and of less value in friendship. This is just the opposite of that which happens in the intimate gaze.

With friends, gaze is brief, lasting only about three seconds followed by looking away.

The research tells us that about seventy-five percent of the time eyes travel through the triangular pattern from the eyes to the mouth, ten percent of the time is spent on forays to the forehead and hair, and five percent to the chin, with the remaining time split on various other features.

After a period of gaze or mutual eye-contact both people will avert their eyes downward instead of left, right or upward. Looking down, on the other hand is a symbol of submission whereas looking left or right can imply disinterest (or interest in something else), or a desire to withdraw from the conversation.

Cue Cluster: N/A

Body Language Category: Attentive, Confident body language, Eye Language, Indicator of interest (IoI), Liking.

Resources:

Argyle, Michael; Lefebvre, Luc; Cook, Mark 1974. The meaning of five patterns of gaze. European Journal of Social Psychology. 4(2): 125-136.

Argyle, M., and Ingham, R. 1972. Gaze, mutual gaze, and proximity. Semiotica, 1, 32–49.

Argyle, M. and Cook, M. Gaze and Mutual Gaze. London: Cambridge University Press, 1976.

Allan Mazur; Eugene Rosa; Mark Faupel; Joshua Heller; Russell Leen; Blake Thurman. Physiological Aspects of Communication Via Mutual Gaze. The American Journal of Sociology. 1980; 86(1): 50-74.

Breed, G., Christiansen, E., & Larson, D. 1972. Effect of lecturer’s gaze direction upon
teaching effectiveness. Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 2: 115.

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

Foddy, Margaret 1978. Patterns of Gaze in Cooperative and Competitive Negotiation
Human Relations. 31(11):925-938.

Kellerman. 1989. Looking and loving: The effects of mutual gaze on feelings of romantic love. Journal of Research in Personality. 23(2): 145-161.

Kendon, A. Some Functions of Gaze Direction in Social Interaction. Acta Psychologica. 1967. 32: 1-25.

Kleinke, C. L. 1980. Interaction between gaze and legitimacy of request on compliance in a field setting. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior 5(1): 3-12.

Leeb. 2004. Here’s Looking at You, Kid! A Longitudinal Study of Perceived Gender Differences in Mutual Gaze Behavior in Young Infants Source: Sex Roles. 50(1-2): 1-14.

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

McAndrew. 1986. Arousal seeking and the maintenance of mutual gaze in same and mixed sex dyads Source: Journal of nonverbal behavior. 10(3):168-172.

Mulac, A., Studley, L., Wiemann, J., & Bradac, J. 1987. Male/female gaze in same-sex
and mixed-sex dyads. Human Communication Research. 13: 323-343.

Natale, Michael. 1976. A Markovian model of adult gaze behavior. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research. 5(1): 53-63.

Phelps, F., Doherty-Sneddon, G., & Warnock Educational Psychology., 27, 91-107. (2006). Functional benefits of children’s gaze aversion during questioning. British Journal Developmental Psychology. 24: 577-588.

Rosenfeld, H., Breck, B., Smith, S., & Kehoe, S. 1984. Intimacy-mediators of the proximity-gaze compensation effect: Movement, conversational role, acquaintance, and gender. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 8: 235-249.

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

*No Photo, Attentive body language, Confident body language, Disengagement body language, Eye Language, Indicator of interest (IoI), Indicators of disinterest (IOD), Threat displays

Body Language of Eye Blinking (Less)

by Chris • October 21, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Eye Blinking (Less)

Cue: Eye Blinking (Less)

Synonym(s): N/A

Description: When the eyes blink less than normal.

In One Sentence: When eyes blink less often than normal, it signals boredom, hostility (staring), or indifference.”

How To Use it: When trying to relax, allow the focus of the eyes to relax.

Conversely, when trying to intimidate another person, persistent, non-blinking eye contact can signal aggression. Use less blinking to show that another person has become an object to you. To be turned into an object is the ultimate insult. Use “staring contests” to test your ability to dominate other people. You may find that more submissive people tend to hold less unblinking eye contact or, in other words, are the first to look away or blink.

In a dating context, less eye contact is called “gazing.” It is a much softer, more relaxed version of eye contact. This should be used to create bonding and intimacy.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m bored, falling asleep, feeling hostile, or indifferent to you so my eyes lack any character of engagement.”

Variant: See Eye Blinking (Rapid), Staring or The Evil Eye.

Cue In Action: His wife began retelling an office gossip story for the third time, his eyes glazed over and he took on a zombie state.

Meaning and/or Motivation: When eyes blink less rapidly or seem to not blink at all, it is due to a zoning out (boredom) or due to anger or hostility, as in staring. Reduced eye blinking can also signify indifference and in some circumstances even confidence. We see this in stare-down competitions where the last person to blink is the victor in the dominance competition.

It has been shown that people with confidence tend to establish more eye contact and hold it longer than normal. Eyes that blink less can also show interest and intensity, but also piercing and assault. When the eyes blink less the eye can blur due to dryness so eyes that blink less are eyes that aren’t interested in seeing due to a lack of emotion.

Cue Cluster: When eyes depict boredom they tend to defocus as well as blink less frequently. The eyes will seem to look through people and there will be no agreement indicators such as head nods and “mhmms” and “yeses.” When eyes blink less due to anger, they will be piercing and follow a target intensely with the eyelids squinting rather than relax with open facial expressions. When eye contact is due to confidence we expect the head to nod, that conversation will be flowing, and that the head will be tilted to the side.

Body Language Category: Attentive, Boredom, Confident body language, Disengagement, Eye Language, Indicators of disinterest (IOD), Indicator of interest (IoI), Threat displays.

Resources:

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

Brefczynski-Lewis, Julie A ; Berrebi, Michael E ; Mcneely, Marie E ; Prostko, Amy L ; Puce, Aina. In the Blink of an Eye: Neural Responses Elicited to Viewing the Eye Blinks of Another Individual. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. 2011 5.

Condon, William, and W. Ogston (1967). “A Segmentation of Behavior.” In Journal of Psychiatric Research (Vol. 5), pp. 221-35.

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

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

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

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/

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

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

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

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

Kanfer, F. (1960). “Verbal Rate, Eyeblink, and Content in Structured Psychiatric Interviews.” In Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology (Vol. 61, No. 3), pp. 341-47.

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

Mann, Samantha ; Ewens, Sarah ; Shaw, Dominic ; Vrij, Aldert ; Leal, Sharon ; Hillman, Jackie. Lying Eyes: Why Liars Seek Deliberate Eye Contact. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law. 2013. 20(3): 452-461.

Mann, Samantha ; Ewens, Sarah ; Shaw, Dominic ; Vrij, Aldert ; Leal, Sharon ; Hillman, Jackie. Eye contact while lying during an interview. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society. 1976. 7(1): 87-89.

Mann, Samantha ; Ewens, Sarah ; Shaw, Dominic ; Vrij, Aldert ; Leal, Sharon ; Hillman, Jackie. Children’s Knowledge of Deceptive Gaze Cues and Its Relation to Their Actual Lying Behavior. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. 2009. 103(2): 117-134.

Mann, Samantha ; Ewens, Sarah ; Shaw, Dominic ; Vrij, Aldert ; Leal, Sharon ; Hillman, Jackie. The Lying Chicken and the Gaze Avoidant Egg: Eye Contact, Deception, and Causal Order. Southern Communication Journal. 2006. 71(4): 401-411.

Mann, Samantha ; Ewens, Sarah ; Shaw, Dominic ; Vrij, Aldert ; Leal, Sharon ; Hillman, Jackie. Tell-tale eyes: children’s attribution of gaze aversion as a lying cue.(Author abstract). Developmental Psychology. 2008. 44(6): 1655(13).

Mann, Samantha ; Ewens, Sarah ; Shaw, Dominic ; Vrij, Aldert ; Leal, Sharon ; Hillman, Jackie. ‘Look into my eyes’: can an instruction to maintain eye contact facilitate lie detection? Psychology Crime & Law. 2010. 16(4): 327-348.

Mann, Samantha ; Ewens, Sarah ; Shaw, Dominic ; Vrij, Aldert ; Leal, Sharon ; Hillman, Jackie. Legal Interviewers Use Children’s Affect and Eye Contact Cues to Assess Credibility of Their Testimony. Early Child Development and Care. 2010. 180(3): 397-404.

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

Porter, Stephen ; Brinke, Leanne. The truth about lies: What works in detecting high‐stakes deception? Legal and Criminological Psychology. 2010. 15(1): 57-75.

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

Sugiyama, Toshiko ; Watanabe, Ikue ; Tada, Hideoki. Effects of position and task demands on endogenous eyeblink.(Learning & Memory). Perceptual and Motor Skills. 2013. 116(2): 406(9).

Tada, H ; Yamada, F ; Hariu, T. Changes of eye-blink activities during hypnotic state. Perceptual and motor skills. 1990. 71(3 Pt 1): 832-4.

Tada, H ; Yamada, F ; Hariu, T. Analysis of blink rate patterns in normal subjects. Movement Disorders. 1997. 12(6): 1028-1034.

*No Photo, Attentive body language, Buy signals, Comfort body language, Courtship display, Honest body language, Indicator of interest (IoI), Indicator Of Sexual Interest (IOsI), Liking, Nonthreatening body language, Rapport or rapport building, Relaxed body language

Body Language Of Echoing

by Chris • October 20, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language Of Echoing

Cue: Echoing

Synonym(s): Related to Mirroring

Description: Echoing is like mirroring where similar body postures are replicated, but not right away. Instead they are copied some time later. Echoing can be so prominent that it appears fluent. Bodies seem to jive as if in an elaborate dance.

In One Sentence: Echoing is a nonverbal tactic or behaviour that happens naturally to show agreement in which a person copies or nearly copies the gestures and postures of another person, not immediately, but with a few seconds or minutes of separation.

How To Use it: Echoing is a great way to create nonverbal liking through subconscious means. By adopting the postures and gestures of others a few seconds after they have initiated them, it will create similar feelings. If done correctly, echoing produces strong liking and builds relationships quickly.

Echoing works equally well in business as it does in dating and friendships. To use echoing make sure that postures are not mimicked exactly in a copy-cat fashion, but instead happen similarly. Should someone catch on to your game, they may become suspicious. Therefore echoing should be done with some degree of caution.

The best kind of echoing happens when it is done naturally and this is the case when two people really seem to jive and get along with one another. Echoing is a nonverbal form of agreement.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “We’re almost on the same page, as we are copying each other but not immediately like mirroring. Since our bodies are flowing in a similar pattern our minds are flowing in a similar pattern – therefore we agree with each other and have strong rapport.”

Variant: See Mirroring.

Cue In Action: Some ways bodies echo:
[A] Shifting weight from one foot to the other foot or keeping the weight on the same foot as the person you are talking with.
[B] Leaning the same way on a bar top or up against a wall or other structure.
[C] Crossing the legs in the same direction or opposite direction when facing each other.
[D] Both keeping the legs uncrossed.
[E] Gesturing with the hands similarly.
[F] Drinking in unison or holding drinks with the same hand.
[G] Placing both hands, or just one hand, on the hips.
[H] Leaning in, or leaning out.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Echoing indicates that rapport is being built between two people and that agreement is taking place. In echoing, postures and gestures are not concurrent with what is going on with others, but instead happen after some time has elapsed.

Echoing the gestures and postures of another person, often happens within thirty seconds to a minute after another person. However, it can sometimes even happen with several minutes of separation. When gestures and postures happen simultaneously, on the other hand, we call this mirroring.

When echoing is present rapport is felt between two people. We say that these people are on the same “wavelength.”

Cue Cluster: N/A

Body Language Category: Attentive, Buy signals, Courtship displays, Comfort body language, Honest body language, Indicator of interest (IoI), Indicators of sexual interest (IOsI), Liking, Nonthreatening body language, Rapport or rapport building, Relaxed body language.

Resources:

Bavelas, J. B., Black, A., Chovil, N., Lemery, C. R., & Mullett, J. (1988). Form and function in motor mimicry: Topographic evidence that the primary function is communicative. Human Communication Research, 14, 275- 299.

Bavelas, J. B., Black, A., Lemery, C. R., & Mullett, J. (1986). “I show how you feel”: Motor mimicry as a communicative act. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 322-329.

Chartrand, T. L.,& Bargh, J. A. (1999). The chameleon effect: The perception behavior link and social interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 893-910.

Cooper, Ella A.; John Garlick; Eric Featherstone; Valerie Voon; Tania Singer; Hugo D. Critchley and Neil A. Harrison. You Turn Me Cold: Evidence for Temperature Contagion. PLoS ONE 9(12): e116126. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0116126.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/mirror-cold-nonverbals-influence-real-body-temperate-others/

Cooper, L. 1976. Mirroring: One vehicle to organizational clarity. International Journal Of Social Psychiatry 22 (4): 288-295.

di Pellegrino, G.; L. Fadiga; L. Fogassi; V. Gallese, and G. Rizzolatti. Understanding Motor Events: A Neurophysiological Study. Experimental Brain Research. 1992. 91:176-180
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/mirror-neurons-make-emotions-body-language-contagious/

Dezecache, Guillaume; Laurence Conty; Michele Chadwick; Leonor Philip; Robert Soussignan; Dan Sperber and Julie Grezes. Evidence for Unintentional Emotional Contagion Beyond Dyads. PLoS ONE. 2013. 8(6): e67371. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0067371
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/emotion-collective-crowd-emotions-really-contagious

Guéguen, Nicolas; Martin, Angelique and Sebastien Meineri. Mimicry and Helping Behavior: An Evaluation of Mimicry on Explicit Helping Request. The Journal of Social Psychology. 2011. 51(1), 1–4
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/mimicking-way-compliance-mirroring-body-language-another-leads-helping-behaviour/

Grammer, Karl ; Kruck, Kirsten ; Magnusson, Magnus. The Courtship Dance: Patterns of Nonverbal Synchronization in Opposite-Sex Encounters. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 1998, Vol.22(1), pp.3-29.

Hofree G, Ruvolo P, Bartlett MS, Winkielman P. Bridging the Mechanical and the Human Mind: Spontaneous Mimicry of a Physically Present Android. PLoS ONE. 2014. 9(7): e99934. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0099934.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/humans-cant-help-mirror-robots-nonverbal-expressions/

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

Leander, N. Pontus; Tanya L. Chartrand and John A. Bargh. You Give Me the Chills Embodied Reactions to Inappropriate Amounts of Behavioral Mimicry. Psychological Science. 2012. 23(7): 772-779. Published online before print May 18, 2012, doi: 10.1177/0956797611434535.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/stop-mirroring-youre-giving-chills/

Kulesza, Wojciech; Zofia Szypowska; Warsaw, Poland; Matthew S. Jarman and
Dariusz Dolinski. Attractive Chameleons Sell: The Mimicry-Attractiveness Link. Psychology and Marketing. 2014. 31(7): 549–561. DOI: 10.1002/mar.20716
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/sell-mirroring-stores-benefit-attractive-sales-people-mirroring-customers

LaFrance, Marianne. and W. Ickes. 1981. Posture mirroring and interactional involvement: sex and sex typing effects. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior 5: 139-154.

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.

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

Manusov, Valerie. Mimicry or synchrony: The effects of intentionality attributions for nonverbal mirroring behavior. Communication Quarterly. 1992 40(1): 69-83.

Rychlowska, Magdalena; Elena Canadas; Adrienne Wood; Eva G. Krumhuber; Agneta Fischer and Paula M. Niedenthal. Blocking Mimicry Makes True and False Smiles Look the Same. PLoS ONE. 2014. 9(3): e90876. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0090876.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/read-facial-expressions-better-mimicking/

Smith-Genthôs, K. Rachelle; Darcy A. Reich; Jessica L. Lakin; Mario P. Casa de Calvo. The Tongue-Tied Chameleon: The Role of Nonconscious Mimicry in the Behavioral Confirmation Process. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 2015. 56: 179-182.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/careful-mirror-use-nonverbal-mirroring/

Sanchez-burks, Jeffrey ; Bartel, Caroline A. ; Blount, Sally Kozlowski, Steve W. J. (editor). Performance in Intercultural Interactions at Work: Cross-Cultural Differences in Response to Behavioral Mirroring. Journal of Applied Psychology. 2009 94(1). 216-223.

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.

Trout, Deborah ; Rosenfeld, Howard. The effect of postural lean and body congruence on the judgment of psychotherapeutic rapport. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1980. 4(3): 176-190.

Van Swol, Lyn M. The effects of nonverbal mirroring on perceived persuasiveness, agreement with an imitator, and reciprocity in a group discussion.(Author Abstract). Communication Research. 2003 30(4): 461(20).

Woodside, A.G.,& Davenport, J.W. (1974). Effects of salesman similarity and expertise on consumer purchasing behavior. Journal of Marketing Research, 11, 198-202.

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

Body Language of Direct Eye Contact

by Chris • October 20, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Direct Eye Contact

Cue: Direct Eye Contact

Synonym(s): Eye Contact

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

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

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

Context: a) General, b) Dating.

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

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

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

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

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

Cue Cluster: Varied depending on context.

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

Resources:

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

Aviva Musicus, Aner Tal, and Brian Wansink. Eyes in the Aisles: Why is Cap’n Crunch Looking Down at My Child? Environment & Behavior. 2014. Forthcoming.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/eyes-in-the-aisles-why-is-capn-crunch-looking-down-at-my-child/

Aguinis, Herman ; Simonsen, Melissam. ; Pierce, Charlesa. Effects of Nonverbal Behavior on Perceptions of Power Bases. The Journal of Social Psychology. 1998. 138(4): 455-469.

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

Bowers, Andrew L. ; Crawcour, Stephen C. ; Saltuklaroglu, Tim ; Kalinowski, Joseph
Gaze aversion to stuttered speech: a pilot study investigating differential visual attention to stuttered and fluent speech. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders. 2010. 45(2): 133-144.

Baxter, James C., and Richard M. Rozelle (1975). “Nonverbal Expression as a Function of Crowding During a Simulated Police-Citizen Encounter.” In Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Vol. 32, No. 1), pp. 40-54.

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

Baltazar M; Hazem N; Vilarem E; Beaucousin V; Picq JL, and Conty L. Eye Contact Elicits Bodily Self-Awareness in Human Adults. Cognition. 2014. 133 (1): 120-7 PMID: 25014360
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/eye-contact-makes-us-uncomfortable-curious-case-stare-rape/

Bolmont, Mylene; John T. Cacioppo and Stephanie Cacioppo. Love Is in the Gaze: An Eye-Tracking Study of Love and Sexual Desire. Psychological Science July 16, 2014. Published online before print. July 16, 2014, doi: 10.1177/0956797614539706
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/lust-like-eyes-read-body-language-eyes/

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

J. E. S. Choi, P. A. Vaswani, R. Shadmehr. Vigor of Movements and the Cost of Time in Decision Making. Journal of Neuroscience, 2014; 34 (4): 1212.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/eye-movements-may-indicate-impatience-and-impulsivity/

Johansson-Stenmen, O. (2008). Who are the trustworthy, we think? Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 68, 456–465. doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2008.08.004

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Maslow, A.H. Dominance-feeling, behavior, and status. Psychological Review, 1937, 44, 404-429.

Matsuda, Yoshi-Taka ; Okanoya, Kazuo ; Myowa-Yamakoshi, Masako. Syness in early infancy: approach-avoidance conflicts in temperament and hypersensitivity to eyes during initial gazes to faces. PloS one. 2013 8(6): pp.e65476

Moukheiber A, Rautureau G, Perez-Diaz F, Soussignan R, Dubal S, Jouvent R, Pelissolo A (2010) Gaze avoidance in social phobia: objective e measure and correlates. Behav Res Ther 48:147–151.

Mccarthy, Anjanie ; Lee, Kang. Children’s Knowledge of Deceptive Gaze Cues and Its Relation to Their Actual Lying Behavior. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. 2009. 103(2): 117-134.

Mann, Samantha ; Ewens, Sarah ; Shaw, Dominic ; Vrij, Aldert ; Leal, Sharon ; Hillman, Jackie. Lying Eyes: Why Liars Seek Deliberate Eye Contact. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law. 2013. 20(3): 452-461.

Modigliani, A. (1971). Embarrassment, facework, and eye contact: Testing a theory of embarrassment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 17, 15–24.

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

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

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

Riggio, R. E., & Friedman, H. S. (1983). Individual differences and cues to deception. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45, 899–915. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.45.4.899

Stern, Daniel and Estelle Bender (1974). “An Ethological Study of Children Approaching a Strange Adult.” In Richard Friedman et al. (Eds.), Sex Differences in Behavior (New York: John Wiley and Sons), pp. 233-58.

Senju, A., & Johnson, M. H. (2009). The eye contact effect: Mechanisms and development. Trends in Cognitive Science, 13, 127–134.

Slessor, Gillian ; Phillips, Louise H. ; Bull, Rebecca ; Venturini, Cristina ; Bonny, Emily J. ; Rokaszewicz, Anna. Investigating the “deceiver stereotype”: do older adults associate averted gaze with deception?(Author abstract). The Journals of Gerontology, Series B. 2012. 67(2): 178(6).

Sporer, S. L., & Schwandt, B. (2007). Moderators of nonverbal indicators of deception: A meta-analytic synthesis. Psychology, Public Policy and Law, 13, 1–34. doi: 10.1037/1076-8971.13.1.1

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

Strick, Madelijn ; Holland, Rob W. ; Van Knippenberg, Ad. Seductive Eyes: attractiveness and Direct Gaze Increase Desire for Associated Objects Cognition. 2008. 106(3): 1487-1496.

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

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/

Strongman, K. T., & Champness, B. G. Dominance hierarchies and conflict in eye contact. Acta Psychologica, 1968, 2& 376-386.

Terburg, David; Henk Aarts and Jack van Honk. Testosterone Affects Gaze Aversion From Angry Faces Outside of Conscious Awareness. Psychological Science. 2012; 23 (5) 459-463.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/testosterone-mediates-eye-gaze-patterns-against-angry-faces/

Straube, Thomas ; Langohr, Bernd ; Schmidt, Stephanie ; Mentzel, Hans-Joachim ; Miltner, Wolfgang H.R. Increased amygdala activation to averted versus direct gaze in humans is independent of valence of facial expression. NeuroImage. 2010 49(3): 2680-2686.

Vrij, A., & Semin, G. R. (1996). Lie experts’ beliefs about nonverbal indicators of deception. Journal of Nonverbal Behaviour, 20, 65–81. doi: 10.1007/BF02248715

Wu, D.W-L.; Walter Bischof and Alan Kingstone. Natural Gaze Signaling in a Social Context. Evolution and Human Behavior. 2014. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2014.01.005
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/dont-look-at-me-im-chewing-dont-worry-i-wont-eye-language-and-the-white-of-your-eyes/

Wirth, James H ; Sacco, Donald F ; Hugenberg, Kurt ; Williams, Kipling D. Eye gaze as relational evaluation: averted eye gaze leads to feelings of ostracism and relational devaluation. Personality & social psychology bulletin. 2010 36(7): 869-82.

Wang, Yin ; Newport, Roger ; Hamilton, Antonia F De C. Eye contact enhances mimicry of intransitive hand movements. Biology letters. 2011. 7(1): 7-10.

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.

Attentive body language, Body pointing, Courtship display, Honest body language, Indicator of interest (IoI), Indicator Of Sexual Interest (IOsI), Intention movements, Liking, Open body language, Orienting reflex or orienting response, Undivided attention (nonverbal)

Body Language of Cooperative Feet

by Chris • October 20, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Cooperative Feet

Cue: Cooperative Feet

Synonym(s): Feet Pointed Toward A Person.

Description: Cooperative feet are ones that are oriented toward a speaker rather than away. Their proximity is increased rather than decreased.

In One Sentence: When feet are pointed and are oriented toward a speaker, they indicate through direction and proximity, that a person is willing to cooperate.

How To Use it: Use feet to show the direction in which you are thinking and feeling. Feet can be pointed and extended toward the door if one wishes to leave. On the other hand, should a person or their ideas be of interest you should aim and extend your feet in their direction. While many people will only subconsciously be aware of your tactic, it will help reinforce your vocal words and help you maintain congruence. Matching your words with your body language will make you appear more honest and trustworthy.

When one wishes to show disinterest, simply turn the feet away. This can show others that you wish to leave or that you are not interested in what they are saying. This can serve you by increasing the chances they will make the conversation more interesting or if negotiation, advance a better offer.

Context: a) Dating b) Business

Verbal Translation: “I agree with you and my primitive mind is showing it by moving my feet toward you and pointing at you.”

Variant: See Toe Pointing or Pointed Toe, Buttress Stance or Foot Forward Leg Stance.

Cue In Action: a) Jill and Bill were really hitting it off, you could tell just by looking at their feet bellow the table. Both his and her feet were extended toward one another. b) At one point in the conversation the client was about to leave with his body aimed toward the door. Noticing his negative body language, the salesman quickly dropped his price 30%. The client pulled his feet back in and aimed them squarely at the salesman. The salesmen used his knowledge of body language to salvage the deal.

Meaning and/or Motivation: The direction that feet point coupled with their extension or withdrawal tells us much about how a person really feels about the situation. Feet move toward things they like and away from things they don’t like.

Feet are either cooperative or non-cooperative depending on how close they are to the stimulus and which way they point. In other words, as feet move closer, they are in agreement and when they are withdrawn, they are in disagreement. Also, feet usually point toward people and ideas they agree with and away from people and ideas they disagree with.

Millions of years ago, we gave up quadrupedalism to walk upright leaving our feet “to the dirt.” While our hands busied themselves with other complex tasks like building fires, making clothing and shelters and throwing spears our legs were relegated to more primitive activities like locomotion. The feet on the other hand, carried out more traditional tasks like escaping predators, avoiding hot sand or coals from the fire, leaping from slithering snakes or poisonous spiders, or navigating rough rocking river bottoms. The feet were therefore connected more to the reptilian brain that reacts to stimuli directly instead of contemplating higher order tasks that require planning.

When we’re frightened it doesn’t take much to put our feet in gear. For example, feet are quickly tucked under our legs and coiled up ready to flee with any indication of danger. For example, the shadow of a mouse scampering across the room forces our feet to instantly freeze, or be pulled onto a chair.

Our feet carry the flight or fight reaction to the letter making them honest.

Our feet and legs can display boredom through repetitive motions, joy by lifting the body up and down, fear by being tucked under a chair, depression by laying lazily or motionless and sensuality by being uncovered and flaunted.

Cue Cluster: Cooperative feet are accompanied by other agreement indicators such as palms up rather than down, arms uncrossed, head tilted at forty five degrees, eye contact, ventral fronting and head nods.

Body Language Category: Attentive, Body pointing, Courtship display, Honest body language or honesty, Indicator of interest (IoI), Indicators of sexual interest (IOsI), Intention movements, Liking, Open body language, Orienting reflex or orienting response, Undivided attention (nonverbal).

Resources:

Astrom, Jan. Introductory greeting behavior: a laboratory investigation of approaching and closing salutation phases. Perceptual and Motor Skills. 1994. 79(2): 863(35).

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

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

Brault, Sébastien ; Bideau, Benoit ; Kulpa, Richard ; Craig, Cathy M ; Gribble, Paul L. Detecting Deception in Movement: The Case of the Side-Step in Rugby. PLoS ONE. 2012. 7(6).

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.

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

Baxter, James C. ; Rozelle, Richard M. Lanzetta, John T. (editor). Nonverbal expression as a function of crowding during a simulated police-citizen encounter. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1975. 32(1): 40-54.

Cacioppo, J. T., Hawkley, L. C., Crawford, L. E., Ernst, J. M., Burleson, M. H., Kowalewski, R. B., et al. (2002). Loneliness and health: Potential mechanisms. Psychosomatic Medicine. 2002; 64: 407-417.
Cook, Mark. 1970. Experiments on orientation and proxemics. Human Relations 23 (1): 61-76.

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

Clack, B., Dixon, J., & Tredoux, C. (2005). Eating together apart: Patterns of segregation in a multi-ethnic cafeteria. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 15, 1-16. doi:10.1002/casp.787

Castelli, Luigi ; Carraro, Luciana ; Pavan, Giulia ; Murelli, Elisa ; Carraro, Alessia. The Power of the Unsaid: The Influence of Nonverbal Cues on Implicit Attitudes. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 2012 42(6): 1376-1393.

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

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

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

Fisch, Hans-ulrich ; Frey, Siegfried ; Hirsbrunner, Hans-peter Buchwald, Alexander M. (editor). Analyzing nonverbal behavior in depression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology. 1983. 92(3): 307-318.

Felipe, N. Interpersonal distance and small group interaction. Cornell Journal of Social Relations, 1966, 1, 59-64.

Felipe, N. Connotations of seating arrangements. Cornell Journal of Social Relations, 1967, 2, 37-44.

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/

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.

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.

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.

Harrison, Cathie. Watching the children watching Play School: indicators of engagement, play and learning. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood. 2012. 37(4): 44(7).

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

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/

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.

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

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

Kenner, Andrew N. ; Katsimaglis, George. Gender differences in proxemics: taxi-seat choice. Psychological Reports. 1993 72(2): 625(2).

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

Mackinnon, Sean P. ; Jordan, Christian H. ; Wilson, Anne E. Birds of a feather sit together: Physical similarity predicts seating choice. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin. 2011 37(7): 879(14).

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.

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

Newman, Robert C. ; Pollack, Donald Holzberg, Jules D. (editor). Proxemics in deviant adolescents. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 1973 40(1): 6-8.

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.

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

Rovers, A.F. ; Essen, H.A. Guidelines for haptic interpersonal communication applications: an exploration of foot interaction styles. Virtual Reality. 2006. 9(2): 177-191.

Ricard, Nathalie C. ; Beaudry, Simon G. ; Pelletier, Luc G. Lovers With Happy Feet: The Interdependence of Relationship and Activity Factors for Individuals Dancing With a Romantic Partner.(Report). Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 2012. 42(4): 939(25).

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

Sporer, Siegfried L. ; Schwandt, Barbara Penrod, Steven D. (editor). Moderators of Nonverbal Indicators of Deception: A Meta-Analytic Synthesis. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law. 2007. 13(1): 1-34.

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.

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

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

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.

Whittock, Trevor. The role of metaphor in dance. The British Journal of Aesthetics. 1992. 32(3): 242(8).

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.

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

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

Blading, Indicator of interest (IoI), Liking, Open body language, Rapport or rapport building, Relaxed body language

Body Language of The Closed Formation

by Chris • October 20, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of The Closed Formation

Cue: Closed Formation

Synonym(s): Standing Head On, Head On Standing Position, Standing A Zero Degree To Another, Face To Face.

Description: A head-on body orientation where the torsos are arranged at zero degrees to another person usually while standing.

In One Sentence: When people face head-to-head it implies that they are either intimate or combative.

How To Use it: Use the head-to-head closed formation to isolate a person or to build intimacy. Caution must be used as facing someone head-on can be viewed as a direct threat, so the orientation must be formed gradually, especially in business. Should men wish to face women head-on, they should resist this orientation until they feel that the woman will welcome the intimacy.

Head-to-head while sitting, on the other hand, is a great way to purposely create the impression of combat. We habitually see lawyers and their clients on one side of the table with their opponents sitting opposite. This helps the lawyers set up battles which is beneficial to them as it tends to prolonging the fight and ensuring that they pocket more money for their services.

In business, one should consider the head-to-head sitting orientation when brainstorming ideas. The competition between employees will be more intense, thus producing more variety in possible solutions.

Context: General, Dating.

Verbal Translation: a) “I’m totally into this conversation let’s close this off to anyone else that might want to get involved by blocking off entry.” b) “Where getting intimate by closing off to one another.” c) “This is getting heated and now where squared off to one another ready for a confrontation.”

Variant: See Angular Distance.

Cue In Action: Marla and Wendy started off oriented at ninety degrees to each other, but as they developed rapport, they slowly closed the formation so they were at zero degrees to one another in a head-to-head orientation.

Meaning and/or Motivation: A closed formation represents a more intimate orientation as the means of exit is impeded. A large amount of trust and interest must exist. It’s also an orientation where other participants are not welcome since the entry points have all been blocked off.

When men and women hold this orientation we expect them to be more intimately involved and trusting. The closed formation is a way men test a women’s desire to accept him into her personal zone.

In certain context, the closed formation is an indication of confrontation and disagreement. In this case, the parties are trying to show each other that they are focused on one another and are using their dominance to encroach and prevent escape.

Cue Cluster: a) A closed formation is accompanied by other open postures such as palms up, gesticulation, open and relaxed faces, friendly eye contact and social touching. b) In a dating context, we might see additional touching, possibly kissing, hugging and intimate eye contact. c) In a confrontation, encroaching will be severe, we may hear loud voices, the bodies may be leaning in or away depending on level of aggression or desire for escape, faces will show anger and so forth.

Body Language Category: Blading, Indicator of interest (IoI), Liking, Open body language, Rapport or rapport building, Relaxed body language.

Resources:

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

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

Danielle Jackson, Erika Engstrom and Tara Emmers-Sommer. 2007. Think Leader, Think Male and Female: Sex vs. Seating Arrangement as Leadership Cues. Sex Roles. 57 (9/10): 713-723.

Greenberg, J. 1976. The role of seating position in group interaction: a review, with applications for group trainers. Group & Organization Management 1 (3): 310-327.

Howells, L. T. and S. W. Becker. 1962. Seating arrangement and leadership emergence.
The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 64(2): 148-150.

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

Hall, Edward T. (1963). “A System for the Notation of Proxemic Behavior.” In American Anthropologist (Vol. 65), pp. 1003-26.

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

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

Lawson, Rebecca P. ; Clifford, Colin W. G. ; Calder, Andrew J. About Turn: The Visual Representation of Human Body Orientation Revealed by Adaptation. Psychological Science. 2009. 20(3): 363(9).

Leventhal, G. 1978, Sex and setting effects on seating arrangement. Journal of Psychology. 100: 21-26.

Lott, D. F. and R. Sommer. 1967. Seating arrangements and status. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 7 (1): 90-95.

Montgomery, Derek ; Moran, Christy ; Bach, Leslie. The influence of nonverbal cues associated with looking behavior on young children’s mentalistic attributions.
Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1996. 20(4): 229-249.

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

Michelini, RL, Passalacqua, R., & Cusimano, J. 1976. Effects of seating arrangement on group participation. Journal of Social Psychology. 99: 179-186.

McBride, Glen, M. G. King, and J. W. James (1965). “Social Proximity Effects on GSR in Adult Humans.” In Journal of Psychology (Vol. 61), pp. 153-57.

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

Norum, G.A., Russo, N.J., and Sommer, R. 1967. Seating patterns and group tasks. Source: Psychology in the schools. 4(3): 276-280.

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

Riess, M. and P. Rosenfeld. 1980. Seating preferences as nonverbal communication: a self-presentational analysis. Journal of Applied Communications Research 8(1): 22.

Stephenson, G. M. and B. K. Kniveton. 1978. Interpersonal and interparty exchange: an experimental study of the effect of seating position on the outcome of negotiations between teams representing parties in dispute. Human Relations 31(6): 555-566.

Remland, Martins. ; Jones, Tricias. ; Brinkman, Heidi. Interpersonal Distance, Body Orientation, and Touch: Effects of Culture, Gender, and Age. The Journal of Social Psychology. 1995 135(3): 281-297.

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

Straube, Benjamin ; Green, Antonia ; Jansen, Andreas ; Chatterjee, Anjan ; Kircher, Tilo. Social cues, mentalizing and the neural processing of speech accompanied by gestures. Neuropsychologia. 2010. 48(2): 382-393.

Page 2 of 2

« 1 2