Category: Nervous Body Language

*No Photo, Auto contact or self touching, Displacement behaviour, Energy Displacement, Fearful body language, Low confidence body language, Nervous Body Language, Pacifying body language, Stressful body language, Stroking body language

Body Language of Leg Cleansing or Leg Pacifying Behaviour

by Chris • October 23, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Leg Cleansing or Leg Pacifying Behaviour

Cue: Leg Cleansing or Leg Pacifying Behaviour

Synonym(s): Wiping The Hands On The Thigh, Rubbing the Thighs, Hand Rubbing Thigh, Thigh Stroke, Palm Cleansing.

Description: The hands are wiped or rubbed up and down against the thighs palm down.

In One Sentence: Rubbing the hands on the legs is a pacifying behaviour which is the result of nervousness.

How To Use it: Rubbing the hands on the lap can help sooth nerves as it stimulate the release of positive hormones. Use the gesture to remove perspiration from the hands, but do many sure it is done out the sight from viewers, as others will clue into your discomfort and stress and may capitalize on it. This is especially so in a business context.

Generally, however, due to its negative origins, the cue should be avoided unless absolutely necessary.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m stressed, nervous or anxious and I’m wiping my hands on my thighs to sooth and calm my nerves by burning some calories and wipe the sweat from my hands.”

Variant: Hands can be rubbed against the chest or the sleeves of the arms.

Cue In Action: a) Just before shaking hands he wiped his hands on his thighs so his hands didn’t appear clammy. b) It was a big purchase and he was stressed. Below the table, he was rubbing his hands anxiously against his thighs over and over again.

Meaning and/or Motivation: In response to stress and sweating, the hands are rubbed against the thigh. It serves three purposes. One, it wipes sweat off the palms; two, it burns off nervous energy; and three, it pacifies. The friction between the hands helps to produce comforting feelings, a tactic soothing to help calm a person down. When someone is caught doing the leg cleanse, we know that they are nervous or anxious.

Cue Cluster: The hands might touch the back of the neck, pull at the skin under the throat or cover the neck dimple, massage the temples, the fingers might interlock to try to appear calm and collected, the eyes might wince or grimace, and the lips might purse or stretch across the face. A general uneasiness will accompany leg pacifying behaviour.

Body Language Category: Auto contact or self touching, Displacement behaviour, Energy Displacement, Stroking body language, Fearful body language, Low confidence body language, Nervous body language, Pacifying body language, Stressful body language.

Resources:

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How To Beat Airport Security With Body Language Thanks To Leaked CIA WikiLeaks:

http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/how-to-beat-airport-security-with-body-language/

Surviving Secondary: https://wikileaks.org/cia-travel/secondary-screening/WikiLeaks_CIA_Assessment_on_Surviving_Secondary_Screening.pdf

Infiltrating Schengen: https://wikileaks.org/cia-travel/infiltrating-schengen/WikiLeaks_CIA_Advice_for_Operatives_Infiltrating_Schengen.pdf

Appease, Enthusiasm (nonverbal), Excited body language, Fearful body language, Happiness body language, Indicator of interest (IoI), Masked emotions, Nervous Body Language, Nonthreatening body language, Open body language, Rapport or rapport building, Stressful body language, Surprised body language, Universal gestures

Body Language of Laughter

by Chris • October 23, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Laughter

Cue: Laughter

Synonym(s): Laughing.

Description: Laughs follow a “ha-ha-ha” or “ho-ho-ho” pattern, but never “ha-ho-ha-ho”. We can see other variations though like “cha-ha-ha” or “ha-ha-ho.”

In One Sentence: Laughing is a sign of joy, happiness, and sometimes discomfort or awkwardness.

How To Use it: Laughing is well research. It has proven to be an effective way to keep the body in good spirits and even boost healing and immunity. Laughing is encouraged to build friendships and finds a welcome place in all contexts from dating, to business, and amongst friends. Use laughing to create lasting bonds and break tension.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m so happy and surprised by what you said that I’m showing my primitive panting vocalization.”

Resources:

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Szameitat, Diana P. ; Kreifelts, Benjamin ; Alter, Kai ; Szameitat, André J. ; Sterr, Annette ; Grodd, Wolfgang ; Wildgruber, Dirk. It is not always tickling: Distinct cerebral responses during perception of different laughter types. NeuroImage. 2010. 53(4): 1264-1271.

Szameitat, Diana P. ; Alter, Kai ; Szameitat, André J. ; Darwin, Chris J. ; Wildgruber, Dirk ; Dietrich, Susanne ; Sterr, Annette Phelps, Elizabeth A. (editor). Differentiation of Emotions in Laughter at the Behavioral Level. Emotion. 2009. 9(3): 397-405.

Szameitat, Dianap. ; Darwin, Chrisj. ; Wildgruber, Dirk ; Alter, Kai ; Szameitat, Andréj. Acoustic correlates of emotional dimensions in laughter: Arousal, dominance, and valence. Cognition & Emotion. 2011. 25(4): 599-611.

Vettin, Julia ; Todt, Dietmar. Laughter in Conversation: Features of Occurrence and Acoustic Structure. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2004. 28(2): 93-115.

Variant: Giggling is another form of laughter that is more characteristic of children being silly.

Cue In Action: After a few beers it was all jokes and laughter at the party, most of the time no one really knew what caused the laughing spells.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Some researchers pin laughs as a modification of the fear response or as a warning that danger was near. By that same theory, we laugh because our brains are scared or frightened which is why we don’t laugh when we hear a joke for the second time and have predicted its outcome. Laughter usually comes about due to humour and helps clarify emotional context (by defining amusement) between people. Laughter is a way to heal as it releases positive hormones. It is also a way people can share and therefore bond with one another. Laughter in a nonverbal context shows that people are thinking alike and are in agreement and trying to build trust and friendship.

Subordinate people will laugh simply to appease more dominant people, and dominant people exclude themselves from the laugh so as to maintain their dominance. Controlling laugher therefore, can help control our dominance or submission to others, as well as show our acceptance or rejection of others. For example, a polite laugh shows that we are at least “onboard” with a person even though we might not totally agree that what they have said is in fact funny.

Laughter is a form of mirroring and communicates mutual liking and well-being. It can also be used to reduce the harshness of comments or even to take comments back. Humour is an innate vocalization that fosters a sense of community and can help in learning and in creativity. It helps break down walls between different people and can act like a social lubricant to bind people together. Laughter is thirty times more likely to happen in a social setting rather than alone and studies have shown that people don’t really seem to care if the laugh is fake or real, they still tend to like people more when they laugh. Laughing helps us build bonds. Even fake laughs help because at least it shows that a person is trying to fit in.

Cue Cluster: Laughter might be accompanied by social touching, smiling, loose body that lacks negative tension, plenty of “up” non-verbal cues such as arms up, shoulders and head up, toes pointed up, bodies leaning in with engagement and so forth.

Body Language Category: Appease, Enthusiasm (nonverbal), Excited, Fearful body language, Happiness body language, Indicator of interest (IoI), Masked emotions, Nervous body language, Open body language, Nonthreatening body language, Rapport or rapport building, Stressful body language, Surprised body language, Universal gestures.

*No Photo, Displacement behaviour, Enthusiasm (nonverbal), Gravity defying body language, Low confidence body language, Nervous Body Language, Stressful body language, Suspicious body language

Body Language of Jerky Movements

by Chris • October 23, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Jerky Movements

Cue: Jerky Movements

Synonym(s): Twitchy, Spastic Movements, Sporadic Movements, Erratic Movements, Failing Arms.

Description: Unpredictable, twitching, erratic, flailing wildly, theatrical, impulsive or random motions by the head, arms, hands, feet, legs, torso and so forth.

In One Sentence: Jerky movements signal emotional uneasiness.

How To Use it: Use jerky movements to show others that you are emotionally unstable!

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I have lost complete control of my body which is why it moves around so sporadically and twitches and this makes you think I’m not emotionally well.”

Variant: Jerky movements can also spread to the voice as it becomes high pitched and increases in volume.

Cue In Action: When Dave was presenting his research on butterflies, his gestures were erratic and out of tune with what he was saying. He seemed scatterbrained, moving back and forth across the stage, his arms pointing quickly to his whiteboard and then scratching his face and neck. He was difficult, even annoying to follow.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Jerky movements comes across as hysteric, frustrated, and breeds a lack of respect in others and is generally unflattering. It says nonverbally that a person lacks precise control over their bodies which people assume transfers to erratic thoughts and a scattered mind. People with jerky movements are seen as untrustworthy and often as having hyperactivity disorder.

Usually sporadic behaviour is not due to any actual negative traits and is mostly due to a high affect, meaning people simply have lots of excess energy and don’t like being in one place for extended periods of time. Other times, jerky movements are linked to excitement and enthusiasm for a topic.

Cue Cluster: Watch for erratic movements of the eyes, touching the face, neck, nose, ears, rubbing the eyes, pacing back and forth, pointing, smoothing clothing, patting, rubbing the hands, hands in pockets and so forth.

Body Language Category: Displacement behaviour, Enthusiasm (nonverbal), Gravity defying body language, Low confidence body language, Nervous body language, Stressful body language, Suspicious body language.

Resources:

Atkinson AP, Dittrich WH, Gemmell AJ, Young AW (2004) Emotion perception from dynamic and static body expressions in point-light and full-light displays. Perception 33: 717–746. doi: 10.1068/p5096.

Boone RT, Cunningham JG (1998) Children’s decoding of emotion in expressive body movement: the development of cue attunement. Dev Psychol
34: 1007–1016. doi: 10.1037//0012-1649.34.5.1007.

Burba, Nathan ; Bolas, Mark ; Krum, David M. ; Suma, Evan A.. Unobtrusive measurement of subtle nonverbal behaviors with the Microsoft Kinect. 2012 IEEE Virtual Reality. 2012. 1-4.

Brownlow S, Dixon AR, Egbert CA, Radcliffe RD (1997) Perception of movement and dancer characteristics from point-light displays of dance. Psychol Rec 47: 411–421.

Camurri A, Lagerlo¨f I, Volpe G (2003) Recognizing emotion from dance movement: Comparison of spectator recognition and automated techniques. Int J Hum Comput Stud 59: 213–225. doi: 10.1016/S1071-5819(03)00050-8.

Da Silva, Felipe N. ; Irani, Farzin ; Richard, Jan ; Brensinger, Colleen M. ; Bilker, Warren B. ; Gur, Raquel E. ; Gur, Ruben C. More than just tapping: Index finger-tapping measures procedural learning in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research. 2012. 137(1-3): 234-240.

de Meijer M (1989) The contribution of general features of body movement to the attribution of emotions. J Nonverbal Behav 13: 247–268. doi: 10.1007/BF00990296.

Dittrich WH, Troscianko T, Lea SEG, Morgan D (1996) Perception of emotion from dynamic point-light displays represented in dance. Perception 25: 727–738. doi: 10.1068/p250727.

Deans, Pamela ; O’laughlin, Liz ; Brubaker, Brad ; Gay, Nathan ; Krug, Damon. Use of eye movement tracking in the differential diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and reading disability.(Report). Psychology (Irvine). 2010. 1(4): 238(9).

Davis, Martha. Movement characteristics of hospitalized psychiatric patients. American Journal of Dance Therapy. 1981. 4(1): 52-71.

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.

Godøy R (2010) Gestural affordances of musical sound. In: Godøy R, Leman M, editors. Musical gestures: Sound, movement, and meaning. New York, NY: Routledge. 103–125.

Kupper, Zeno ; Ramseyer, Fabian ; Hoffmann, Holger ; Kalbermatten, Samuel ; Tschacher, Wolfgang. Video-based quantification of body movement during social interaction indicates the severity of negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research. 2010. 121(1): 90-100.

Lagerlo¨f I, Djerf M (2000) Communicating emotions: Expressiveness in modern dance. Int J Psychol 35: 225–225.

Montepare, J. M., Goldstien, S. B., & Clausen, A. (1987). The identification of emotions from gait information. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 11, 33–42.

Montepare, Joann ; Zebrowitz, Leslie. A cross-cultural comparison of impressions created by age-related variations in gait. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1993. 17(1): 55-68.

Nao, Misako Sawada and Motonobu Ishii. Development of the Movements Impressions Emotions Model: Evaluation of Movements and Impressions Related to the Perception of Emotions in Dance. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2013. 37:107-121.
DOI 10.1007/s10919-013-0148-y
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/convey-emotion-nonverbally-dance-study/

Prasad, S., & Shiffrar, M. (2009). Viewpoint and the recognition of people from their movements. Journal of Experimental Psychology – Human Perception and Performance, 35(1), 39–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/A0012728.

Risner D (2009) What we know about boys who dance: The limitations of contemporary masculinity & dance education. In: Shay A, Fisher J, editors. When men dance: Choreographing masculinities across borders. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Sawada, M., Suda, K., & Ishii, M. (2003b). Relationship between leg movement quality and emotional expression in dance. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the International Association for Dance Medicine & Science, London, England.

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Wilder, Vicky. Effects of antipsychotic medication on the movement pathologies of chronic schizophrenics. American Journal of Dance Therapy. 1987. 10(1): 77-94.

According to Wikepdia, there are at least 25 movement disorders of which nonverbal eratic movement may signal: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movement_disorder

Akathisia (inability to sit still)
Akinesia (lack of movement)
Associated Movements (Mirror Movements or Homolateral Synkinesis)
Athetosis (contorted torsion or twisting)
Ataxia (gross lack of coordination of muscle movements)
Ballismus (violent involuntary rapid and irregular movements)
Hemiballismus (affecting only one side of the body)
Bradykinesia (slow movement)
Cerebral palsy
Chorea (rapid, involuntary movement)
Sydenham’s chorea
Rheumatic chorea
Huntington’s disease
Dyskinesia (abnormal, involuntary movement)
Tardive dyskinesia
Dystonia (sustained torsion)
Dystonia muscularum
Blepharospasm
Writer’s cramp
Spasmodic torticollis (twisting of head and neck)
Dopamine-responsive dystonia (hereditary progressive dystonia with diurnal fluctuation or Segawa’s disease)
Essential tremor
Geniospasm (episodic involuntary up and down movements of the chin and lower lip)
Myoclonus (brief, involuntary twitching of a muscle or a group of muscles)
Metabolic General Unwellness Movement Syndrome (MGUMS)
Mirror movement disorder (involuntary movements on one side of the body mirroring voluntary movements of the other side)
Parkinson’s disease
Paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia
Restless Legs Syndrome RLS (WittMaack-Ekboms disease)
Spasms (contractions)
Stereotypic movement disorder
Stereotypy (repetition)
Tic disorders (involuntary, compulsive, repetitive, stereotyped)
Tourette’s syndrome
Tremor (oscillations)
Rest tremor
Postural tremor
Kinetic tremor
Essential tremor
Cerebellar tremor
Parkinsonian tremors
Physiological tremor
Wilson’s disease

*No Photo, Amplifier, Arousal, Autonomic signal, Fearful body language, Leaked or involuntary body language, Low confidence body language, Lying or deceptive body language, Microgestures, Nervous Body Language, Suspicious body language, Worry body language

Body Language of Hard Swallow or Swallowing Hard

by Chris • October 22, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Hard Swallow or Swallowing Hard

Cue: Hard Swallow or Swallowing Hard

Synonym(s): Swallowing Hard

Description: When the throat swallows harder than normal, possibly even gulping air along with saliva. Sometimes it is audible, but usually only barely.

In One Sentence: A hard swallow indicates stress.

How To Use it: Avoid using the hard swallow unless you want others to see that you are suffering from stressors.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m stressed and my swallowing has become conscious and controlled. I do a poor job of it due to stress induced dryness.”

Variant: N/A.

Cue In Action: While presenting his throat dried up. No matter how much water he drank, his mouth still went dry. When it was time to decide over the investment, his financiers were contemplating, and he was audibly gulping as he hard swallowed.

Meaning and/or Motivation: The hard swallow is a high stress or embarrassment indicator due to low saliva production as the fear response of a person is activated. It is usually involuntary.

In the right context, the hard swallow sometimes indicates that a lie is being told, but it is more reliably, a general signal of high stress.

Cue Cluster: Watch for touching the face and neck, pacing, eyes darting and blushing or blanching.

Body Language Category: Amplifier, Arousal, Autonomic signal, Fearful body language, Low confidence body language, Leaked or involuntary body language, Lying or deceptive body language, Microgestures, Nervous body language, Suspicious body language or suspicion, Worry body language.

Resources:

Beidel, D. C., Turner, S. M., & Dancu, C. V. (1985). Physiological, cognitive and behavioral aspects of social anxiety. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 23, 109–117.

Birdwhistell, Ray (1952). An Introduction to Kinesics (Louisville: University of Louisville).

Grant, Ewan (1969). “Human Facial Expressions.” In Man (Vol. 4), pp. 525-36.

Guyton, Arthur C. (1996). Textbook of Medical Physiology, 9th edition (Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders).

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

Closed body language, Defensive body language, Low confidence hand displays, Lying or deceptive body language, Nervous Body Language

Body Language of Hands In Pockets

by Chris • October 22, 2014 • 1 Comment

Body Language of Hands In Pockets

Cue: Hands In Pockets

Synonym(s): N/A

Description: When the hands are placed in the pockets.

In One Sentence: Having the hands in the pockets signals lack of confidence, overexposure, and the need for privacy.

How To Use it: Hiding the hands in the pockets can be used to create additional security when you feel uncomfortable. This is useful in front of large audiences. Jamming the hands in the pockets can provide them a safe place to hide which is especially welcome when feeling awkward.

That being said, it’s generally not advised to hold the hands in the pockets, but rather work on ways to be assertive enough to keep hands exposed despite feeling uncomfortable. The hands in pockets are often read as a negative posture.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m thankful to have pockets because I’m insecure and really need to put my hands someplace lest I feel even more awkward.”

Variant: Hands are sometimes sat on so they are neatly tucked out of the way.

Cue In Action: Before presenting to the audience, the candidate stood left of stage with his hands in his pockets. A more presidential posture would have included hands to his sides.

Meaning and/or Motivation: A comfort and informal position, but also one that reveals insecurity and a lack of confidence and in more extreme cases even secretiveness as if a person has something to hide.

It is a convenient place to put hands that might otherwise need to find purpose when in awkward situations. Hiding the hands generally is seen as dishonest because the hands carry so much information. For example, the palms of the hands are flashed at a distance, a wave, to prove to others that we carry no weapon. At least this is its theorized origin. Hands that are shaking with fear or sweating from nervousness are often stuffed into pockets to be hidden from critical eyes.

Thus, when hands are jammed into pockets we subconsciously fear and worry that they might be carry something that might harm us. One thing is for certain, if we get pulled over by the police, the last place you should put your hands is in the pockets – keep them high where they can be seen!

Cue Cluster: Hands in pockets is not usually coupled by much else because they usually provide enough security that nothing additional is required. If someone is particularly awkward they might blush or bring their hands out of their pockets to pat the back of their head or neck or smooth their pants to dry them of their sweat. A person might also play with their cufflink or sleeve – a masked arm cross. The head may be bowed during extreme discomfort.

Body Language Category: Closed body language, Defensive, Low confidence body language, Low confidence hand displays, Lying or deceptive body language, Nervous body language.

Resources:

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Aggressive body language, Anger body language, Clenching and gripping, Closed body language, Dislike (nonverbal), Emotional body language, Energy Displacement, Frustration or frustrated body language, Hostile body language, Low confidence hand displays, Nervous Body Language, Stressful body language, Worry body language

Body Language of Hand Wringing

by Chris • October 22, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Hand Wringing

Cue: Hand Wringing

Synonym(s): Wringing The Hands.

Description: The hands are clasp one inside the other and tightly clamped and twisted on each other. The hands may also be tightly cupped and squeezed one inside the other or interlaced and squeezed. It can be done so aggressively that the fingers or knuckles turn white.

In One Sentence: Wringing the hands is a sign that a person is experiencing anxiety, stress or suffering from low confidence.

How To Use it: Wringing the hands is not useful and one should avoid it when possible. While it can provide a tactile release for underlying stress, it is best to do something proactive to actually resolve the issue rather than suppress it.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m so agitated and stressed that I’m inflicting pain on myself as I would like to do to someone else, or due to stress of the situation at large. Since I’ve lost control of the situation and others, the best I can do is control the pain I do onto myself.”

Variant: This cue is similar to self pinching, pulling or even plucking the hair, or pinching one’s self as they are all forms of inflicting pain on the self. This is especially common when external pain can not be controlled.

Cue In Action: She wrung her hands as she waited for the doctor to report back with news about the surgery.

Meaning and/or Motivation: It signifies high anxiety, stress, or low confidence, and is a pacifying behaviour.

The hands are clenched because of the internal turmoil that a person feels that they cannot resolve through external factors. Pain that is inflicted on the self is pain that is controlled by the self. Therefore, self-pain is pain that is used to regain some agency over a person’s outcome – even if it is entirely unproductive.

Clenching is also a replacement for pain that someone might wish to inflict on other people whom they feel are causing their problems, and if not caused by people directly, than to the context in general.

Cue Cluster: Hand wringing is usually accompanied by gritting the teeth or jaw clenching, scratching and plucking behaviours, licking the teeth to sooth, lip biting or cheek chewing, eye squinting, snarling, amongst others.

Body Language Category: Aggressive body language, Anger, Clenching and gripping, Closed body language, Dislike (nonverbal), Emotional body language, Energy Displacement, Frustration or frustrated body language, Hostile body language, Low confidence hand displays, Nervous body language, Stressful body language, Worry body language.

Resources:

Burd, L. ; Gascon, G. ; Kerbeshian, J. Rett Syndrome: Case reports and management strategies. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. 1988. 12(3): 283-287.

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

Borenstein, Lynn. The development of friendship in childhood: A clinical conversation. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal. 1996. 13(3): 213-224.

Bodie, Grahamd. ; Villaume, Williama. Men and Women Holding Hands Revisited: Effects of Mutual Engagement and Hand Dominance on Attributions of Cross-Sex Handholding. Communication Research Reports. 2008. 25(4): 243-254.