Category: *No Photo

Body Language of Finger Keying (up and down)

Body Language of Finger Keying (up and down)

No picCue: Finger Keying (up and down)

Synonym(s): N/A

Description: The finger will come down and punctuate a point several times as if to repeat it. Think of hitting a keyboard several times.

In One Sentence: Keying the finger up and down is a batoning gesture that is usually coupled with important steps.

How To Use it: Use the keying gesture when you want to outline steps in a project but do not want to seem overbearing by using an overt fist batoning gesture. To do it properly, key up and down on a desk or other surface where it will still remain visible. Keying can also be done in the air.

Context: General

Verbal Translation: “I’m emphasizing what I’m saying by moving my finger up and down. With each point I make, my finger touches down.”

Variant: See Counting On Fingers.

Cue In Action: As he outlined the steps he would take to bring the company back on track, he tapped the table with his index finger, up and down.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Used to emphasize a point similar to the batoning gesture except done out of conscious awareness and usually out of sight. Finger keying usually happens on the lap or on a desk so shows a desire to add emphasis, but in a restrained or subtle way.

Cue Cluster: N/A

Body Language Category: Masked body language.

Resources:

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Alibali, M.W., Heath, D.C., and Myers,H.J. (2001). Effects of visibility between speaker and listener on gesture production: Some gestures are meant to be seen. Journal of Memory and Language, 44, 169–188.

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Buccino, G.,Vogt,S., Ritzl, A., Fink, G .R., Zilles, K., Freund, H. J., et al.(2004).Neural circuits underlying imitation learning of hand actions: Anevent-related fMRI study. Neuron, 42, 323–334.

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Chandler, Jesse ; Schwarz, Norbert. How extending your middle finger affects your perception of others: Learned movements influence concept accessibility. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 2009. 45(1): 123-128.
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Dick, A.S., Goldin-Meadow,S., Hasson,U.,Skipper, J.I., & Small, S.L. (2009). Co- speech gestures influence neural activity in brain regions associated with processing semantic information. Human Brain Mapping, 30, 3509–3526.

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.

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Fogassi, L., Gallese,V., Fadiga,L., & Rizzolatti,G. (1998). Neurons responding to the sight of goal directed hand/armactions in the parietal area PF (7b) of the macaque monkey. Society for Neuroscience, 24, 257.5.

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Body Language of Fidgeting or Fidget

Body Language of Fidgeting or Fidget

No picCue: Fidgeting or Fidget

Synonym(s): Swaying Back And Forth, Shifting, Squirming, Dancing In The Chair.

Description: Fidgeting includes repetitive behaviours such as tapping the toes, swinging the feet with one crossed over the other, drumming the fingers, swaying back and forth, shifting the body, squirming or dancing in the chair.

In One Sentence: Fidgeting signals that the mind is not at ease or that the body has excess energy which it needs to burn.

How To Use it: Fidgeting is usually viewed negatively. However, fidgeting can provide the body with a release of energy which can help sooth nerves. When fidgeting is desired, one might replace this with action to resolve the underlying discomfort. A full workout, going for a run, or lifting weights, or as mentioned actually putting the body into constructive action can help reduce fidgeting. Moving the body in a constructive way, is a better way to release stress relieving hormones than is fidgeting.

Research has shown that fidgeting is associated with lack of attention, but in reality, is simply an indication of physical duress from sitting too still. In other words, fidgeting is your body’s way to ask you to do some exercise or play. Use that information as incentive to break fidgeting and actually move the body in a more dramatic and constructive way.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I have excess energy but am not permitted to get up and use it so instead I’m trying to burn it off while sitting in one place.”

Variant: See Tapping The Fingers or Metronomic Signals, Foot Kicking, Foot Fidgeting, Rocking The Body.

Cue In Action: a) The instructor was to call on him next and he knew it. He began to fidget in his chair as his body excitedly prepared itself to perform his speech in front of the other students. b) It was a long study session and the students where beginning to shift back and forth in their chairs. Finally, they broke down and gave up for the afternoon and played some Frisbee to burn off some energy before getting back down to work.

Meaning and/or Motivation: In adults, fidgeting can be a sign that a person has excess energy or even hyperactivity disorder. It can also signal boredom or even nervousness. As the body releases the stress hormone adrenaline, the body is induced to movement to try to burn it off. In an evolutionary sense, movement was required to solve problems and our hormone adrenaline and other stress hormones such as cortisol were the body’s way to shove it into action to resolve matters. This is why today we see fidgeting during high stress events where people seem to squirm in their chairs under pressure.

Fidgeting is often an indication of boredom or under-stimulation. The body is given internal cues to get up and leave the conversation. It’s like the body revving its engine. Fidgeting is therefore a substitute to walking or running where neither is socially acceptable or the situation warrants otherwise.

Other times fidgeting is an expression that the body requires exercise and movement to burn off pent up energy. This is common in small children who are not accustomed to sit still for long periods of time. Fidgeting was commonly associated with hyperactivity disorder in children, but more recently, it has been understood to be overstated. Many recent accommodations for children have been made permitting them liberty to move about in classroom settings to release the “excess energy” they possess. Boys, due to higher levels of the hormone testosterone habitually fidget when movement is not permitted.

Cue Cluster: Fidgeting can include touching the face or other parts of the body frequently, smoothing clothing, shifting back and forth, rocking back and forth, checking pockets, standing up and then sitting back down again, pacing, and so forth.

Body Language Category: Arousal, Boredom, Energy Displacement, Escape movements, Nervous body language, Ready posture, Stressful body language.

Resources:

Almerigogna, Jehanne; James Ost; Lucy Akehurst and Mike Fluck. How Interviewers’ Nonverbal Behaviors Can Affect Children’s Perceptions And Suggestibility. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. 2008. 100:17-39.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/get-children-tell-truth-using-body-language/

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.

Doody, John ; Bull, Peter. Asperger’s Syndrome and the Decoding of Boredom, Interest, and Disagreement from Body Posture. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2011. 35(2): 87-100.

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/

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/

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

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/

Karin Roelofs; Muriel A. Hagenaars; and John Stins. Facing Freeze: Social Threat Induces Bodily Freeze in Humans. Psychological Science. 2010 21(11): 1575-1581.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/angry-faces-elicit-freeze-response-in-people-research/

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

Leanne ten Brinke; Dayna Stimson and Dana R. Carney. Some Evidence For Unconscious Lie Detection. Published online before print March 21, 2014, doi: 10.1177/0956797614524421.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/to-spot-a-liar-trust-your-gut-not-your-eyes/

Mehrabian, Albert (1974). “Communication Without Words.” In Jean Civikly, ed., Messages: A Reader in Human Communication (New York: Random House), pp. 87-93.

Rothman, Naomi B. Steering Sheep: How Expressed Emotional Ambivalence Elicits Dominance in Interdependent Decision Making Contexts. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. 2011. 116: 66-82.
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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
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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. DOI: 10.1037/a0035260
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Van Der Zee, Sophie; Ronald Poppe; Paul J. Taylor; and Ross Anderson. To Freeze or Not to Freeze A Motion-Capture Approach to Detecting Deceit.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/detect-lies-whole-body-nonverbals-new-lie-detector-successful-using-body-language-70/

Body Language of Feet Wrapped Around Legs Of Chair

Body Language of Feet Wrapped Around Legs Of Chair

No picCue: Feet Wrapped Around Legs Of Chair

Synonym(s): Ankles Wrapped Around Legs Of Chair, Legs Clamped Around Chair, Wrapping The Legs Around The Feet Of A Chair.

Description: The ankles are wrapped around the feet of a chair as if shackled in place.

In One Sentence: Wrapping the feet around the legs of a chair signals the desire to be locked in place and feel safe and secure.

How To Use it: Wrap the legs around the chair when you want to create the sense of security for which you currently lack. Anchoring to your surroundings can help ground you and by extension your mind. That being said, the cue indicates lack of confidence, so should generally be avoided.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m stressed and uncomfortable and I’m bracing myself for a bad outcome from which I can not escape. I’m wrapping my feet, clenching my hands against the arms rests, and trying to secure myself from being tossed.”

Variant: We habitually see this self arresting, gripping when people ride in the passenger side of a car with a bad or aggressive driver. People will hold their seat belt, the upper hand grip on the ceiling of the car or the grips in the door. We also see this in amusement park roller coaster rides where people hold their restraints.

Cue In Action: During a high intensity inquisition, he wrapped his feet around the legs of the chair.

Meaning and/or Motivation: It says, “I’m not going anywhere, not doing anything and not cooperating.” This posture is a freeze response and is normal during high stress, discomfort and concern, especially when exiting is not possible. Locking into a chair gives us a protective feeling as we try to prevent ourselves from being figuratively tossed around.

We see this when people are fastened into roller coasters where people will hug the restraints for extra safety.

When the hands grip the armrest coupled with ankles locked around the legs of the chair, not only does it give us comfort, but it provides a tactile release. It gives our hands something to do, thus preventing them from gesticulating. This is yet another way we nonverbally express our desire to keep quiet, as gesticulating could give up information we wish not to divulge.

Cue Cluster: Usually the head is pulled back or turned away, chin up, body leaning deep into the seat, eyes are forward, face is blank, lips pursed, the lip or inside of the cheek may be bitten, teeth clenched, knuckles turning white from gripping the arm rest and blanching of the skin.

Body Language Category: Anger, Clenching and gripping, Dislike (nonverbal), Escape movements, Frustrated body language, Hostile body language, Masked emotions, Pacifying, Stubborn or stubbornness.

Resources:

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Heidt, J. M., Marx, B. P., & Forsyth, J. P. (2005). Tonic immobility and childhood sexual abuse: A preliminary report evaluating the sequela of rape-induced paralysis. Behavior Research and Therapy, 43, 1157–1171.

Hung, Iris W. and Aparna A. Labroo. From Firm Muscles to Firm Willpower: Understanding the Role of Embodied Cognition in Self-Regulation. Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 37, No. 6 (April 2011), pp. 1046-1064. Article DOI: 10.1086/657240
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IJzerman, Hans; Marcello Gallucci C; Wim T.J.L.; Pouw, Sophia C.; Weigerber, Niels J.; Van Doesum; and Kipling D. William. Cold-Blooded Loneliness: Social Exclusion Leads To Lower Skin Temperatures. Acta Psychologica. 2012; 140: 283-288.

IJzerman, Hans and Gün R. Semin. Temperature Perceptions As A Ground For Social Proximity. Journal Of Experimental Social Psychology. 2010; 46: 867-873.

Johnson, Bret K. ; Kenkel, Mary Beth. Stress, coping, and adjustment in female adolescent incest victims. Child Abuse & Neglect. 1991. 15(3): 293-305.

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Schmidt, N. B., & Joiner, T., Jr. (2002). Structure of the anxiety sensitivity index: Psychometrics and factor structure in a community sample. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 16, 33–49.

Schmidt, N. B., Miller, J., Lerew, D. R., Woolaway-Bickel, K., & Fitzpatrick, K. (2002). Imaginal provocation of panic in patients with panic disorder. Behavior Therapy, 33, 149–162.

Schmidt, N. B., & Telch, M. J. (1994). Role of fear of fear and safety information in moderating the effects of voluntary hyperventilation. Behavior Therapy, 25, 197–208.

Suarez, S. D., & Gallup, G. G. (1979). Tonic immobility as a response to rape in humans: A theoretical note. The Psychological Record, 29, 315–320.

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.

Scarpa, Stephano; Alessandra Nart; Erica Gobbi and Atillo Carraro. Does Women’s Attitudinal State Body Image Improve After One Session Of Posture Correction Exercises? Social Behavior and Personality. 2011; 39(8): 1045-1052.

Thomas W. Schubert and Sander L. Koole. The Embodied Self: Making A Fist Enhances Men’s Power-Related Self-Conceptions. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 2009; 45: 828–834.

Williams, L.E., & Bargh, J.A. (2008). Experiencing Physical Warmth Promotes Interpersonal Warmth. Science, 322, 606-607.

Yu, Yawen ; Bardy, Benoit G ; Stoffregen, Thomas A. Influences of head and torso movement before and during affordance perception. Journal of motor behavior. 2011. 43(1): 45-54.

Zhong, C. B., & Leonardelli, G. J. (2008). Cold and lonely: Does social exclusion literally feel cold? Psychological Science, 19, 838−842.

Zvolensky, M. J., & Eifert, G. H. (2001). A review of psychological factors/processes affecting anxious responding during voluntary hyperventilation and inhalations of carbon dioxide-enriched air. Clinical Psychology Review,
21, 375–400.

Body Language of Fear Smile or Stress Smile

Body Language of Fear Smile or Stress Smile

No picCue: Fear Smile

Synonym(s): Stress Smile, Fear Grin.

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

In One Sentence: The fear smile indicates emotional stress.

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

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

Context: General.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Resources:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hertenstein, Matthew J.; Carrie A. Hansel; Alissa M. Butts and Sarah N. Hile. Smile Intensity In Photographs Predicts Divorce Later In Life. Motiv Emot. 2009; 33:99-105
DOI 10.1007/s11031-009-9124-6
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Harker, L., & Keltner, D. (2001). Expressions Of Positive Emotion In Women’s College Yearbook Pictures And Their Relationship To Personality And Life Outcomes Across Adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80(1), 112–124. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.80.1.112.

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

Krumhuber, E., Manstead, A., & Kappas, A. Temporal Aspects of Facial Displays in Person and Expression Perception: The Effects of Smile Dynamics, Head-tilt, and Gender. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2007. 31(1), 39-56.
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Krause, Michael W. and Teh-Way David Chen. A Winning Smile? Smile Intensity, Physical Dominance, and Fighter Performance. Emotion. 2013. 13 (2): 270–279. DOI: 10.1037/a0030745
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Krumhuber, Eva G.; Manstead and Antony S. R. Can Duchenne smiles be feigned? New evidence on felt and false smiles. Emotion. 2009. 9 (6): 807-820.
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Krumhuber, Eva; Antony S. R.; Manstead; and Arvid Kappas. Temporal Aspects of Facial Displays in Person and Expression Perception: The Effects of Smile Dynamics, Head-tilt, and Gender. Journal Nonverbal Behavior. 2007; 31: 39-56.
DOI 10.1007/s10919-006-0019-x
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/head-tilt-and-slow-onset-smile-nonverbals-trust-attraction-dominance-and-flirting-a-brief-report/

Labroo, Aparna A.; Anirban Mukhopadhyay; Ping Dong. Not Always the Best Medicine: Why Frequent Smiling Can Reduce Wellbeing. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 2014. 53:156-162.
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Lockard, J. S., McVittie, R. I., & Isaac, L. M. (1977). Functional Significance Of The Affiliative Smile. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 9, 367-370.

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

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Okubo, Matia; Akihiro, Kobayashi and Kenta Ishikawa. A Fake Smile Thwarts Cheater Detection. Journal of Nonverbal Behaviour. 2012. 36:217–225. DOI 10.1007/s10919-012-0134-9
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Russell, James A. 1995. Facial Expressions of Emotion: What Lies Beyond Minimal Universality? Psychological bulletin. 118(3): 379-391.

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

Reed, Lawrence Ian; Katharine N. Zeglen and Karen L. Schmidt. Facial Expressions as Honest Signals of Cooperative Intent in a One-Shot Anonymous Prisoner’s Dilemma Game. Evolution and Human Behavior. 2012. 33: 200-209.
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Samuele Centorrino, Elodie Djemai, Astrid Hopfensitz, Manfred Milinski, Paul Seabright. Honest Signaling in Trust Interactions: Smiles Rated as Genuine Induce Trust and Signal Higher Earning Opportunities. Evolution and Human Behavior DOI:
dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2014.08.001.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/smile-great-gain-smiling-key-negotiation/

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

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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 Facial Hair and Beards

Body Language of Facial Hair and Beards

No picCue: Beards

Synonym(s): Facial Hair.

Description: Facial hair on the chin, cheeks and sometimes the neck.

In One Sentence: Facial hair is a universal signal of dominance.

How To Use it: The use of facial hair as a positive signal is reserved exclusively to men. Men should use facial hair if they wish to send a dominance signal. Research shows that the longer the beard, the more masculine it is perceived by others. High stubble, on the other hand is found to be the most attractive as it is seen as thick, but not unwieldy. Keeping the beard well manicured will produce the best impression. An extremely long beard will be seen as wise. Artistic or fashionable beards including designs can produce the impression of masculinity with creativity.

Regardless, keep a beard if you want to be viewed as dominant, sexually mature, capable and wise.

Note too, that bear fashion and preferences for beards changes over time. With all this in mind, use beard length and style to create your desired impression.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: a) “I’m expressing my own personal character and may or may not care what other people think about that.” b) “I’m dominant and masculine permitting me to express this uniquely male characteristic.”

Variant: Facial hairstyles includes the goatee, mustaches, full beard, mountain man beard, French cut, mutton chops, or stubble.

Cue In Action: a) The teenage boy was the first in his class to be able to grow out a moustache to the envy of the others. b) His beard was full and always well groomed. He was a specimen of masculinity. c) His beard was unwieldy and un-kept, a real turn-off to women.

Meaning and/or Motivation: It is a nonverbal message signifying wisdom and is scholarly unless left to grow untrimmed. In this case, it is seen as unwieldy and primitive.

Rarely does a beard indicate secretiveness, though, some may ascribe that character to a bearded person. Beards are a cosmetic choice. Beards can indicate that a man feels he looks better that way, is trying to look older, is trying to hide age by covering wrinkles, is trying to conceal a facial flaw such as a weak chin or has a rebellious or artistic personality.

Growing a beard is linked to genetic qualities, but beard growth is linked to high levels of testosterone. The more testosterone produced the faster and fuller a beard grows. Having a beard provides cues to others as to the level of aggression and dominance a person may be prone.

Women habitually have mixed feelings about beards that may be linked to their personal preferences for dominance in their partners. Beards are also treated differently according to culture. In the West, beards are seen as hyper-masculine where a clean-shaven feminized face is preferred.

Cue Cluster: N/A

Body Language Category: Dominant body language.

Resources:

Conti, Richard P ; Conti, Melanie A. Mock jurors’ perceptions of facial hair on criminal offenders. Perceptual and motor skills. 2004. 98(3 Pt 2): 1356-8.

De Souza, Altay Alves Lino ; Baião, Vera Baumgarten Ulyssea ; Otta, Emma. Perception of men’s personal qualities and prospect of employment as a function of facial hair. Psychological reports. 2003. 92(1): 201-8.

Dixson, Barnaby J ; Vasey, Paul L. Beards augment perceptions of menʼs age, social status, and aggressiveness, but not attractiveness. Behavioral Ecology. 2012. 23(3): 481-490.

Dixson, Barnaby J ; Tam, Jamie C ; Awasthy, Monica. Do women’s preferences for men’s facial hair change with reproductive status? Behavioral Ecology. 2013. 24(3): 708-716.

Dixson, Barnaby J. and Robert C. Brooks. The Role Of Facial Hair In Women’s Perceptions Of Men’s Attractiveness, Health, Masculinity And Parenting Abilities. Evolution and Human Behavior, 2013; 34 (3): 236–241.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/study-finds-that-men-are-most-attractive-with-heavy-stubble-beards

Geniole, Shawn N. ; Mccormick, Cheryl M. Facing our ancestors: judgements of aggression are consistent and related to the facial width-to-height ratio in men irrespective of beards. Evolution and Human Behavior. 2014. 1090-5138.

Gröning, Flora ; Liu, Jia ; Fagan, Michael J ; O’Higgins, Paul. Why do humans have chins? Testing the mechanical significance of modern human symphyseal morphology with finite element analysis. American journal of physical anthropology 2011. 144(4): 593-606.

Krumhuber, Eva ; Manstead, Antony ; Kappas, Arvid. Temporal Aspects of Facial Displays in Person and Expression Perception: The Effects of Smile Dynamics, Head-tilt, and Gender. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2007. (1): 39-56

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/

Middleton, Jacob. Bearded patriarchs: Jacob Middleton investigates the eccentric set of prejudices against shaving that led our Victorian forefathers to adorn their chins with a lush growth of facial hair. History Today. 2006, Vol.56(2), p.26(2).

Mignault, Alain and Chaudhuri, Avi. The Many Faces of a Neutral Face: Head Tilt and Perception of Dominance and Emotion. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2003 27(2): 111-132.

Marshall, Steven D. ; Low, Laura E. ; Holton, Nathan E. ; Franciscus, Robert G. ; Frazier, Mike ; Qian, Fang ; Mann, Kyle ; Schneider, Galen ; Scott, Jill E. ; Southard, Thomas E. Chin development as a result of differential jaw growth American Journal of Orthodontics & Dentofacial Orthopedics. 2011 139(4): 456-464.

Neave Nick and Kerry Shields. The Effects of Facial Hair Manipulation on Female Perceptions of Attractiveness, Masculinity, and Dominance in Male Faces. Personality and Individual Differences. 2008. 45(5): 373–377. DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2008.05.007.

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

Weisbuch, Max ; Slepian, Michael L ; Eccleston, Collette P ; Ambady, Nalini. Nonverbal Expressions of Status and System Legitimacy. Psychological Science. 2013. 24(11): 2315-2321.

Wogalter, Michaels. ; Hosie, Juditha. Effects of Cranial and Facial Hair on Perceptions of Age and Person. The Journal of Social Psychology. 1991 131(4): 589-591.

Zinnia J. Janif, Robert C. Brooks, Barnaby J. Dixson. Negative Frequency-Dependent Preferences and Variation in Male Facial Hair. Biology Letters. Published online April 16, 2014. DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2013.0958.

Body Language of The Face Wash

Body Language of The Face Wash

No picCue: Face Wash (The)

Synonym(s): Face Rub, Face Cleans, Rubbing The Face, Washing The Face With The Hands, Hands Rubbing The Face.

Description: The palms cup and rub the face as if washing it.

In One Sentence: The face wash signals the desire for a fresh start.

How To Use it: Use the face wash when you are tired and need to self-sooth or refresh your perspective. Research has shown that we often perform various ritualized gestures in order to purify ourselves and our minds. “Washing the face” with bare hands is likely rooted in our psyche as a way to refresh the body and mind. When the face is massaged it can help release positive hormones helping to reduce stress and discomfort.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: a) “I’m feeling a little bit off so it’s time to scrub my face and clean up for a fresh start.” b) “Ahhhhh, so much frustration, time for a refresh.” c) “I’m tired and rubbing my face produces self soothing.”

Variant: See Face Palm and Double Face Palm.

Cue In Action: After writing many nonverbal dictionary cues, he rubbed his face with his palms as a way to build the strength to continue.

Meaning and/or Motivation: The face wash is a way to reenergize the body and prepare for action or conversely as the body nears giving up due to low energy. It is a pacifying and self-touching and self-grooming gesture – a sort of self-massage to release positive hormones. The gesture is a throwback to washing the face in the morning or reinvigorating it with cold water from a flowing stream.

Cue Cluster: The Face wash is usually accompanied by a vocal grunt, an “oh-boy,” or “ugh” showing its primitive roots. Commonly, a person will have drooping tired eyes, might be yawning, drifting off and glazing over.

Body Language Category: Adaptors, Auto contact or self touching, Stroking body language, Preening, Self-motivating gestures.

Resources:

Brown, B. R. (1970). Face-saving following experimentally induced embarrassment. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 6, 255–271.

Bond, Michael H., and Hiroshi Komai (1976). “Targets of Gazing and Eye Contact During Interviews: Effects on Japanese Nonverbal Behavior.” In Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Vol. 34), pp. 1276-84.

Blakeslee, Sandra (1995). “In Brain’s Early Growth, Timetable Maybe Crucial.” In New York Times (“Science Times,” August 29), pp. C1, C3.

Chen-Bo Zhong and Katie Liljenquist. Washing Away Your Sins: Threatened Morality And Physical Cleansing. Science. 2006; 313, 1451.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/hand-washing-as-indication-of-moral-threat/

Dong, Ping ; Huang, Xun (Irene) ; Wyer, Robert S. The Illusion of Saving Face
Psychological Science. 2013. 24(10): pp.2005-2012.

Ekman, Paul, and Wallace V. Friesen (1969). “Nonverbal Leakage and Clues to Deception.” In Psychiatry (Vol. 32), pp. 88-106.

Florack, Arnd; Janet Kleber; Romy Busch and David Stöhr. Detaching the ties of ownership: the effects of hand washing on the exchange of endowed products. Journal of Consumer Psychology 24, 2 (2014) 284–289
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/washing-the-hands-for-new-beginning-ownership-and-the-endowment-effect/

Goodall, Jane (1986). The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior (Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University).

Givens, David B. (1976). An Ethological Approach to the Study of Human Nonverbal Communication (University of Washington Ph.D. dissertation in Anthropology, Ann Arbor: University Microfilms).

Grand, Stanley (1977). “On Hand Movements During Speech: Studies of the Role of Self-Stimulation in Communication Under Conditions of Psychopathology, Sensory Deficit, and Bilingualism.” In Norbert Freedman and Stanley Grand, eds., Communicative Structures and Psychic Structures: A Psycholanalytic Interpretation of Communication (New York: Plenum Press), pp. 199-221.

Keltner, D., & Buswell, B. N. (1997). Embarrassment: Its distinct form and appeasement functions. Psychological Bulletin. 122: 250–270.

Kenner, Andrew N. (1993). “A Cross-Cultural Study of Body-Focused Hand Movement.” In Journal of Nonverbal Behavior (Vol. 17, No. 4, Winter), pp. 263-79.

Lee, S. W. S., & Schwarz, N. (2010). Dirty hands and dirty mouths: Embodiment of the moral-purity metaphor is specific to the motor modality involved in moral transgression.
Psychological Science, 21, 1423–1425.
Schnall, S., Benton, J., & Harvey, S. (2008). With a clean conscience: Cleanliness reduces the severity of moral judgments. Psychological Science, 19, 1219–1222.

Morris, Desmond (1994). Bodytalk: The Meaning of Human Gestures (New York: Crown Publishers).

McGrew, W. C. (1972). “Aspects of Social Development in Nursery School Children with Emphasis on Introduction to the Group.” In N. G. Blurton Jones, ed., Ethological Studies of Child Behaviour (Cambridge: University Press), pp. 129-56.

Pugh, George E. (1977). The Biological Origin of Human Values (New York: Basic Books).

Rosenfeld, Howard (1973). “Nonverbal Reciprocation of Approval: An Experimental Analysis.” In Argyle *, pp. 163-72.

Sommer, Robert (1969). Personal Space: The Behavioral Basis of Design (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall).

Xu, A. J., Zwick, R., & Schwarz, N. (2012). Washing away your (good or bad) luck: Physical cleansing affects risk-taking behavior. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 141, 26–30.

Zhong, C. B., & Liljenquist, K. (2006). Washing away your sins: Threatened morality and physical cleansing. Science, 313, 1451–1452.

Zhong, C. B., Strejcek, B., & Sivanathan, N. (2010). A clean self can render harsh moral judgment. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46, 859–862.

Body Language of Face Palm and Double Face Palm

Body Language of Face Palm and Double Face Palm

No picCue: Face Palm

Synonym(s): N/A

Description: A gesture done by placing the hand or hands on the face or forehead cupping or conversely, lowering the face on to the palms rested on a surface such as a desk.

In One Sentence: The face palm signals frustration, disappointment, embarrassment, shock, surprise or even sarcasm.

How To Use it: Use the face palm to demonstrate that you feel embarrassed by what you just heard. It’s a nonverbal “Oh my God!”

You may also use the face palm to show others that you are suffering pain or grief. This can help garner sympathy and is not unlike the reaction children have to emotional discomfort. In this way, covering the face with the palms allows one to shield one’s self from view to escape further shame and embarrassment so can lessen the negative effects.

To appear in control and dominant, however, never cover the face – one should simply own up to their behaviour, shameful, or otherwise.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: a) “The world is ending as I know it, I need to stop people from seeing my face as I stifle tears and also try to block any additional negativity from striking me.” b) “Oh my God, I can’t believe you just said that, what shame you have provided yourself.” c) “I feel stupid just being around you, I’m cowering in shame.”

Variant: See Face Wash (The).

Cue In Action: The stockbroker brought his hands up and covered his face. He watched helplessly while the stock market plunged wiping out his client’s equity.

Meaning and/or Motivation: The face palm indicates frustration, disappointment, embarrassment, shock, surprise or even sarcasm.

The face palm has roots in childhood where toddlers would hide and bury their face when crying in blankets or against the chest or lap of parents, so others wouldn’t see their grief or shyness.

Recent Internet usage has applied this gesture where one wishes to show disappointment and shame on forums and in comments following videos and articles. The face is covered to hide frustration through a desire to block and shield external stimuli from entering and hide emotions from the view of others.

Cue Cluster: The face and eyes will wince and scrunch, eyebrows lower, tears may form, and deep frustration will come across the face. The shoulders will slump and the torso will bend at the waist. If standing the torso may bend backwards as if praying.

Body Language Category: Auto contact or self touching, Barriers, Depressive,
Disengagement, Embarrassment (nonverbal), Escape movements, Eye blocking, Frustration or frustrated body language, Negative body language, Pseudo-infantile gestures, Protective reflexes, Shy nonverbal.

Resources:

Brown, B. R. (1970). Face-saving following experimentally induced embarrassment. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 6, 255–271.

Bond, Michael H., and Hiroshi Komai (1976). “Targets of Gazing and Eye Contact During Interviews: Effects on Japanese Nonverbal Behavior.” In Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Vol. 34), pp. 1276-84.

Blakeslee, Sandra (1995). “In Brain’s Early Growth, Timetable Maybe Crucial.” In New York Times (“Science Times,” August 29), pp. C1, C3.

Dong, Ping ; Huang, Xun (Irene) ; Wyer, Robert S. The Illusion of Saving Face
Psychological Science. 2013. 24(10): pp.2005-2012.

Ekman, Paul, and Wallace V. Friesen (1969). “Nonverbal Leakage and Clues to Deception.” In Psychiatry (Vol. 32), pp. 88-106.

Goodall, Jane (1986). The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior (Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University).

Givens, David B. (1976). An Ethological Approach to the Study of Human Nonverbal Communication (University of Washington Ph.D. dissertation in Anthropology, Ann Arbor: University Microfilms).

Grand, Stanley (1977). “On Hand Movements During Speech: Studies of the Role of Self-Stimulation in Communication Under Conditions of Psychopathology, Sensory Deficit, and Bilingualism.” In Norbert Freedman and Stanley Grand, eds., Communicative Structures and Psychic Structures: A Psycholanalytic Interpretation of Communication (New York: Plenum Press), pp. 199-221.

Keltner, D. (1995). The signs of appeasement: Evidence for the distinct display of embarrassment, amusement, and shame. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 68: 441–454.

Keltner, D., & Buswell, B. N. (1997). Embarrassment: Its distinct form and appeasement functions. Psychological Bulletin. 122: 250–270.

Kenner, Andrew N. (1993). “A Cross-Cultural Study of Body-Focused Hand Movement.” In Journal of Nonverbal Behavior (Vol. 17, No. 4, Winter), pp. 263-79.

Morris, Desmond (1994). Bodytalk: The Meaning of Human Gestures (New York: Crown Publishers).

McGrew, W. C. (1972). “Aspects of Social Development in Nursery School Children with Emphasis on Introduction to the Group.” In N. G. Blurton Jones, ed., Ethological Studies of Child Behaviour (Cambridge: University Press), pp. 129-56.
Miller, R. S. (1987). Empathic embarrassment: Situational and personal determinants of reactions to the embarrassment of another. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
53, 1061–1069.

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

Pugh, George E. (1977). The Biological Origin of Human Values (New York: Basic Books).

Rosenfeld, Howard (1973). “Nonverbal Reciprocation of Approval: An Experimental Analysis.” In Argyle *, pp. 163-72.

Sommer, Robert (1969). Personal Space: The Behavioral Basis of Design (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall).

Lee, S. W. S., & Schwarz, N. (2010). Dirty hands and dirty mouths: Embodiment of the moral-purity metaphor is specific to the motor modality involved in moral transgression.
Psychological Science, 21, 1423–1425.

Xu, A. J., Zwick, R., & Schwarz, N. (2012). Washing away your (good or bad) luck: Physical cleansing affects risk-taking behavior. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 141, 26–30.

Zhong, C. B., & Liljenquist, K. (2006). Washing away your sins: Threatened morality and physical cleansing. Science, 313, 1451–1452.

Body Language of Face Gaze

Body Language of Face Gaze

No picCue: Face Gaze

Synonym(s): Gazing At The Face.

Description: A type of gaze pattern where a person directs eyes to another person’s face rather than their eyes or body.

In One Sentence: Face gaze indicates a desire to read someone emotionally.

How To Use it: Use face gazing in a dating context to build intimacy. Gazing for long periods time is common in young couples in order to connect. Gazing is also helpful to new mothers and fathers seeking to bond with their newborns.

Gazing is a way to study the inner workings of another person and build intimacy at the same time. Use it where appropriate.

Context: a) General b) Dating.

Verbal Translation: a) “I’m studying your face for nonverbal cues and I’m not interested in building any intimacy or rapport.” b) “I’m studying your face to connect with you and build intimacy and rapport.”

Variant: See Mutual Gaze, Eye Gaze, Eye Contact, Friendly Social Gaze.

Cue In Action: She was trying to pick out her flaws so she went over every square inch of her flesh and pours.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Face gaze absent of eye contact and rapport is a form of stealing and judgment. It can also mean lusting and also positive feelings depending on the pattern.

Cue Cluster: N/A

Body Language Category: Eye Language.

Resources:

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

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.

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/

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.

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.

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

Guellai, Bahia ; Streri, Arlette Tsakiris, Manos (Editor). Cues for Early Social Skills: Direct Gaze Modulates Newborns’ Recognition of Talking Faces (Newborns Prefer a Talking Face with Direct Gaze). PLoS ONE. 2011. 6(4): p.e18610

George, N., Driver, J., & Dolan, R. J. (2001). Seen gaze-direction modulates fusiform activity and its coupling with other brain areas during face processing. Neuroimage, 13, 1102–1112.

George, N., Driver, J., & Dolan, R. J. (2001). Seen gaze-direction modulates fusiform activity and its coupling with other brain areas during face processing. Neuroimage, 13, 1102–1112.

Hietanen, J. K. (1999). Does your gaze direction and head orientation shift my visual attention? Neuroreport, 10, 3443–3447.

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

Hoehl, Stefanie ; Striano, Tricia. The Development of Emotional Face and Eye Gaze Processing. Developmental Science. 2010. 13(6): p.813-825.

Jenkins, R., Beaver, J.D., & Calder, A.J. (2006). I thought you were looking at me: Direction-specific aftereffects in gaze perception. Psychological Science, 17, 506–513.

Jenkins, R., Keane, J., & Calder, A.J. (2007, August). From your eyes only: Gaze adaptation from averted eyes and averted heads. Paper presented at the Thirtieth European Conference on Visual Perception, Arezzo, Italy.

Kawashima, R., Sugiura, M., Kato, T., Nakamura, A., Hatano, K., Ito, K., Fukuda, H., Kojima, S., & Nakamura, K. (1999). The human amygdala plays an important role in gaze monitoring: A PET study. Brain, 122, 779–783.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Langton, S.R.H. (2000). The mutual influence of gaze and head orientation in the analysis of social attention direction. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology A: Human Experimental Psychology, 53, 825–845.

Langton, S. R. H., & Bruce, V. (1999). Reflexive visual orienting in response to the social attention of others. Visual Cognition, 6, 541–567.

Langton, S. R. H., & Bruce, V. (2000). You must see the point: Automatic processing of cues to the direction of social attention. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 26, 747–757.

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.

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.

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

Perrett, D.I., Hietanen, J.K., Oram, M.W., & Benson, P.J. (1992). Organization and functions of cells responsive to faces in the temporal cortex. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 335, 23–30.

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.

Qian, Qian ; Song, Miao ; Shinomori, Keizo. Gaze cueing as a function of perceived gaze direction. Japanese Psychological Research. 2013. 55(3): 264-272.

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.
Senju, Atsushi ; Vernetti, Angélina ; Kikuchi, Yukiko ; Akechi, Hironori ; Hasegawa,

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.

Tomasello, M., Hare, B., Lehmann, H., & Call, J. (2007). Reliance on head versus eyes in the gaze following of great apes and human infants: The cooperative eye hypothesis. Journal of Human Evolution, 52, 314–320.

Toshikazu. Cultural modulation of face and gaze scanning in young children
PloS one. 2013. 8(8): pp.e74017

Trepagnier, Cheryl Sebrechts, Marc M. ; Peterson, Rebecca. Atypical Face Gaze in Autism. CyberPsychology Behavior. 2002. 5(3): 213-217.

Young, Steven G. ; Slepian, Michael L. ; Wilson, John Paul ; Hugenberg, Kurt. Averted eye-gaze disrupts configural face encoding. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 2014. 53: 94-99.

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

Wicker, B., Michel, F., Henaff, M.-A., & Decety, J. (1998). Brain regions involved in the perception of gaze: A PET study. Neuroimage, 8, 221–227.

Body Language of The Face Frame

Body Language of The Face Frame

No picCue: Face Frame

Synonym(s): Make-up, Moving Hands Around The Face.

Description: An active or subconscious gesture used to draw the attention of others toward the face. It might be done with make-up, moving the hands around the face, pointing toward the face, drawing a pen from a piece of paper up to the eyes and so forth.

In One Sentence: The face frame is way to draw the attention of others to our face.

How To Use it: Use the face frame when you want other’s to notice you for your outer appearance. Women should frame their faces in a dating context or when they wish to be seen as friendly or docile and therefore in need of care and protection. The effect is pronounced in women with scarves and make-up and work well in a dating context. Men can frame their faces, as can women, by bringing pens and papers to the sides of their faces such as while presenting in business. This is helpful in creating a more human element in a presentation and serves to make our faces more memorable.

Context: a) General b) Dating.

Verbal Translation: “I’m drawing attention toward my face because I want you to notice it.”

Variant: Face Platter.

Cue In Action: a) The rock star put on white face paint and heavy dark make-up around his eyes, so people would notice him. b) She took the time to reapply her make up before coming home from work so she looked refreshed for her husband.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Just like women wear low cut shirts that draw attention to their breasts, women can use various means to draw attention to their face – if they want others to notice. Many women wear make-up, sometimes heavy make-up for this reason.

Heavy or bright lipstick is designed to emphasis the lips for example. When women take part in dance or sing on stage, they will usually wear plenty of make-up and large false eyelashes in order to showcase their faces to a large and distant audience. The make-up is meant to overcome the deficit that distance plays.

Women who are less attractive will also tend to wear additional make-up. Make-up that
is odd or unique is also aimed at drawing attention and to stand out from other people.

Moving the pen or index finger around the face is another way to draw attention up toward the face as the eyes tend to follow the path of moving objects.

Cue Cluster: N/A

Body Language Category: Adornments.

Resources:

Borkenau, P. (1991). Evidence of a correlation between wearing glasses and personality. Personality and Individual Differences, 12, 1125-1128. doi:10.1016/0191-8869(91)90074-L

Cash, T. F., Dawson, K., Davis, P., Bowen, M., & Galumbeck, C. (1989). Effects of cosmetics use on the physical attractiveness and body image of American college women. Journal of Social Psychology, 129, 349-355.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/science-makeup-how-to-use-it/

Chao, A., & Schor, J. B. (1998). Empirical tests of status consumption: Evidence from women’s cosmetics. Journal of Economic Psychology, 19, 107-131.
Franzoi, S. L. (2001). Is female body esteem shaped by benevolent sexism? Sex Roles, 44, 177-188.

Charles v. Ford, Lies! Lies! Lies!: The Psychology of Deceit (Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press, Inc., 1996), 200.

Dimond, Stuart ; Harries, Rashida. Face touching in monkeys, apes and man: Evolutionary origins and cerebral asymmetry. Neuropsychologia. 1984. 22(2): 227-233.

Edwards, K. (1987). Effects of sex and glasses on attitudes toward intelligence and attractiveness. Psychological Reports, 60, 590.

Guéguen, Nicolas. Makeup and Menstrual Cycle: Near Ovulation, Women Use More Cosmetics. The Psychological Record. 2012, 62, 541-548.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/women-use-makeup-fertile/

Guéguen, Nicolas. Brief Report: The Effects of Women’s Cosmeticson Men’s Approach: An Evaluation in a Bar North American Journal of Psychology. 2008. 10 (1): 221-228.

Guéguen, Nicolas and Céline Jacob. Lipstick And Tipping Behavior: When Red Lipstick Enhance Waitresses Tips. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 2012; 31: 1333– 1335.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/men-prefer-women-who-dress-in-red-and-wear-red-lipstick-how-to-earn-more-tips-or-favours-from-men/

Guéguen, Nicolas. Hair color and wages: Waitresses with Blond Hair Have More Fun. The Journal of Socio-Economics. 2012. 41: 370-372.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/research-says-blondes-fair-better-tips-courtship-donations-spontaneous-helping/

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

Guéguen, Nicolas. Brief Report: Women’s Hair Color and Donations: Blonds Receive More Money. North American Journal of Psychology. 2011. 13(3): 367-372.
Guéguen, Nicolas. The Sweet Color of an Implicit Request: Women’s Hair Color and Spontaneous Helping Behavior. Social Behavior and Personality. 2012. 40(7): 1099-1102.

Holme, S. A., Beattie, P. E., & Fleming, C. J. (2002). Cosmetic camouflage advice improves quality of life. British Journal of Dermatology, 147, 946-949.

Harris, M. B., Harris, R. J., & Bochner, S. (1982). Fat, four-eyed, and female: Stereotypes of obesity, glasses, and gender. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 12, 503-516. doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.1982. tb00882.x

Harris, M.B. (1991). Sex differences in stereotypes of spectacles. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 21, 1659–1680. doi 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1991.tb00497.x

Hasart, J. K.,&Hutchinson, K. L. (1993). The effects of eyeglasses on perceptions of interpersonal-attraction. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 8, 521–528.

Hellström, A., & Tekle, J. (1994). Person perception through facial photographs: Effects of glasses, hair, and beard on judgments of occupation and personal qualities. European Journal of Social Psychology, 24, 693–705. doi 10.1002/ejsp.2420240606

Jones, Alex L.; Robin S. S. Kramerb and Robert Warda. Miscalibrations in Judgements of Attractiveness With Cosmetics. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. 2014. 64(1): 12060-2068. DOI: 10.1080/17470218.2014.908932.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/dont-cake-makeup-study-finds-less-makeup-best/

Jones, Alex L and Robin S. S. Kramer. Facial Cosmetics Have Little Effect on Attractiveness Judgments Compared With Identity. 2015. In Press. doi:10.1068/p7904
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/ditch-makeup-cosmetics-play-small-role-overall-beauty-study/

Kyle, D. J., & Mahler, H. I. (1996). The effects of hair colour and cosmetic use on perceptions of a female’s ability. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 20, 447-455.

Lundberg, J. K., & Sheehan, E. P. (1994). The effects of glasses and weight on perceptions of attractiveness and intelligence. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 9, 753–760.

Leder, Helmut ; Forster, Michael ; Gerger, Gernot. The Glasses Stereotype Revisited: Effects of Eyeglasses on Perception, Recognition, and Impression of Faces. Swiss Journal of Psychology. 2011. 70(4): 211-222.

Mulhern, R., Fieldman, G., Hussey, T., Le´veˆque, J.-L., & Pineau, P. (2003). Do cosmetics enhance Caucasian female facial attractiveness? International Journal of Cosmetic Science, 25(4), 199-205.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/beauty-eye-holder-makeup/

Mohiyeddini, Changiz ; Semple, Stuart. Displacement behaviour regulates the experience of stress in men. Stress. 2013. 16(2): 163-171.

Nash, Rebecca; George Fieldman; Trevor Hussey; Jean-Luc Le Ve Que and Patricia Pineau. Cosmetics: They Influence More Than Caucasian Female Facial Attractiveness
Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 2006. 36(2):493-504.

Porcheron, Aurélie; Emmanuelle Mauger; Richard Russell. Aspects of Facial Contrast Decrease with Age and Are Cues for Age Perception. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (3): e57985 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0057985.

Russell, Richard. (2010) Why cosmetics work. In Adams, R., Ambady, N., Nakayama, K., & Shimojo, S. (Eds.) The Science of Social Vision. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 186-203

Regan, Pamela C. Cinderella Revisited: Women’s Appearance Modification as a Function of Target Audience Sex and Attractiveness. Social Behavior and Personality. 2011. 39(4): 563-576. DOI 10.2224/sbp.2011.39.4.563
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/women-wear-makeup-meeting-attractive-people/

Stillman, Jerijaynew. ; Hensley, Waynee. She wore a flower in her hair: The effect of ornamentation on nonverbal communication. Journal of Applied Communication Research. 1980. 8(1): 31-39.

Terry, R. L. (1993). How wearing eyeglasses affects facial recognition. Current Psychology, 12, 151–162. doi 10.1007/ BF02686820

Terry,R. L.,&Hall, C. A. (1989). Affective responses to eyeglasses: Evidence of a sex difference. Journal of American Optometrist Association, 60, 609–611.

Terry, R. L., & Kroger, D.L. (1976). Effects of eye correctives on ratings of attractiveness. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 42, 562. doi 10.2466/PMS.42.2.562

Body Language of Eyes Defocused or Eyes Unfocused

Body Language of Eyes Defocused or Eyes Unfocused

No picCue: Eyes Defocused or Eyes Unfocused

Synonym(s): Unfocused Eyes, Glazing Over.

Description: When the eyes are unmoving and stare blankly seemingly looking through people and things.

In One Sentence: Defocused eyes signals that a person is internalizing emotions and thoughts.

How To Use it: Use defocused eyes to escape and reflect. This can be useful when trying to free one’s self of particularly stressful situation or when one needs time to reflect. Permitting the eyes to lose their intensity is useful while in busy or congested areas of cities as it allows the mind to rest. When you find yourself daydreaming, go along with it, as this can help recharge the mind. Often, daydreaming produces unique ideas and solutions.

Defocused eyes can also be used to signal to presenters that they should improve their delivery.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m dealing with something internally. My thoughts are focused and intense or contrarily, daydreaming, thus my eyes are relaxed and unfocused as I think inwardly rather than deal with the external world.”

Variant: Staring or The Evil Eye.

Cue In Action: She tried to get the little boy’s attention, but he stared blankly out the window. His mind had drifted off to an imaginary world of dinosaurs.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Indicates that attention is focused inward rather than outward.

Unfocused eyes can be as much the result of boredom as a desire to seek stimulation from inner thoughts and ideas, instead of what the real world has to offer. Other times, unfocused eyes are due to a need to escape for some time alone to reflect without external inputs. Additionally, people may escape particularly stressful situations through unfocused eyes as a method of coping stoically.

Cue Cluster: The head and body will remain still and be relaxed, the face will be open up and remain calm and blank. The body will seem to lose it’s flex and enter a sort of dormant or zombie state.

Body Language Category: Boredom, Closed facial gestures, Defensive, Disengagement, Distancing or moving away, Escape movements, Indicators of disinterest (IOD), Pensive displays.

Resources:

Carvajal, Fernando ; Rubio, Sandra ; Serrano, Juan ; Ríos-Lago, Marcos ; Alvarez-Linera, Juan ; Pacheco, Lara ; Martín, Pilar. Is a neutral expression also a neutral stimulus? A study with functional magnetic resonance. Experimental Brain Research, 2013. 228(4): 467-479.

Channell, Marie Moore ; Barth, Joan M. Individual differences in preschoolers’ emotion content memory: the role of emotion knowledge. Journal of experimental child psychology. 2013. 115(3): 552-61.

Ekas, Naomi V. ; Haltigan, John D. ; Messinger, Daniel S. The Dynamic Still-Face Effect: Do Infants Decrease Bidding over Time when Parents Are Not Responsive? Developmental Psychology. 2013. 49(6): 1027-1035.

Giuseppe Blasi; Ahmad R. Hariri; Guilna Alce; Paolo Taurisano; Fabio Sambataro; Saumitra Das; Alessandro Bertolino; Daniel R. Weinberger and Venkata S. Mattay. Preferential Amygdala Reactivity to the Negative Assessment of Neutral Faces. 2009. 6(9): 847-853.

Heisel, Marnin ; Mongrain, Myriam. Facial Expressions and Ambivalence: Looking for Conflict in All the Right Faces. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2004. 28(1): 35-52.

King, Laura A. Ambivalence over emotional expression and reading emotions in situations and faces. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1998 74(3): 753(10)

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

Heisel, Marnin ; Mongrain, Myriam. Facial Expressions and Ambivalence: Looking for Conflict in All the Right Faces. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2004. 28(1): 35-52.

Matsumoto, David ; Hwang, Hyisung C. Desteno, David (editor). Judgments of Subtle Facial Expressions of Emotion. Emotion. 2014. 14(2): 349-357.

Pinkham, Amy E. ; Brensinger, Colleen ; Kohler, Christian ; Gur, Raquel E. ; Gur, Ruben C. Actively paranoid patients with schizophrenia over attribute anger to neutral faces. Schizophrenia Research. 2011 125(2): 174-178.

Rothman, Naomi B. Steering Sheep: How Expressed Emotional Ambivalence Elicits Dominance in Interdependent Decision Making Contexts. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. 2011. 116: 66-82.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/ambivalent-facial-expression-form-dominance-study

Shah, Rebecca ; Lewis, Michael. Locating the neutral expression in the facial-emotion space. Visual Cognition. 2003. 10(5): 549-566.

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

Wolf K, Mass R, Ingenbleek T, Kiefer F, Naber D et al. (2005) The facial pattern of disgust, appetence, excited joy and relaxed joy: an improved facial EMG study. Scand J Psychol 46: 403-409. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9450.2005.00471.x. PubMed: 16179022.

Woud, Marcella L. ; Becker, Eni S. ; Lange, Wolf – Gero ; Rinck, Mike. Effects of approach-avoidance training on implicit and explicit evaluations of neutral, angry, and smiling face stimuli.(Relationships & Communications). Psychological Reports. 2013. 113(1): 1211(18).

Vanderhasselt, Marie – Anne ; Kühn, Simone ; De Raedt, Rudi. Put on your poker face’: neural systems supporting the anticipation for expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. 2013 8(8): 903-910.