Category: Ready posture

Body pointing, Disapproval cues, Disengagement body language, Dislike (nonverbal), Distancing or moving away, Escape movements, Indicator of interest (IoI), Indicators of disinterest (IOD), Intention movements, Orienting reflex or orienting response, Ready posture, Rejection body language

Body Language of Toe Pointing or Pointed Toe

by Chris • October 29, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Toe Pointing or Pointed Toe

Cue: Toe Pointing or Pointed Toe.

Synonym(s): Pointed Toe, Foot Pointing, Feet Indicating, Feet Toward, Feet Away, Goodbye Feet, Honest Feet, Foot Pointing Language.

Description: When the feet point toward the direction they wish to travel.

In One Sentence: Toes are believed to subconsciously signal the direction in which people wish to travel, or in the direction in which they are thinking.

How To Use it: Foot pointing usually goes unnoticed, however, to show intimacy and focus, orient the entire body toward the person who you wish to express your undivided attention. This works well in business, dating, as well as other relationships. Showing others that they have your nonverbal attention is much more powerful than simply lending an ear or an eye. Despite the cue being out of usual awareness, it is quite likely that others will pick up on your cue and ascribe to you positive attributes. See Meaning and/or Motivation for more ideas about constructive uses for foot pointing.

Context: a) General b) Dating.

Verbal Translation: “My feet are honest and point in the direction I wish to travel.”

Variant: See Arm Withdrawal or Leg Withdrawal.

Cue In Action: a) In his excitement, he failed to realize that his buddy really needed to get going. His buddy’s head began to drag backwards, his torso faced away, and his feet were aimed away from him and toward his car. His body language really said that he needed to get going. b) He wasn’t interested and wanted to leave – his feet slowly inched toward the doorway rather than toward her. On the other hand, her feet were directly facing, and extended, in his direction. The affection was not mutual.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Feet are intension cues because they are the earliest indicators of where the mind wishes to go. Feet point to doorways when someone wants to leave and away from people they do not agree with. If feet are pointed away from you, it’s a strong indicator that a person wishes to be elsewhere.

It has been said that the feet are the most honest part of the body as it applies to the language they emit. Millions of years ago, we gave up quadrupedalism to walk upright, leaving our feet to the dirt. While our hands busied themselves with other complex tasks like fire building, making clothing, shelters and throwing spears, our legs were relegated to more primitive activities like locomotion.

The feet have always carried out more traditional tasks like escaping predators, avoiding hot sand or coals from a fire, leaping from slithering snakes or poisonous spiders, or navigating rough rocking river bottoms. The feet were therefore connected more to the reptilian brain that reacts to stimuli directly. The feet don’t contemplate higher order tasks that require planning.

Feet, therefore, make great predictors of behaviour. For example, we know that children are interested in play rather then eating when their legs bounce at the dinner table. Their feet bounce up and down as they quickly gobble their food so they don’t miss the action. Even if feet don’t fidget they will still point, or inch toward the door in effort to prepare for escape. Therefore, the feet of adults reveal true emotions by pointing away from boring conversations and towards things they find attractive or stimulating.

Cue Cluster: Usually the torso also tends to aim in the direction of desired travel, along with the head. Conversations will begin to dry up, agreement indicators either speed up to quicken the conversation or slow down if there is little more to say. Barriers like arm crossing or partial arm crossing will accompany the foot indication.

Body Language Category: Body pointing, Disengagement body language, Dislike (nonverbal), Disapproval cues, Distancing or moving away, Escape movements, Indicators of disinterest (IOD), Indicator of interest (IoI), Intention movements, Orienting reflex or orienting response (a), Rejection body language, Ready language.

Resources:

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

Bania, Amanda E. ; Stromberg, Erin E. Call, Joseph (editor). The Effect of Body Orientation on Judgments of Human Visual Attention in Western Lowland Gorillas.
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Coutts, Larrym. ; Ledden, Maribeth. Nonverbal Compensatory Reactions to Changes in Interpersonal Proximity. The Journal of Social Psychology. 1977 102(2): 283-290.

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

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Cook, Mark. 1970. Experiments on orientation and proxemics. Human Relations 23 (1): 61-76.
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Harrigan J. and Rosenthal R. Physicians’ head and body positions as determinants of perceived rapport. J. appl. Sot. Psychol. 13, 496, 1983.

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.

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*No Photo, Arousal, Boredom body language, Energy Displacement, Escape movements, Nervous Body Language, Ready posture, Stressful body language

Body Language of Fidgeting or Fidget

by Chris • October 21, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Fidgeting or Fidget

Cue: 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/

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/

Karin Roelofs; Muriel A. Hagenaars; and John Stins. Facing Freeze: Social Threat Induces Bodily Freeze in Humans. Psychological Science. 2010 21(11): 1575-1581.
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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.

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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
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/fidgeting-body-language-really-mean-fidget-bored-mentally-taxed/

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 pointing, Distancing or moving away, Escape movements, Indicators of disinterest (IOD), Orienting reflex or orienting response, Ready posture

The Body Language of The Buttress Stance or Foot Forward Leg Stance

by Chris • October 18, 2014 • 0 Comments

The Body Language of The Buttress Stance or Foot Forward Leg Stance

Cue: Buttress Stance

Synonym(s): Pointing Feet, Foot Forward Leg Stance.

Description: A buttress is an architectural feature of buildings designed to support or reinforce a wall. The buttress stance is a standing posture where the leg bearing the body’s weight is straight, while the other leg is extended forward and outward away from the body. The extended leg can either be bent at the knee or straight.

In One Sentence: The buttress stance is a ready stance that indicates one is emotionally sturdy and also prepared for action.

How To Use it: Use the buttress stance to show others that you are in control of your body, but also that you are prepared to leave at any time. The cue find use in any context, but is valued with extroverted friends and when facing a high energy boss. The posture will work to show that you should be taken seriously and also that communication should be expedient because you have things to do and places to be.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m getting ready to go in the direction my feet are pointed.”

Variant: Ventral orientation can also depict the desire to leave, as does leaning away, and body rocking (shifting the weight from one foot to the other). See Rocking The Body, Blading Body Language, Body Angling or Ventral Displays.

Cue In Action: When the topic got headed, James aimed his extended foot to the door and readied himself to vacate.

Meaning and/or Motivation: It indicates a readiness to depart as the legs orient toward an exit and the legs take on a preliminary walking stance. People seen in the buttress stance are sending a clear message that they wish to leave.

Cue Cluster: Used in accompaniment with eye aversion, head lowered, reduced gestures, and body angled away.

Body Language Category: Body pointing, Distancing or moving away, Escape movements, Indicators of disinterest (IOD), Orienting reflex or orienting response, Ready language.

Resources:

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

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

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

Becchio, Cristina ; Sartori, Luisa ; Bulgheroni, Maria ; Castiello, Umberto. The case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: A kinematic study on social intention. Consciousness and Cognition. 2008. 17(3): 557-564.

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

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

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

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

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

Hansen, Jacqueline. Teaching without talking: teachers need to be aware of more than just the words they speak to children. They also need to monitor the nonverbal messages that they’re sending to students through proximity, eye contact, gestures, and touching. Phi Delta Kappan. 2010. 92(1): 35(6).

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

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

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

Harrigan J. and Rosenthal R. Physicians’ head and body positions as determinants of perceived rapport. J. appl. Sot. Psychol. 13, 496, 1983.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Confident body language, Dominant body language, Expansive movements, High confidence body language, Hostile body language, Ready posture, Threat displays

Body Language of Arms Akimbo

by Chris • October 17, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Arms Akimbo

Cue: Arms Akimbo

Synonym(s): Hands Akimbo, Hands On Hips, Fists On Haunches, Pot With Two Handles, “Captain Morgan stance” (The), Straddle Stance, Super Man Stance, Wonder Women Stance, Amy Cuddy Pose (The).

Description: The hands are placed on each hip making the elbows flair out.

In One Sentence: Arms akimbo is an expansive posture used to make the body appear larger and taking up more space thereby creating dominance.

How To Use it: Use this posture to boost your confidence before an important presentation. Research has found that expansive postures such as this one helps boost testosterone and simultaneously lowers the stress hormone cortisol. Likewise, the posture makes the body appear larger and therefore, increases the perception of dominance. Arms akimbo also shows an eagerness to get down to business as it is classified as a “ready posture.” Dominant postures are important when you want to take a leadership role and are prepared to accept the responsibility which comes with authority.

Context: a) Social b) Dating

Verbal Translation: a) “I’m much bigger than I appear, so you must respect me when I puff out like this.” “There are issues here”, “Things are not right”, “I’m standing my ground” or b) “I’m a virile male so check me out!”

Variant: The “Captain Morgan stance” was made popular by a widespread media advertising campaign depicting regular people in the posture. It includes one leg propped up, opening the legs and “exposing the genitals,” with one hand place on the thigh, and the other hand left lose or placed on the hips. This is a dominant, full peacock gesture, as it exposes the genital area for all to view and puffs out the chest, head held high. The aim of the posture is to claim the right to space and soak in the admiration of others.

Alternatively, one hand might be placed on the hips with the other hand gesturing. The thumbs might also be tucked into the belt or into belt loops serving to “frame the genitals.” Women usually aim their fingers backwards to point to their backside rather than their crotch.

Another variant, the straddle stance, is a stable standing position where the legs are straight, and set at, or slightly wider than shoulder width. The weight is bore by both feet evenly. It is normal for men rather than women to hold this stance. It is a display of dominance and confidence, and that a person is “standing their ground.”

Cue In Action: a) Mom is in a good mood until her 6 year old is caught eating sweets from the cupboard. Mom strides to her child, puts her hands on her hips, then begins ecturing him about the harms of junk food. Mom went over to junior, put her hands on her hips, then began lecturing him with a lesson about junk food. b) To make Dave stand out on a dating show, he put his arms on his hips when he stood next to the other contestants.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Having the hands on the hips has roots in evolution. It makes the body take up more space, just like a peacock, and hence appear larger which can be attractive to other men who seek leadership or to women seeking a healthy mate. While in the stance, all the fingers also curl inward so that they point toward the crotch. This draws attention toward the genitals, which punctuates the point even further.

Women will also hold the arms akimbo posture, although more rarely, as it can be seen as assertive (as it draws attention to the genital area by pointing). When women do hold the posture, they usually hold their hands on their hips and point their fingers to their buttocks. Pointing therefore, puts emphasis on our best assets as we state our case! Having the fingers pointed backwards, as women do, is also a more inquisitive, rather than authoritarian, posture. It says, “We have issues.”

The hands-on-hips is also a ready posture when it does not accompany more dominant cues in the cluster. In this case, it appears like a runner at the gate prepared to jump at an opportunity.

Cue Cluster: The cue cluster accompanying the hands-on-hips also includes an upright posture, chin up, chest out and the legs at slightly wider than shoulder width. We may see other dominant gesture such as “batoning” (see Batoning) and finger pointing.

Body Language Category: Ready posture, Confident, Dominant body language, Expansive movements, High confidence body language, Threat displays, Hostile body language.

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