Category: Suspicious body language

*No Photo, Amplifier, Lying or deceptive body language, Microgestures, Suspicious body language

Body Language of Uneven Shoulder Shrugs

by Chris • October 30, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Uneven Shoulder Shrugs

Cue: Uneven Shoulder Shrugs.

Synonym(s): Partial Shoulder Shrug.

Description: The uneven shoulder shrug occurs when only one shoulder comes up by itself rather than both shoulders in unison.

In One Sentence: A partial shoulder shrug or uneven shoulder shrug shows lack of full commitment.

How To Use it: By raising only one shoulder, you can tell other people that you are unsure. Couple this with a down-turned mouth and raised eyebrows for better effect. This works in any context.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m dishonest so my shoulders do not act in unison. My shoulders lack full commitment.”

Variant: When the shoulders rise together, they indicate that a person is fully committed to the idea. The amplitude of the shoulder rise also provides hidden meaning. The higher the shoulder rise, the more committed someone is to “not knowing.” See Shoulder Shrugs or Shoulder Rise.

Cue In Action: When the boss inquired about the whereabouts of the company stapler, two of the three employees raised their shoulders quickly and in unison, the third only raised her right shoulder slightly. That gave him a clue as to whom to pursue for more information. Clearly she knew more than she was willing to share.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Uneven shoulder shrugs are dishonest. Shoulder shrugs indicate when someone doesn’t know something. It’s the “I don’t know” posture. But if they are being truthful with their lack of knowledge, their shoulders will come up in unison and sharply. However, if just one shoulder comes up, and only slightly, then their body language is indicating a lack of amplitude and commitment to the message. This should then lead the reader to conclude that they are uncertain of their message. In other words, dishonesty shows through when the body language to support an emotion lacks full symmetry and follow-through.

Cue Cluster: Watch for other cues of dishonestly such as palms down or hidden in pockets, eyes averted, expressionless face or stress smile, head ducked or bowed and toes or torso pointed toward the exit as if trying to escape.

Body Language Category: Amplifier, Lying or deceptive body language, Microgestures, Suspicious body language.

Resources:

Brin, Pablo and Oli Richard. Body Posture Effects On Self-Evaluation: A self-Validation Approach. European Journal of Social Psychology. 2009; 39: 1053–1064.

Givens, David B. (1977). “Shoulder Shrugging: A Densely Communicative Expressive Behavior.” In Semiotica (Vol. 19:1/2), pp. 13-28.

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/

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

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

Navarro, Joe. A four-domain model for detecting deception: an alternative paradigm for interviewing. The FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin. 2003. 72(6): 19(6).

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

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

Teixeira Fiquer, Juliana; Paulo Sérgio Boggio and Clarice Gorenstein. Talking Bodies: Nonverbal Behavior in the Assessment of Depression Severity. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2013. 150: 1114-1119.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/using-nonverbal-behaviour-to-assess-depression-severity/

*No Photo, Defensive body language, Dislike (nonverbal), Distancing or moving away, Escape movements, Indicators of disinterest (IOD), Intention movements, Negative body language, Rejection body language, Social touching, Suspicious body language

Body Language of The Undershaker Handshake

by Chris • October 30, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of The Undershaker Handshake

Cue: Undershaker Handshake (The)

Synonym(s): Shortshaker Handshake (The)

Description: This handshake is so quick, it’s actually offensive. It lasts merely seconds where the hand is quickly grabbed then released or tossed aside. Sometimes it even lacks any pumping action at all.

In One Sentence: The undershaker is person who covets their own personal space and wants to keep their distance as much as possible.

How To Use it: When you dislike someone, you may try to keep physical contact brief to tell them that it makes you uncomfortable. A quick shake followed by moving backwards, eyes averted, says that you are not willing to interact with them or give them the time of day.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I don’t like what you are selling and I feel like you are trying to take advantage of me so I’m going to drop your hand as quickly as possible so I can get on with my own agenda.”

Variant: See Country Handshake (The), Cold Dead Wet Fish Handshake, Double Gripper Politician Handshake or Double Hander (The), Short Grabber/Finger Grabber Handshake, Oddball Handshake, Palm Up, Palm Down and Palm Even Handshakes, Stiff Arm And Thrust Forward Handshake, Death Grip Handshake, Wrench Forward Handshake, Undershaker Handshake, Wrist Hold Handshake, Wrist Hold Handshake and Upper Arm Grip Handshake, Limp Fish Handshake, Teacup Handshake, Arm Twister Handshake (The), Firm handshake, Fist Bumping.

Cue In Action: The door-to-door salesman managed to make his way inside the house with a slick sales pitch, but the more the homeowner learned the more he disliked the idea. He didn’t know how to get out of the deal as he had already agreed to a sample. When finalizing, the salesman put his hand out to shake and being polite the homeowner did, but he released after just one pump and tossed the shady salesman’s hand aside abruptly.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Someone who shakes hands like this is showing indifference and suspicion.

It is common when someone feels that you are trying to sell them something they aren’t at all interested in buying, or trying to get them to do something they aren’t willing to do.

Other times they are trying to signal that you are intruding on their ground and that no agreement will be made. It’s probably best to respect their wishes, as their initial impression shows that you have come on far too strong.

Other times the undershaker is demonstrating his high need for personal space or lives in a location where physical contact isn’t normal.

Cue Cluster: Some who uses the undershaker handshake will give clues that he does not want to be there. He will turn his head and torso away, move his feet toward the door, will keep his head nods brief, if he nods at all, will take a step back and will only feign listening. This person wants to leave.

Body Language Category: Defensive, Dislike (nonverbal), Distancing or moving away, Escape movements, Indicators of disinterest (IOD), Intention movements, Negative body language, Rejection body language, Suspicious body language, Social touching.

Resources:

Aström, J ; Thorell, L H ; Holmlund, U ; D’Elia, G. Handshaking, personality, and psychopathology in psychiatric patients, a reliability and correlational study. Perceptual and motor skills 1993, Vol.77(3 Pt 2): 1171-86.

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

Chaplin William F.; Phillips Jeffrey B; Brown Jonathan D.; Clanton Nancy R.; Stein Jennifer L.; 2000. Handshaking, gender, personality, and first impressions Journal of personality and social psychology. 79(1): 110-117.

Dolcos, Sanda ; Sung, Keen ; Argo, Jennifer J ; Flor-Henry, Sophie ; Dolcos, Florin. The power of a handshake: neural correlates of evaluative judgments in observed social interactions. Journal of cognitive neuroscience. 2012 24(12): 2292-305.

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

Fisher, J; Rytting, M and Heslin, R. 1976. Hands touching hands: affective and evaluative effects on interpersonal touch, Sociometry 39: 416–421.

Frumin, Idan; Ofer Perl; Yaara Endevelt-Shapira; Ami Eisen; Neetai Eshel; Iris Heller; Maya Shemesh; Aharon Ravia; Lee Sela; Anat Arzi and Noam Sobel. A Social Chemosignaling Function for Human Handshaking. eLife 2015. 4:e05154
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.05154.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/shake-hands-share-human-scent-curious-case-hand-sniffing-body-language/

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

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

Gueguen, Nicolas. Handshaking and Compliance With a Request – A Door-to-door Setting. Social Behavior and Personality. 2013. 41(10): 1585-1588.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/handshakes-lead-compliance-study/

Greenbaum, Paul ; Rosenfeld, Howard. Varieties of touching in greetings: Sequential structure and sex-related differences. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1980. 5(1): 13-25.

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

Hiemstra, Kathleen M. Shake My Hand: Making the Right First Impression in Business With Nonverbal Communications.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included). Business Communication Quarterly. 1999. 62(4): 71.

Jeffrey D. Fisher; Marvin Rytting; Richard Heslin. 1976. Hands Touching Hands: Affective and Evaluative Effects of an Interpersonal Touch. Sociometry, 39(4): 416-421.
Okken, Vanessa ; Van Rompay, Thomas ; Pruyn, Ad. Room to Move: On Spatial Constraints and Self-Disclosure During Intimate Conversations. Environment and Behavior. 2013. 45(6): 737-760.

Lipsitz, Rebecca (2000). “A Gripping Start.” In Scientific American (September), p. 32.

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

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

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

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

Sanda Dolcos; Keen Sung; Jennifer J. Argo; Sophie Flor-Henry and Florin Dolcos. The Power of a Handshake: Neural Correlates of Evaluative Judgments in Observed Social Interactions. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. 24; 12: 2292–2305.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/handshake-open-body-language-powerful-nonverbal-effect-brain/

Stewart, Greg L. ; Dustin, Susan L. ; Barrick, Murray R. ; Darnold, Todd C. Zedeck, Sheldon (editor). Exploring the Handshake in Employment Interviews. Journal of Applied Psychology. 2008. 93(5): 1139-1146.

Spezialetti, Brian D. Do’s and don’ts for winning the job interview. (laboratory technicians). Medical Laboratory Observer. 1995. 27(7): 51-53.

Wesson, David A. The handshake as non-verbal communication in business. (marketing technique). Marketing Intelligence & Planning. 1992. 10(9): 61(6).

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

*No Photo, Arrogance or arrogant body language, Barriers, Blocking or Shielding, Closed body language, Disengagement body language, Eye blocking, Eye Language, Indicators of disinterest (IOD), Open body language, Suspicious body language

Body Language of Sunglasses Body Language

by Chris • October 28, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Sunglasses Body Language

Cue: Sunglasses Body Language.

Synonym(s): Removing Sunglasses, Keeping Sunglasses On, Not Removing Sunglasses.

Description: Wearing and removing sunglasses mean various things depending on the context.

In One Sentence: Wearing sunglasses is a sign that one wishes to protect privacy and reduce intimacy or is simply in need of protecting the eyes from damaging ultraviolet rays.

How To Use it: Wearing sunglasses is a great way to reduce the amount of intimacy shared between you and other people. Sunglasses block the eyes which creates a barrier between you and other people. They are effective in concealing more than just the whites of the eyes, but the eyes in total, which eliminates one of the most important connections between people.

Wear sunglasses whenever you want to be shielded from other people and avoid intimate conversations and when you want to conceal emotions. Poker players habitually use sunglasses, even indoors, to hide telling information about their cards. The same is effective in general life.

See Meaning and/or Motivation to deduce more practical applications of sunglasses.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: a) “I’m keeping my sunglasses on inside this dark room because I want to protect my privacy.” b) “I’m protecting my eyes from the sun and there is no hidden meaning behind my sunglasses.” c) “I’m removing my sunglasses because I want to show that I’m open and honest and want to establish a connection with you.” d) “I’m keeping my sunglasses on because I want to keep my distance from you and protect my privacy – my sunglasses are a barrier between you and me.”

Variant: See Eye Glasses Language.

Cue In Action: a) The celebrity wore his sunglasses from the moment he stepped out of his car until he was out of shot of the cameras b) It was a bright day at the beach and the parents and kids all wore sunglasses to protect their eyes. c) They hadn’t seen each other in almost five years, but as soon as she recognized the familiar face, she removed her sunglasses, said “hi” and gave her a big hug. d) The neighbours struck up a conversation about the loud tenants next door. It wasn’t a particularly sunny day, but both elected to keep their sunglasses on to maintain their privacy.

Meaning and/or Motivation: The main purpose of sunglasses is to protect the eyes from harmful ultraviolet radiation, but when they are worn out of this context, they are laden with hidden meaning.

Sunglasses offer more than protection from the sun, they also protect our eyes from being read. Our eyes hold plenty of potentially hidden information. Those who keep eye glasses on, think celebrities and poker players, while indoors, or in cloudy conditions are telling others that they have a need for secrecy, privacy and to some degree (and in some cases), protection from the bright flashes of the camera.

We habitually see celebrities indoors or in nighttime conditions with sunglasses. This hides the emotion of their face by creating a barrier and also protects their identity. The celebrity is saying, “back off and give me some space and privacy.” When others copy the celebrity-cool-factor by sporting sunglasses indoors it shows that they wish to appear important by feigning celebrity.

Obviously, if we wish to welcome and continue a conversation or increase its effectiveness, we should promptly remove our sunglasses, even in really sunny conditions, so we might benefit from mutual gaze and intimacy. When your counterpart wears glasses, you might both agree to keep them on. However, in so doing, a less intimate encounter will be produced.

Someone that refuses to remove sunglasses is saying that they are a private person and does not want to expose themselves to the judgment and intimacy of others. Wearing sunglasses during a conversation is like hearing the person talk, without really seeing them. It’s like the mythical man behind the curtain where you can never quite get the whole picture.

Conversely, someone that makes a point to remove sunglasses is saying that they want to appear open, honest and create a trusting bond.

Wearing the sunglasses on top of the head can also help to appear cool because it gives the impression of having two sets of eyes. The larger set on top of the head also appear larger with big baby-like pupils. This can work to a person’s advantage.

Alternatively, wearing sunglasses might mean nothing at all. Certain people are particularly sensitive to bright lights and wear sunglasses from the moment they leave the house until they reach their indoor destination.

Cue Cluster: When sunglasses remain on, the face is usually expressionless, the body rigid with body movements controlled and restricted only to that necessary. When sunglasses are removed, expect a person to be full of expression such as smiling, wide eyes (unless the sun is really bright), open gesticulation, and so forth.

Body Language Category: Arrogance or arrogant body language, Barriers, Blocking or Shielding, Closed body language, Disengagement body language, Eye blocking, Eye Language, Indicators of disinterest (IOD), Open body language or openness, Suspicious body language.

Resources:

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

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

Ariel, Robert and Castel, Alan. Eyes wide open: enhanced pupil dilation when selectively studying important information. Experimental Brain Research, 2014. 232(1):.337-344.

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

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

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

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

Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S., & Jolliffe, T. (1997). Is there a ‘‘language of the eyes’’? Evidence from normal adults, and adults with autism or Asperger syndrome. Visual Cognition, 4, 311–331.

Botz-bornstein, Thorsten.. Veils and sunglasses. Journal of Aesthetics & Culture. 2013. Vol.5(0).

Chen, Yi-Chia ; Yeh, Su-Ling. Look into my eyes and I will see you: Unconscious processing of human gaze. Consciousness and Cognition. 2012 21(4): 1703-1710.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hockley, William ; Hemsworth, David ; Consoli, Angela. Shades of the mirror effect: Recognition of faces with and without sunglasses. Memory & Cognition. 1999. 27(1): 128-138.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

McKelvie, S. J. (1995). Emotional expression in upside-down faces: Evidence for configurational and componential processing. The British Journal of Social Psychology, 34, 325–334.

Marzoli, Daniele ; Custodero, Mariagrazia ; Pagliara, Alessandra ; Tommasi, Luca. Sun-induced frowning fosters aggressive feelings. Cognition & Emotion. 2013. 27(8): 1513-1521.

Rieger, Gerulf ; Savin-Williams, Ritch C Kemp, Andrew H. (Editor). The Eyes Have It: Sex and Sexual Orientation Differences in Pupil Dilation Patterns (The Eyes Have It). PLoS ONE, 2012, Vol.7(8), p.e40256.

Rhodes, G., Brake, S., & Atkinson, A. P. (1993). What’s lost in inverted faces? Cognition, 47, 25–57.

Roberson, Debi ; Kikutani, Mariko ; Doge, Paula ; Whitaker, Lydia ; Majid, Asifa. Shades of Emotion: What the Addition of Sunglasses or Masks to Faces Reveals about the Development of Facial Expression Processing. Cognition. 2012. 125(2): 195-206.

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

Tipples, Jason. Wide eyes and an open mouth enhance facial threat. Cognition & Emotion. 2007. 21(3): 535-557.

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

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Tanaka, J. W., & Farah, M. J. (1993). Parts and wholes in face. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 46, 969–993.

Tanaka, J. W., Kay, J. B., Grinnell, E., Stansfield, B., & Szechter, L. (1998). Face recognition in young children: When the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Visual Cognition, 5, 479–496.

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

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Valstar, M. F. ; Mehu, M. ; Bihan Jiang, M. ; Pantic, K. ; Scherer, K. Meta-Analysis of the First Facial Expression Recognition Challenge. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Part B. 2012. 42(4): 966-979.

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

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

Amplifier, Escape movements, Eye Language, Fearful body language, Indicator Of Sexual Interest (IOsI), Intention movements, Low confidence body language, Lying or deceptive body language, Microgestures, Negative body language, Nervous Body Language, Suspicious body language

Body Language of Stealing A Look

by Chris • October 28, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Stealing A Look

Cue: Stealing A Look

Synonym(s): Eye Darting, Darting Eyes.

Description: Stealing a look is a quick left or right dart of the eyes so as to avoid detection. The head normally remains motionless to reduce the changes of being noticed.

In One Sentence: Stealing a look indicates the desire to see someone or something, without others noticing.

How To Use it: To steal a look, use sunglass if possible. Keep your head oriented away from the target, and shift your eyes only, in their direction. If your target is a person, and they make eye contact with you, but you are wearing dark sunglasses, rest assured that your eyes are concealed. At this moment, you should avoid shifting the head away suddenly as this give you away.

Eyes can also steal looks without sunglasses in the same way but since the whites of the eyes are highly visible, you will run a greater risk of being discovered. Researchers believe that the whites of the eyes tell others where our eyes are looking because eye orientation is highly important as a signaling device in social contexts. Therefore, whenever you try to steal looks, be conscious of this.

Stealing looks shows others that you are interested in them but are timid about your curiosity. This comes across as suspicious behaviour and is not well received. Therefore, stealing looks is not a cue that should remain covert.

Context: a) Dating b) General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m curious and interested in what’s going on over there so my eyes dart without turning my head so I can evade detection.”

Variant: The eyes can dart when seeking exits when in undesirable circumstances, when nervous, excited, or even when thinking. See Looking Askance for an eye cue that signifies contempt.

Cue In Action: a) He was attracted to the girl in the subway, but didn’t want to make her feel awkward. He kept darting his eyes in her direction without moving his head. b) He kept glancing quickly over his shoulder at the angry girl. When she looked up, he quickly snapped his head back and continued the conversation with his buddy. He didn’t like her and certainly didn’t want her to know that he had noticed she was there, lest she come over and confront him.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Both sexes do it to check out a sexual prospect, a rival while at the same time remain safe from detection. When someone evades detection it is because they are not prepared to pick a battle or are merely collecting information about what is going on. This type of eye pattern is seen as cowardly and an indication of low confidence.

The eyes may also dart looking for ways to exit a particular situation without doing so overtly. This case may arise when someone is in an awkward conversation. Eyes may also dart due to fear. People generally associate darting eyes with lying, but research shows a poor correlation.

Darting eyes are considered be negative body language.

Cue Cluster: Watch for darting eyes that don’t want to be caught looking. The shoulders often remain lowered; there will be no gazing or smiling and no facial expression.

Body Language Category: Amplifier, Escape movements, Eye Language, Fearful body language, Indicators of sexual interest (IOsI), Intention movements, Low confidence body language, Lying or deceptive body language, Microgestures, Nervous body language, Negative body language, Suspicious body language.

Resources:

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

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

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

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

Brooks, C. I., Church, M. A., & Fraser, L. 1986. Effects of duration of eye contact on judgments of personality characteristics. Journal of Social Psychology. 126: 71–78.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Surviving Secondary: https://wikileaks.org/cia-travel/secondary-screening/WikiLeaks_CIA_Assessment_on_Surviving_Secondary_Screening.pdf
Infiltrating Schengen: https://wikileaks.org/cia-travel/infiltrating-schengen/WikiLeaks_CIA_Advice_for_Operatives_Infiltrating_Schengen.pdf

*No Photo, Confused body language, Embarrassment (nonverbal), Escape movements, Eye Language, Negative body language, Nervous Body Language, Stressful body language, Suspicious body language

Body Language of Shifty Eyes

by Chris • October 28, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Shifty Eyes

Cue: Shifty Eyes

Synonym(s): N/A

Description: Happens when the eyes dart all over the room to focus on anything but someone else’s eyes.

In One Sentence: Shifty eyes show lack of certainty and nervousness.

How To Use it: Shifty eyes is a cue that should be avoided unless one wishes to draw attention to ones stress and nervousness. As the cue is generally associated with lying it is looked poorly upon. The cue can be used to show nonverbal sarcasm.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m feeling the pressure and my eyes are traveling all over the place in search of answers to the stress I’m under. If I look in enough places, I’m bound to find what I’m looking for.”

Variant: N/A.

Cue In Action: To get him to cave, she put him in front of the class and asked him if he would confess. He was obviously lying, she though. His eyes darted about the room as she grilled him about the missing raffle money. She assumed he was lying because he wouldn’t hold eye contact.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Shifty eyes are habitually associated with lying but research shows that most practiced liars hold gaze even more strongly than normal.

Paul Ekman’s research into lying says that people often attribute shifty or darting eyes to liars, however, as a predictor of a lie it actually falls short. Looking away from complicated human faces helps us concentrate. Therefore darting eyes doesn’t really tell us anything concretely. Just that thought is taking place.

Additionally, the stress and nervousness of being put on the spot is enough to cause the eyes to exhibit patterns that seem dishonest. Shifty eyes are a more reliable predictor of stress than lying.

Cue Cluster: Darting eyes is connected to other nervous and stress related body language such as touching the face, neck, nose and ears, shrinking and shrugging, ducking the head and crossing the arms and legs.

Body Language Category: Confused body language, Embarrassment (nonverbal), Escape movements, Eye Language, Negative body language, Nervous body language, Stressful body language, Suspicious body language.

Resources:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chen, Yi-Chia ; Yeh, Su-Ling. Look into my eyes and I will see you: Unconscious processing of human gaze. Consciousness and Cognition. 2012 21(4): 1703-1710.

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.

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/

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Vrij, A., Harden, E, Terry, J., Edward, K., & Bull, R. (2000). The influence of personal characteristics, stakes and lie complexity on the accuracy and confidence to detect deceit, in R. Roesch, R.R. Corrado, & R. J. Dempster (Eds.), Psychology in the courts: International advances in knowledge. Amsterdam: Harwood Academic.

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

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

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.

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

Blocking or Shielding, Displacement behaviour, Emotional body language, Idiosyncratic body language, Leaked or involuntary body language, Low confidence body language, Negative body language, Nervous Body Language, Pacifying body language, Pseudo-infantile gestures, Security blankets, Stressful body language, Suspicious body language, Worry body language

Body Language of Nail Biting

by Chris • October 24, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Nail Biting

Cue: Nail Biting

Synonym(s): Fingernail Biting, Cuticle Biting, Nail Picking, Biting Fingernails.

Description: Biting or picking at the fingernails. Can be so sever that it results in bleeding, disfigurement, or unsightly nails down to the quick.

In One Sentence: Nail biting is a sign of insecurity, anxiety, discomfort and lack of self-confidence.

How To Use it: Nail biting is a negative nonverbal cue. It is not advised that one should do it unless one wishes to feign anxiety.

Context: General

Verbal Translation: “I’m suffering from extreme inner turmoil and anxiety. I need to pacify myself by reverting to childlike suckling or mouthing of my fingers, as a substitute for my mother’s breast.”

Variant: Any object to the mouth indicates a need for to pacify including, thumb sucking, sucking on pens, chewing on the arms of the glasses and sucking on a cigarette. Other tension relieving activities include adjusting clothing when it’s not needed, playing with an object, running fingers through the hair and shaking a shoe.

Cue In Action: Gordon Brown, the UK Prime Minister, has the look of a frequent nail bitter. He likely suffers a great deal of internal stress.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Nail biting is a form of emotional body language, and when present, is usually habitual because of its origins. The habit which is highly unsightly screams “I am insecure.” These types of gestures are called “pacifying behaviours” because they are designed to reduce anxiety when exposed to something distressing.

Nail biting signals apprehension, anxiety, discomfort and a lack of self-confidence. Putting any object in the mouth is a signal of inner turmoil and negative feelings. The mouth is utilized as a source of pacifying as the breast was during infancy and indicates a need to be reassured. Biting the nails also serves as a mouth cover which blocks the mouth from the sightline of others creating additional security and secretiveness, but also creates suspicion in others.

The astute nonverbal reader will carefully observe a person for their unique mannerisms as they are difficult for people to control and hide. This makes a quick check of the nails and fingers for excessive chewing particularly important in gaining insight into a body language target. Nails that appear wider than they are long, called ‘brachyonychia’ is a sure sign that a person doesn’t feel at ease and regularly suffers from extreme tension. A thumb that is frequently sucked might appear worn or have chew marks or indentations.

Cue Cluster: Generally, nail biting is a stand-alone cue that needs no additional reinforcement to have true meaning – though one should watch for additional cues of discomfort and desire to pacify.

Body Language Category: Blocking or Shielding, Displacement behaviour, Emotional body language, Idiosyncratic body language, Leaked or involuntary body language, Low confidence body language, Negative body language, Nervous body language, Pseudo-infantile gestures, Pacifying body language, Security blankets, Stressful body language, Suspicious body language, Worry body language or worry.

Resources:

Colville, G A; Mok, Q. Psychological management of two cases of self injury on the paediatric intensive care unit. Archives of Disease in Childhood. 2003. 88(4): 335.

Christenson, Gary A. ; Mackenzie, Thomas B. ; Mitchell, James E. Characteristics of 60 adult chronic hair pullers. American Journal of Psychiatry. 1991. 148(3): 365(6).

Feteih RM: Signs and Symptoms of Temporomandibular Disorders and Oral Parafunctions in Urban Saudi Arabian Adolescents: A Research Report. Head Face Med. 2006. 2: 25.

Gavish A, Halachmi M, Winocur E, Gazit E: Oral Habits and Their Association With Signs and Symptoms of Temporomandibular Disorders in Adolescent Girls. Journal of Oral Rehabilation. 2000, 27(1): 22-32.

Ghanizadeh A: Association of Nail Biting and Psychiatric Disorders in Children and Their Parents in a Psychiatrically Referred Sample of Children. Child Adolescents
Psychiatry Mental Health. 2008. 2(1):13.

Ghanizadeh, Ahmad and Hajar Shekoohi. Prevalence of Nail Biting and its Association With Mental Health in a Community Sample of Children. BMC Research Notes. 4 (Apr. 11, 2011): p116. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1756-0500-4-116. http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcresnotes/
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/body-language-nail-biting/

Kravitz, Harvey. Lip biting in infancy. The Journal of Pediatrics. 1964. 65(1): 136-138.

Lyon, Lionel Sasson. A behavioral treatment of compulsive lip-biting. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry. 1983. 14(3): 275-276
Feteih RM: Signs and Symptoms of Temporomandibular Disorders and Oral Parafunctions in Urban Saudi Arabian Adolescents: A Research Report. Head Face Med. 2006. 2: 25.

Pelc AW, Jaworek AK: Interdisciplinary Approach to Onychophagia. Przegl Lek. 2003. 60(11): 737-739.

Tanaka OM, Vitral RW, Tanaka GY, Guerrero AP, Camargo ES: Nailbiting, or Onychophagia: A Special Habit. American Journal of Orthod Dentofacial Orthop. 2008. 134(2): 305-308.

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

Body Language of Jerky Movements

by Chris • October 23, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Jerky Movements

Cue: Jerky Movements

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

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

In One Sentence: Jerky movements signal emotional uneasiness.

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

Context: General.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Resources:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sweeney, John A. ; Haas, Gretchen L. ; Clementz, Brett ; Weiden, Peter ; Frances, Allen ; Mann, J.John. Eye movement abnormalities in schizophrenia. Biological Psychiatry. 1989. 25(7): A77-A78.

Van Dyck, Edith ; Vansteenkiste, Pieter ; Lenoir, Matthieu ; Lesaffre, Micheline ; Leman, Marc Canal-bruland, Rouwen. Recognizing Induced Emotions of Happiness and Sadness from Dance Movement. PLoS ONE. 2014 9(2): e89773.

Van Dyck E, Maes P-J, Hargreaves J, Lesaffre M, Leman M (2013). Expressing induced emotions through free dance movement. J Nonverbal Behav 37: 175–190. doi: 10.1007/s10919-013-0153-1.

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

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

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

Barriers, Blocking or Shielding, Closed facial gestures, Low confidence body language, Low confidence hand displays, Lying or deceptive body language, Negative body language, Security blankets, Shy nonverbal, Suspicious body language

Body Language of Hidden Mouth or Mouth Conceal

by Chris • October 23, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Hidden Mouth or Mouth Conceal

Cue: Hidden Mouth or Mouth Conceal

Synonym(s): Covering The Mouth, Hand Over The Mouth, Talking Through The Hand, Mouth Guard (The).

Description: Done by placing the hand over the mouth, in part, or whole and “talking through it.”

In One Sentence: Hiding the mouth is a nonverbal signal indicating secrecy and the need for security.

How To Use it: One should do their best to avoid covering their mouth with their hand as it is an obvious display of lack of confidence.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m insecure or telling a lie so I’m covering my mouth to give me protection, security and secrecy.”

Variant: The gesture can be done with a fist, a finger, or a ‘shushing’ motion with the index finger vertically placed over the lips. In the Mouth Guard the hand raises up to the cheek, or side of the mouth, or by wrapping a finger around the upper lip. Sometimes the hand does a downward swipe with the mouth, the hand is made into a fist and rested against the mouth, or it seems as if the person is talking through their hand. See Hand To Mouth.

Other times the subconscious mind is so powerful that the hand comes up and slaps the mouth, such as when telling a lie, but to cover this ‘tell’, a fake cough is added.

Cue In Action: a) While on a date, Dave wrapped his fingers around his upper lip. He felt terribly uncomfortable being around such an attractive girl. Ccovering his mouth gave him a place to hide – a security blanket. b) After telling a fib, Billie brought her index finger up to the corner of her mouth as if shushing herself.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Hand covering the mouth shows timidity, low self esteem and appears dishonest to others.

Mouth covering is also way to reduce the pain of telling a lie. In this case, it is so as to “speak no evil.” Small children perform a full cover and even slap their mouths when they say something they shouldn’t. Grown adults will sometimes cup their hands to their mouths like children in effort to “jam the words back in their mouths” but usually use more subtle gestures such as talking through their hand or placing a finger softly over their lips.

Talking with ones hand covering the mouth “talking through the hand” or resting the hand around the mouth by wrapping the fingers around the top, are significant clues indicating insecurity.

Subconsciously, hand-to-mouth gestures leads people to distrust others, and see them as less honest overall.

Cue Cluster: Hand to mouth is a standalone cue and doesn’t require many additional cues to spell meaning. The context of the cue, be it high anxiety such as on a date or interview, or while being suspect of lying, will define the meaning of hand to mouth.

Body Language Category: Barriers, Blocking or Shielding, Closed facial gestures, Low confidence body language, Low confidence hand displays, Lying or deceptive body language, Negative body language, Security blankets, Shy nonverbal, Suspicious body language.

Resources:

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

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Elaad, E. 2003. Effects of feedback on the overestimated capacity to detect lies and the underestimated ability to tell lies. Applied Cognitive Psychology 17(3): 349-363.

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Aggressive body language, Amplifier, Authoritative body language, Dislike (nonverbal), Evaluative body language, Power play, Suspicious body language, Threat displays

Body Language of The Head Lowered In Judgment

by Chris • October 23, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of The Head Lowered In Judgment

Cue: Head Lowered In Judgment.

Synonym(s): Head Down, Lowered Head.

Description: Lowering the head, grimacing, and looking up with an icy glare.

In One Sentence: Lowering the head is a way people show judgment.

How To Use it: Lowering the head makes it appear wider through an optical illusion. A wide head is one that is high in dominance. Therefore, one can use a lowered head to create dominance and also show judgment of others in order to intimidate.

Fathers can use this cue effectively on misbehaving children as can wives on their husbands. When done properly, the cue appears highly aggressive and intimidating especially when coupled with direct eye contact.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I don’t like what I’m seeing so I’m lowering my head in judgment and peering down on you.”

Variant: Lowering the head with up-cast eyes or Forehead Bow (The), can easily be confused with a lowered head in judgment yet means something totally different. A bent head with relaxed up-cast eyes means agreement, confirmation, or even shame, but most importantly, signals submission. Angry eyes, coupled with head lowered, implies judgment. See Head Tilted Back, Peering Over The Glasses, and Bow and Body Bend, Forehead Bow (The).

Cue In Action: The librarian lowered her head, crossed her arms, and cast an icy stare at the boys who were fooling around.

Meaning and/or Motivation: The head down shows judgment or negative internal emotion and disapproval. The head down shows that a person is prepared for a battle. They are daring others to take a punch – instigating.

As with any head motion it is important to examine the adjoining clusters of body language to determine its true origins. For example, head down with eyes up can signal confrontation. The sender of the message wishes to make clear that they are in disagreement, feel anger and contempt. Adding arm crossed to head down would signify more prominently that there was negativity present, especially with arms crossed and an icy stare.

Don’t confuse the Forehead Bow with Lowered Head In Judgment. The two are different in terms of the eye contact and context.

Cue Cluster: My son who is just nine months old, as of this writing, will pull his chin in and put his head down so that I can’t see his eyes when I instruct him not to touch the buttons on my desktop computer tower. He also smirks when he doesn’t want to internalize and obey me. Next, he raises his left arm (usually) to the back of his neck and either (short) grabs his ear or the hair at the side of his head, or reaches all the way and scratches the back of his neck showing restraint. I say short-grab because the real cue is the grab the back of the neck, but his arms, being a baby are short and inflexible. Scratching the back of the neck is like “holding yourself back” by the scruff of the neck. This cue cluster has been important for my wife and I, as we ascertain what level of obedience we should expect based on whether or not he has actually internalized our instructions.

Body Language Category: Amplifier, Aggressive body language, Authoritative body language, Dislike (nonverbal), Evaluative, Power play, Suspicious body language or suspicion, Threat displays.

Resources:

Aviezer, Hillel; Yaacov Trope, Alexander Todorov. Body Cues, Not Facial Expressions, Discriminate Between Intense Positive and Negative Emotions.. Science 338, 1225 (2012). http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/body-language-trumps-facial-expressions-read-my-body-not-my-lips/

Beall, Alec and Jessica L. Tracy. The Puzzling Attractiveness of Male Shame. Manuscript submitted to Evolutionary Psychology. www.epjournal.net – 2014. 12(x): 1-39
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/male-nonverbal-shame-attractive/

Briñol, Pablo; Richard E. Petty and Benjamin Wagner. Body Posture Effects on Self-Evaluation: A Self-Validation Approach. European Journal of Social Psychology. 2009. 39(6): 1099-0992. DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.607. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.607
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/fix-posture-fix-confidence/

Costa, M., Menzani, M., & Ricci Bitti, P. E. Head canting in paintings: An historical study. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2001. 25: 63–73.
Costa, M., & Ricci Bitti, P. E. Face-ism effect and head canting in one’s own and others’ photographs. European Psychologist. 2000. 5: 293–301.

Furley, Philip and Geoffrey Schweizer. “I’m Pretty Sure That We Will Win!”: The Influence of Score-Related Nonverbal Behavioral Changes on the Confidence in Winning a Basketball Game Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology. 2013. 35:316-320. http://dx.doi.org/10.1123/jsep.2013-0199
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/losers-nonverbal-behavior-boosts-confidence-winners-study/

Hehman, Eric; Jordan B. Leitner and Samuel L. Gaertner. Enhancing Static Facial Features Increases Intimidation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 2013; 49: 747-754.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/tilting-the-head-is-display-of-intimidation-study/

Hwang, Hyisung C. and David Matsumoto. Cultural Differences in Victory Signals of
Triumph Cross-Cultural Research. SAGE Publications 2014. 48(2):177– 191.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/culture-nonverbal-triumph/

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

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/

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

Martens, Jason P.; Jessica L. Tracy and Azim F. Shariff. Status signals: Adaptive
benefits of displaying and observing the nonverbal expressions of pride and shame, Cognition & Emotion. 2012. 26(3): 390-406. DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2011.645281
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/significant-nonverbal-expression-pride-shame-body-language-detailed-examination-origin-function/

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

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

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

Nelson, Nicole L and James A. Russell. Children’s Understanding Of Nonverbal Expressions Of Pride. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. 2012; 111: 379-385.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/can-children-read-pride-body-language/

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

Shariff, Azim F. and Jessica L. Tracy. Knowing Who’s Boss: Implicit Perceptions of Status From the Nonverbal Expression of Pride. Emotion. 2009.9(5): 631-639.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/can-you-tell-whos-boss-by-the-nonverbal-expression-of-pride/

Tracy, Jessica L. and Alec T. Beall. Happy Guys Finish Last: The Impact of Emotion Expressions on Sexual Attraction Emotion. American Psychological Association. 2011; 11(6): 1379–1387
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Tracy, Jessica L. and David Matsumoto. The Spontaneous Expression Of Pride And Shame: Evidence For Biologically Innate Nonverbal Displays. 2008; 105 (33) 11655-11660.
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Tracy, Jessica L. and Richard W. Robins. The Nonverbal Expression of Pride: Evidence for Cross-Cultural Recognition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 2008. 94(3): 516–530. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.94.3.516

http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/nonverbal-expression-pride-recognized-cross-culturally/

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

Welker, Keith M.; Stefan M.M.; Goetz, Shyneth Galicia; Jordan Liphardt and Justin M. Carré. An Examination of the Associations Between Facial Structure, Aggressive Behavior, and Performance in the 2010 World Cup Association Football Players. Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology (forthcoming in print, online July).
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Wells, G. L., & Petty, R. E. (1980). The effects of head movement on persuasion: Compatibility and incompatibility of responses. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 1, 219–230.

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

Body Language of Hard Swallow or Swallowing Hard

by Chris • October 22, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Hard Swallow or Swallowing Hard

Cue: Hard Swallow or Swallowing Hard

Synonym(s): Swallowing Hard

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

In One Sentence: A hard swallow indicates stress.

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

Context: General.

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

Variant: N/A.

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

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

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

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

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

Resources:

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

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

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

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

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

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