Category: Suspicious body language

Auto contact or self touching, Barriers, Blocking or Shielding, Courtship display, Low confidence body language, Low confidence hand displays, Nervous Body Language, Pacifying body language, Suspicious body language

Body Language of Hand To Mouth

by Chris • October 22, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Hand To Mouth

Cue: Hand to Mouth

Synonym(s): Mouth Covering, Lip Playing, Lip Touching, Talking Through The Hand, Fingers To The Mouth.

Description: Hands that cover the mouth while speaking or wrap around the lips. Hands may also play with, or pluck the lips.
In One Sentence: Hands to the mouth signals lack of confidence and insecurity.

How To Use it: Touching the mouth with hands can make one feel more comfortable, however, this self soothing gesture is not seen as positive by others. Therefore, it should be avoided when possible.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m timid, shy, lack self confidence. I’m going to play with my mouth or talk through my hand to hide my mouth. This will make me feel more secure because my mouth will be hidden.”

Variant: See Hidden Mouth or Mouth Conceal, Lip Picking, Lip Chewing or Chewing The Lips.

Cue In Action: Dave was on a date but it wasn’t going well as he was really nervous. He felt awkward and it showed. He spent most of the date talking through his hand and mumbling. She could barely hear what he was saying.

Meaning and/or Motivation: A gesture pattern that indicates timidity, insecurity, shyness or lack of self confidence.

Hand-to-face and hand-to-mouth are also sometimes attributed to lying body language although this is only sometimes the case. Hand-to-mouth actions are the most common target for auto touching. It might stem from the concern of giving up too much information, or letting a lie slip, or due to the need for reassurance.

Covering the mouth is a natural reaction children do when they tell a secret or inadvertently say a word they know they shouldn’t. 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.

Other times hand-to-mouth indicates female sexual tension such as when the index finger softly rubs against the lips. This is a form of pacifying due to the perceived inability to act on a sexual desire to kiss or be kissed.

Adults that are tense or anxious will play with their mouth or lip. Mouthing a pen, cigarette, piece of their own hair, and even gum when used as a comfort device, are a substitute for the mother’s breast and early childhood mouthing. Sucking, plucking, picking or chewing the lips, rubbing them with a finger or thumb are all forms of auto touching. Confident individuals would never consider using this type of security blanket, let alone be seen touching their faces out of insecurity.

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

Cue Cluster: Mouth touching is often interchanged with masked arm crossing where the arm is placed across the front of the body forearm against the table. A coffee cup barrier might also be coupled where a drink is held at right angles in front of the body as a cut-off. Eye contact will also be limited, hands might touch the back of the neck, or cheeks.

Body Language Category: Auto contact or self touching, Barriers, Blocking or Shielding, Courtship displays, Low confidence body language, Low confidence hand displays, Nervous body language, Pacifying, Suspicious body language or suspicion.

Resources:

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Amplifier, Eye Language, Hostile body language, Negative body language, Suspicious body language

Body Language of The Eyebrow Cock

by Chris • October 21, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of The Eyebrow Cock

Cue: Eyebrow Cock

Synonym(s): Raising One Eyebrow, Single Eyebrow Raise.

Description: A mixed eyebrow movement where one eyebrow is raised while the other is lowered.

In One Sentence: The eyebrow cock is a signal that a person is suspicious.

How To Use it: Use the eyebrow cock to tell others that you are in general disbelief with respect to an action performed, or a comment made.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m suspicious of your motives so my eyes will show surprise by raising on one side and anger by lowering on the other.”

Variant: See Eyebrow Flash, Eyebrow Hold, Eyebrow Lowering, Eyebrow Raise, Eyebrows Knit or Oblique Eyebrows Of Grief.

Cue In Action: She stood up and vehemently denied being the one who stole the doughnut despite overwhelming evidence. Her mom looked at her, turned her head to the side, raised one eyebrow and lowered the other, then compressed her lips. She was showing suspicion nonverbally.

Meaning and/or Motivation: It represents both aggression and fear at the same time due to the division of high and low, and when mixed, indicates suspicion or skepticism.

Cue Cluster: The head is often tilted to the side when representing skepticism. The eyes will squint when showing aggression and the lips will purse.

Body Language Category: Amplifier, Eye Language, Hostile body language, Negative body language, Suspicious body language or suspicion.

Resources:

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Aggressive body language, Anger body language, Attentive body language, Closed body language, Closed facial gestures, Confused body language, Dislike (nonverbal), Doubt or disbelief body language, Eye blocking, Eye Language, Microexpression, Micromessaging, Pensive displays, Protective reflexes, Suppressed facial expression, Suspicious body language

Body Language of Eye Squinting or Narrowing Eyes

by Chris • October 21, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Eye Squinting or Narrowing Eyes

Cue: Eye Squinting or Narrowing Eyes

Synonym(s): Narrowing Eyes, Furrowing Eyes, Compressed Eyelids, Wincing Eyes, Eye Constriction, Eye Blocking, Eye Shield, Shielding The Eyes, Squinting.

Description: Eye squinting happens when the eyelids are compressed together serving to constrict the eyes. It can sometimes occur in just a fraction of a second before disappearing.

In One Sentence: Narrowing the eyes is due to physical or emotional pain.

How To Use it: When you do not like what is being said or seen, simply narrow your eyes. This tells others that you do not like what you are seeing or hearing. You may perform this eye language in brief within just fractions of a seconds. While people may not consciously perceive the signal, it will likely still register subconsciously. If the person for whom the cue is intended, notices, they may revisit their proposal and add additional incentives to ease your negative judgment.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “What I’m seeing is causing me emotional or physical pain and to prevent all that negativity from coming into my body I’m going to squint and block to resist.”

Variant: See Anger Facial Expression, Hand To Eye Gesture.

Cue In Action: a) A person will wince when reading objectionable portions of a contract. b) She winced when the student missed the correct note on the piano. It caused her visceral pain.

Meaning and/or Motivation: An eye blocking form of body language designed to prohibit distasteful images or even thoughts from being received at full view. Narrowing eyes indicates contempt, distaste and anger. A person will not only squint from seeing objectionable sights, but also negative thoughts or sounds.

Wincing falls into the category of microexpressions since it can happen in only fractions of a second before disappearing, yet it remains full of meaning.

Wincing can also be due to the sudden approach of projectiles toward the eyes or body as well as the sun’s glare. Eyes can also be squinted in order to help a person see print that is too small. Thus, at times, squinting forms a functional purpose not exclusively driven by emotion.

A delayed opening or prolonged eye closure can be due to negative emotions or displeasure. A full wince with the eyes closed tightly signifies the desire to totally block out information.

Cue Cluster: General tightening of the face will occur such as mouth pursing. We may also see lip biting, hand clenching, shoulders and feet turned away, arms pulled in to protect and arms crossed.

Body Language Category: Attentive, Aggressive body language, Anger, Confused, Closed body language, Closed facial gestures, Dislike (nonverbal), Doubt or disbelief body language, Eye blocking, Eye Language, Microexpressions, Micromessaging, Negative body language, Pensive displays, Protective reflexes, Suppressed facial expression, Suspicious body language.

Resources:

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Dislike (nonverbal), Indicators of disinterest (IOD), Microexpression, Negative body language, Rejection body language, Suspicious body language, Universal facial expressions

Body Language of The Contempt Facial Expression and Contempt Smile

by Chris • October 20, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of The Contempt Facial Expression and Contempt Smile

Cue: Contempt Facial Expression and Contempt Smile

Synonym(s): Contempt Smile.

Description: In the contempt facial expression, wrinkles appear on the nose with one lip often raised to form a sneer. The eyes narrow. Lips are frequently pushed forward with a tight mouth raised slightly at the corners. The chin usually drops, or lifts and the head turns to the side.

The contempt smile happens when the corners of the lips are tightened unevenly and one side is lifted slightly higher than the other. In this case, the eyebrows are slightly raised. The smile might also push the lower lip up by the chin muscle and pull the corners of the mouth down. This is often coupled with lowered brows.

In One Sentence: The contempt facial expression is a tensing around the nose with one lip raised and serves to demonstrate disagreement.

How To Use it: Use the expression to show others that you are not in agreement but do not wish to do so overtly in a verbal fashion. A micro-sneer can be sent when you want to give a subtle hint of disapproval. The cue works in any context as it permits one to tow the line of confrontation with a subtle nonverbal expression. In this capacity, people will understand that you are not in agreement, but will not be able to hold you to it as the cue is fleeting and barely noticeable. Therefore, the cue is useful for expressing disapproval and disagreement without being overt.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I really don’t like what you’re saying or doing and so my face is scrunching up as if there is a malodor.”

Variant: Variants exist of high and low contempt smiles. These are demonstrated through degrees of stress across the face.

As high contempt is reached, the cues become more obvious. Disgust is close to Contempt and usually causes people to look downward on other people. Lint picking, avoiding eye contact, turning the body away can all show various degrees of contempt. Contempt can also be a microexpression and flash so quickly that it is barely noticed. Watch for the microexpression of the nose sneer or the eyes narrowing quickly.

Cue In Action: The conversation turned from bad to worse as it shifted onto politics. When they couldn’t see eye-to-eye on the matter, he wrinkled his nose, narrowed his eyes and tightened his lips while shaking his head in disgust. The message was clear.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Contempt is an emotion designed to show disagreement and an inability to see eye-to-eye on matters. Some contempt runs deeper than others and can be amplified with additional cues that come across as attacks. Contempt can be high or low, delivered by the relative strength of the associated cues.

Cue Cluster: Contempt is accompanied by looking downward, palms up in a “what are you doing posture,” sneering, pulled up nose, pursed lips, and head turned away.

Body Language Category: Dislike (nonverbal), Indicators of disinterest (IOD), Microexpressions, Negative body language, Rejection body language, Suspicious body language or suspicion, Universal facial expressions.

Resources:

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