Category: Arrogance or arrogant body language

*No Photo, Adornments, Arrogance or arrogant body language, Power play

Body Language of Office Artifacts or Office Props

by Chris • October 27, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Office Artifacts or Office Props

Cue: Office Artifacts

Synonym(s): Office Props, Personal Artifacts, House Decoration, Decoration (of Space).

Description: Office artifacts include any objects that take up space in the place of work including photographs, plaques, trophies, certificates, memorabilia, piles of paper, books, and so forth.

In One Sentence: Office artifacts are ways that people express their personalities and values.

How To Use it: Upon entering an office, it is known the objects and decoration they contain, will make an impression. Presumably, this is understood by most people. Therefore, you should take care that your office is accurately reflecting the impression you wish to make.

Use the decoration and props in your office to create whatever impression you seek. Those whom wish to be taken as scholarly, for example, should decorate their office with books and diplomas. If one wishes to be seen as a family man, the office should have photographs of family and crafts made by kids. To be seen as worldly, the office should be decorated with various exotic props from around the world.

Context: a) General b) Business.

Verbal Translation: “My space is an extension of myself. I decorate it in a way that reflects my thoughts and beliefs.”

Variant: People also decorate their bodies with fashion and art including tattoos. Clothing, like office artifacts are extensions of the body and things people actively choose in order to reflect their personal thoughts and beliefs. Personal artifacts include fancy or expensive vehicles, or cheap ones, as well as large expansive houses, or bachelor pads. The things we keep in our company reflect how we think and what we value. See Adornments and Bodifications (personal decoration).

Cue In Action: a) Her house was a marvel of exquisite art, furniture and statues. She had excellent taste and could appreciate the riches of life. b) To appear intelligent, the lawyer stood in front of a full library of encyclopedia during his television commercial. He promised to extract large sums of money due to injury claims.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Office artifacts can be used to display status such as the use of trophies, plaques, certificates or interests such as model cars, sports memorabilia or pictures hung on walls such a nature or fishing adventures.

Lawyers are usually portrayed in front of a large library of books which is a nonverbal signal of the mountain of knowledge that “backs them.” When the President makes an important announcement he habitually stands next to the flag or at his desk surrounded by books to appear more trustworthy and intelligent.

Houses that contain family images show others that they are close knit, while a bachelor pad which is more or less un-kept shows that its owner is carefree. Our houses and what they contain reflect our values.

Cue Cluster: Depending on the context, cues will appear either dominant or submissive. For example, a student might appear submissive if the contents of his dorm room are modest if he finds that an attractive girl has noticed. A doctor will act smug should he find that you have noticed his certificates and diplomas.

Body Language Category: Adornments, Arrogance or arrogant body language, Power play.

Resources:

Axelsson, A. (2002). The digital divide: Status differences in virtual environments. In R. Schroeder (Ed.), Social life of avatars: Presence and interaction in shared virtual environments (pp. 188–204). New York, NY: Springer.

Ambady, N., & Rosenthal, R. (1992). Thin slices of expressive behavior as predictors of interpersonal consequences: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 111, 256–274.

Baumeister, R. F. (1982). A self-presentational view of social phenomena. Psychological Bulletin, 91, 3–26.

Blackman, M. C., & Funder, D. C. (1998). The effect of information on consensus and accuracy in personality judgment. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 34, 164–181.

Burroughs, J. W., Drews, D. R., & Hallman, W. K. (1991). Predicting personality from personal possessions: A self-presentational analysis. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 6, 147–163.

Back, M., Stopfer, J., Vazire, S., Gaddis, S., Schmukle, S., Egloff, B., et al. (2010). Facebook profiles reflect actual personality not self-idealization. Psychological Science, 21, 372–374. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0956797609360756.

Ellison, N., Heino, R., & Gibbs, J. (2006). Managing impressions online: Selfpresentation processes in the online dating environment. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11(2). Article 2.

Gillath, Omri ; Bahns, Angela J. ; Ge, Fiona ; Crandall, Christian S. Shoes as a source of first impressions. Journal of Research in Personality. 2012. 46(4): 423-430.

Gosling, Samuel D. ; Craik, Kenneth H. ; Martin, Nicholas R. ; Pryor, Michelle R. The Personal Living Space Cue Inventory: An Analysis and Evaluation. Environment and Behavior. 2005. 37(5): 683-705.

Gosling, S. D., Craik, K. H., Martin, N. R.,&Pryor,M. R. (2005). Material attributes of personal living spaces. Home Cultures, 2, 51-88.

Gosling, Samuel, D.; Sei Jin Ko, Thomas Mannarelli; Margaret E. Morris. A Room with a Cue: Personality Judgments Based on Offices and Bedrooms. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 2002. 82(3): 379-398. DOI: 10.1037//0022-3514.82.3.379
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/judging-book-shelf-use-office-bedroom-nonverbals-predict-peoples-personality/

Laumann, E. O., & House, J. (1970). Living room styles and social attributes: The patterning of material artifacts in a modern urban community. Sociology and Social Research, 54, 321-342.

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

Scott, Graham G. More Than Friends: Popularity on Facebook and its Role in Impression Formation. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. 2014. 19(3): 358-372.

Stieger, Stefan ; Voracek, Martin. Not Only Dogs Resemble Their Owners, Cars Do, Too. Swiss Journal of Psychology. 2014. 73(2): 111-117.

Taylor, T. L. (2002). Living digitally: Embodiment in virtual worlds. In R. Schroeder (Ed.), The Social Life of Avatars; Presence and Interaction in Shared Virtual Environments (pp. 40–62). London: Springer-Verlag.

Vazire, S., & Gosling, S. D. (2004). E-Perceptions: Personality impressions based on personal websites. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 123–132. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.87.1.123.

Wohn, Donghee Yvette ; Wash, Rick. A virtual “Room” with a cue: Detecting personality through spatial customization in a city simulation game. Computers in Human Behavior. 2013. 29(1): 155-159.

Wall, Helen J. ; Taylor, Paul J. ; Dixon, John ; Conchie, Stacey M. ; Ellis, David A. Rich contexts do not always enrich the accuracy of personality judgments. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 2013. 49(6): 1190-1195.

*No Photo, Aggressive body language, Anger body language, Arrogance or arrogant body language, Disengagement body language, Dislike (nonverbal), Dominant body language, Eye Language, Hostile body language, Microgestures, Micromessaging, Threat displays

Body Language of Looking Past People or Looking Through People

by Chris • October 24, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Looking Past People or Looking Through People

Cue: Looking Past People or Looking Through People.

Synonym(s): N/A

Description: The deliberate avoidance of eye contact by defocusing the eyes. The eye cue will make is seem as though people are being peering through, gazed upon as an object, or as if are being looked right through, as if not in existence.

In One Sentence: Looking through people is to dehumanize.

How To Use it: Looking through people is a strong nonverbal message. It is useful when you wish to power-play a person. It says that they are not even worth acknowledging. Thus it is extremely powerful and should used with care. To wag a nonverbal war, this is the go-to signal. At social events, you might look in the general direction or even at a person with a dead pan expression without making any verbal acknowledgement. You’ve got them, if they so much as nod or smile in view of this signal. Any acknowledgment, by them, says that they still wish to interact with you, and thus relinquish to you, social power. The signal is especially potent when done to loved ones because it reduces them to the status of an object.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I see you but I look at you as if you don’t exist or only exist as a non-human entity so my eyes glaze over and I lack any sort of facial expression. My eye contact is overt, but piercing and causes discomfort. I’m trying to dehumanize you and project superiority, dominance and dismissal.”

Variant: Staring or The Evil Eye, Eye Aversion, Gaze Avoidance and Wandering Eyes, Downcast Eyes or Eyes Down, Eye Rolling or Eye Shrug, Eye Squinting or Narrowing Eyes.

Cue In Action: She looked at her rival with contempt, casting eye-darts at her. When she tried to apologize, she peered right through her, as if she didn’t exist.

Meaning and/or Motivation: The nonverbal interpretation of such a cue includes dominance, superiority, dismissal, or outright rudeness.

This is an intense form of eye contact avoidance especially when done to quell the desired connectivity of another person especially while participating in a conversation. Looking through someone is often done across the room where distance creates additional separation and meaning.

When looking through others, a person who wishes to show distain will take an active stance at minimizing their interaction and dehumanize through glaring without affect, or facial expressions while peering longer than usual to drive the point.

Cue Cluster: The eyes and face are usually blank, a person will usually maintain a conversation with another person or will carry on with another activity without interruption.

Body Language Category: Arrogance or arrogant body language, Aggressive body language, Anger body language, Disengagement, Dislike (nonverbal), Dominant body language, Eye Language, Hostile body language, Microgestures, Micromessaging, Threat displays.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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/

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.

Topel, Eva-Maria ; Lachmann, Frankm. Nonverbal Dialogues: Orienting and Looking Behaviors Between Aggressive and Violent Children and Adolescents and Their Therapist. Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy. 2007. 6(4): 285-307.

Underwood, M. K.. Glares of Contempt, Eye Rolls of Disgust and Turning Away to Exclude: Non-Verbal Forms of Social Aggression among Girls. Feminism & Psychology. 2004 14(3): 371-375.

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

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

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

Arrogance or arrogant body language, Boredom body language, Disengagement body language, Escape movements, Eye Language, Indicators of disinterest (IOD), Intention movements, Pensive displays, Rejection body language, Stressful body language, Submissive body language

Body Language of Looking Away

by Chris • October 24, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Looking Away

Cue: Looking Away

Synonym(s): Not Maintaining Eye Contact, Roaming Eyes.

Description: When the eyes roam around a room during a conversation or when eye contact would normally be expected to persist.

In One Sentence: Looking away is a sign of concentration, disinterest, submission, or shyness.

How To Use it: Research has shown that looking at someone while they speak makes it far more difficult to concentrate that looking away. Therefore, break eye contact when trying to process complex ideas. When kids look away, also respect their decision as they may be doing so to better process your ideas, than your facial expressions.

In dating, looking away can signal shyness or intimidation. Understanding this can save negative feelings. Women can use looking away to signal their sexual interest in men as it signals coyness. This is especially powerful when eye contact is broken by looking down rather than looking left or right (signals scanning). Men can also indicate interest by shying away from eye contact, however, it is not as constructive when used by men, as women do not usually find submissive men as alluring.

Finally, use looking away as a signal of respect. Research shows that dominant people are more free to make and hold eye contact, especially persistent eye contact. To show your boss that you are willing to follow his lead, break eye contact more often and first. This signal will score points as it indicates a desire to please.

Context: a) General b) Business c) Dating.

Verbal Translation: a) b) “I’m thinking about something and need to concentrate which is why I’m not taking in any more visual cues from you at this time.” a) b) c) “I’m disinterested in what you are saying and trying to find an escape route or something more interesting to look at.” c) “I’m intimidated by your dominance, intimidated by your beauty, or repulsed by you. This is why I can’t keep my eyes on you.”

Variant: See Eye Aversion, Gaze Avoidance and Wandering Eyes, Staring or The Evil Eye.

Cue In Action: a) He frequently broke eye contact to check his watch or the contents of his brief case as the topic of conversation did not excite him. b) While discussing the fine details of the proposal, the junior associate frequently looked away or down to process and contemplate the information.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Not maintaining eye contact is a signal of comfort when done within context as it shows that a person is lacking fear. It frequently shows disrespect, especially during a conversation, as it indicates an aloof attitude. Eyes that look away can be contemplating or processing complex information or seeking escape routes due to boredom. Eyes can also look away because they wish to submit which is more usual for a woman to do when in the presence of a man or when a child is faced with a power authority. Eyes look away when they are repulsed or intimidated by beauty.

Eyes that look away can also be due to fear of aggression such as when faced with a domineering confrontation. A subordinate individual will often make less eye contact than a more dominant one. This indicates a desire to submit.

Eye language is important as it is often more indicative of intent than other body language. Good eye contact significantly improves the chances of making a sale during business, but at worst, helps convey better meaning and understanding.

The most effective use of eye contact is in fleeting glances, which at first might seem counterintuitive. However, prolonged eye contact is seen as rude, untrustworthy, threatening or even aggressive. When eye contact is piercing in a client, it usually means that a sale is being resisted. This is viewed as, “staring you down,” and shows a desire to find flaws in the sales pitch.

Poor eye contact or prolonged periods of looking away means the reverse; indifference or outright disinterest. This is why brief glances followed by looking away, or at the material at hand, is most appropriate in a sale, and when done by a client, the best indication that a sales call is being well received.

Cue Cluster: This particular eye language is dynamic. When someone submits they will avert eyes coupled with closing up their bodies from attack with head lowered, shoulders turned in and taking on a smaller profile. When someone is repulsed or disinterested, eyes will avert coupled with picking lint, checking the contents of bags, reduced agreement indicators, eye rolling, and so forth. Watch for courtship cues to measure interest when eye contact is absent. Coy looks, blushing, grooming postures, head tilt, coupled with averted eyes and cast upward to show sexual interest.

Body Language Category: Arrogance or arrogant body language, Boredom, Disengagement, Escape movements, Eye Language, Indicators of disinterest (IOD), Intention movements, Pensive displays, Rejection body language, Stressful body language, Submissive 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.

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.

Belhiah, Hassan. Tutoring as an embodied activity: How speech, gaze and body orientation are coordinated to conduct ESL tutorial business. Journal of Pragmatics. 2009. 41(4): 829-841.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

Hall, Jeffrey A. and Chong Xing. The Verbal and Nonverbal Correlates of the Five Flirting Styles. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2015. 39:41–68. DOI 10.1007/s10919-014-0199-8
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/first-12-minutes-flirting-using-nonverbal-communication-study-reveals-26-body-language-cues-attraction/

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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/

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/

Matsuda, Yoshi-Taka ; Okanoya, Kazuo ; Myowa-Yamakoshi, Masako. Shyness in early infancy: approach-avoidance conflicts in temperament and hypersensitivity to eyes during initial gazes to faces. PloS one. 2013 8(6): pp.e65476

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

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

Ponari, Marta ; Trojano, Luigi ; Grossi, Dario ; Conson, Massimiliano. “Avoiding or approaching eyes”? Introversion/extraversion affects the gaze-cueing effect. Cognitive Processing. 2013. 14(3): 293-299.

Robinson, Jeffrey David. Getting Down to Business Talk, Gaze, and Body Orientation During Openings of Doctor-Patient Consultations. Human Communication Research. 1998. 25(1): 97-123.

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/

Underwood, M. K.. Glares of Contempt, Eye Rolls of Disgust and Turning Away to Exclude: Non-Verbal Forms of Social Aggression among Girls. Feminism & Psychology. 2004 14(3): 371-375

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

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.

Arrogance or arrogant body language, Authoritative body language, Confident body language, Courtship display, Crotch display, Dominant body language, Expansive movements, High confidence body language

Body Language of Leg Spreading

by Chris • October 23, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Leg Spreading

Cue: Leg Spreading

Synonym(s): Spreading The Legs, Open Legs, Leg Placed Over The Arm Of The Chair, Uncrossed Legs.

Description: Legs that are spread while seated or standing rather than crossed.

In One Sentence: Leg spreading is a sign of dominance as it puts the genitals on display.

How To Use it: Spread your legs when you want others to see you as dominant and authoritative. The posture serves both women and men in the same fashion, but men are afforded more social liberty when it comes to dominance displays.

Men can benefit most from this posture in business and in dating as dominance is a valued trait in these context. Women should resist the urge to display dominance in this fashion, but if they absolutely feel comfortable displaying this way, they must wear long pants. Opening the legs with feminine attire including skirts and dresses, or even shorts can give the impression of sexual easiness and will have quite the opposite connotation to that desired.

Resources:

Allen, Jill; Sarah J. Gervais and Jessi L. Smith. Sit Big to Eat Big: The Interaction of Body Posture and Body Concern on Restrained Eating. Psychology of Women Quarterly 2013. 37(3): 325-336. DOI: 10.1177/0361684313476477pwq.sagepub.com
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/sit-big-to-eat-big-how-constrictive-postures-reduce-food-consumption/

Arnette, S. L., & Pettijohn, T. F., II. (2012). The effects of posture on self-perceived leadership. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 3, 8–13.

Bohns, Vanessa K. and Scott S. Wiltermuth. It Hurts When I Do This (Or You Do That): Posture And Pain tolerance. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 2012. 48: 341-345.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/dominant-and-submissive-postures-affects-more-than-public-perception-it-also-affects-felt-pain-and-physical-strength/

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Cesario, J., & McDonald, M. M. (2013). Bodies in context: Power poses as a computation of action possibility. Social Cognition, 31, 260–274.

Cuddy, Amy J.C., Caroline A. Wilmuth, and Dana R. Carney. The Benefit of Power Posing Before a High-Stakes Social Evaluation. Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 13-027, September 2012.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/benefits-power-posing-high-stakes-performance/

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For this reason, leg spreading has two very different implications for men and women. For women, opening the legs permits sexual access, whereas men’s sexuality, while it can be displayed via legs open, is not required to complete the act of sex. Given the aforementioned sexual differences between men and women, legs open is more in line with taking up space in men than it is for women. Recall that taking up space is inherent in all dominance displays. In women, leg spreading, whilst it does indeed function to take up more space, it is confounded with it as an overt sexual access display thereby rending it as less dominant and more sexual.

However, in dating, if women wish to tease men, they might permit men to see the inside of their thigh or even flash men outright by un-crossing a re-crossing the legs.

An exaggerated leg spread amplifies the meaning. So to appear highly dominant, spread the legs as wide as possible. To appear overly sexual, also spread the legs out further.

It is ill advised to for men to spread the legs in full view of more dominant people than themselves including bosses, father-in-law’s, and so forth. Leg spreading may be seen by other highly dominant men as a challenge which may invite confrontation.

Context: a) General b) Dating.

Verbal Translation: a) “I’m dominant and open at the same time so I’m spreading my legs open to put my genitals on open display for others to see and judge. I’m not ashamed.” a) “I’m careless and improper and do not hold gentleman or feminine body postures – or just don’t care how I am perceived.” a) “I’m more comfortable with my legs uncrossed than with them crossed and do not intend to send any particular signal.” b) “I’m a sexually open or liberated (or dominant) woman so I’m keeping my legs open as a sexual invitation.” b) “I’m a sexually dominant man and keep my legs open so you can admire my masculinity.”

Variant: The leg over the chair is as a particularly overt and offensive way of spreading the legs.

Cue In Action: a) He sat at the corner of the couch with his legs spread as wide as he could. Being particularly cowardly, he followed this up by holding his drink between his legs serving as a shield. b) Sharon Stone in the movie Basic Instinct sent a clear message as she slowly uncrossed and re-crossed her legs while being interrogated.

Meaning and/or Motivation: When done by men it is a dominant crotch display, and when done by women usually construed as a sexual invitation or that they have a crass attitude or are “easy.”

Other times, women spread their legs when they are either unaware that it is not socially acceptable or that they have an easy-going personality. In modern times, women have been encouraged to carry more male-like characteristics and are not scorned when they do not close their legs. This has been a recent cultural shift. Generally, as women graduate into adulthood in their late teens, they will adopt more “lady-like” postures on their own, motivated by their own instincts and tend to cross their legs or at the least keep them tightly pressed together unless relaxing in their own domain.

Legs uncrossed is a signal of openness, acceptance and signal of being easy going. This is of particular importance as it pertains to women, as it can taken as a sexual signal or invitation, making women appear easy, “loose” or at best crass or improper. Women wishing to appear dominant will find this posture comfortable, but it will be accompanied by other male typical gestures such as throwing an arm over the back of the chair to take up more space and loud boisterous behaviour.

Men, on the other hand, have the benefit of using the uncrossed legs signal for more than one reason. Men can have their legs uncrossed to display dominance and authority. This is often culturally permitted in men. In men, the meaning of the leg spread is determined by its context and the manner in which it occurs. Men in seated positions spread their legs as a dominance display as it puts the genitals out for everyone to see.

The leg spreading posture is one which is best analyzed by picturing people fully nude as it helps us visualize the image they wish to portray. While we may wish for equality between the sexes, leg spreading is one such posture that illustrates a key difference between men and women’s sexuality and dominance. While spreading the legs shows assertiveness in men, it often comes across negatively when done by sexually mature woman.

The degree to which leg spreading happens is important in both sexes. Spreading is positively correlated with dominance display. That is, the greater the leg spread, the greater is the dominance display. The legs cocked at shoulder width while seated, is comfortable and natural, even for both sexes (while wearing pants), but once the legs break that distance, the signal becomes much more overt. In other words, once the legs meet their maximum angle, it is as if the genitals are yelling at the top of their lungs through a loudspeaker begging to be noticed!

In a standing position, legs spread at or slightly beyond shoulder width signals dominance in a more acceptable way. In fact, having the legs uncrossed while standing is the most appropriate way to stand since it appears open, accepting and confident.

Cue Cluster: The leg spread is accompanied by other dominant body language such as spreading the arms out, such as on the arm of the next chair, leaning back, hands on the hips if standing and hands away from the face and not fidgeting.

Body Language Category: Arrogance or arrogant body language, Authoritative body language, Courtship displays, Confident body language, Crotch display, Dominant body language, Expansive movements, High confidence body language.

Amplifier, Arrogance or arrogant body language, Courtship display, Indicators of disinterest (IOD), Masked body language

Body Language of Invisible Lint Picker or Lint Picker

by Chris • October 23, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Invisible Lint Picker or Lint Picker

Cue: Invisible Lint Picker or Lint Picker

Synonym(s): Lint Picker (The), Picking Invisible Lint.

Description: When someone in mid-conversation breaks eye contact to remove lint, smooth clothing, apply lipstick and so forth.

In One Sentence: The invisible lint picker is a person who is showing nonverbal distain.

How To Use it: When you wish to send an insult that falls below the conscious radar; pick lint, especially lint that does not actually exist. Removing lint and other self-grooming gestures while listening to another speaks is an obvious insult.

Some moderate grooming in the presence of a date can indicate positive meaning, but should only include things like smoothing and adjusting clothing, fixing the hair, and so forth and not unsightly things like picking the finger nails. A good rule to follow is to avoid breaking eye contact as much as possible while grooming especially when the other person is speaking. This will result in a positive rather than a negative impression.

Context: a) General b) Dating

Verbal Translation: a) b) “I don’t like you and what you are saying so I’m going to act rude and remove fake lint from my body until you shut up.”

Variant: Pimples can be pinched, nose picking, cleaning under the nails, smoothing clothing, applying lipstick, glancing in a mirror. See Eye Aversion, Gaze Avoidance and Wandering Eyes.

Cue In Action: As Debbie was talking she noticed that Mary was much more attentive to her task of removing cat hair from her jacket than she was to her. Debbie got the message loud and clear, broke off the conversation early and carried on with her day.

Meaning and/or Motivation: a) A non-verbal displacement gesture indicating a difference of opinion, disapproval, dislike, contempt, and indifference or dismissiveness which is especially salient when lint is entirely absent indicating that the true purpose is to avoid eye contact. Removing invisible lint shows a critical listener through eye contact avoidance and distraction.

b) In dating, lint picking can sometimes indicate interest through preening to make one appear more attractive, and when done on someone else, is a form of affection. When grooming is a positive signal, it is mostly done in private, thus preparing the self to be viewed. When eye contact is visibly broken, it does however signal disinterest. When lint picking is a negative cue it can be compared to picking the nose, picking the nails or pinching pimples. They all show forms of distasteful grooming that should be done in privacy. Making others witness such grotesqueness is truly offensive and dehumanizing.

Cue Cluster: Lint picking is coupled with eye contact avoidance, overall distraction and a lack of agreement indicators.

Body Language Category: Amplifier, Arrogance or arrogant body language, Courtship display, Indicators of disinterest (IOD), Masked body language.

Resources:

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Aggressive body language, Arrogance or arrogant body language, Authoritative body language, Confident body language, Dominant body language, Expansive movements, Gravity defying body language, High confidence body language, Open body language

Body Language of Hooding or The Catapult

by Chris • October 23, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Hooding or The Catapult

Cue: Hooding or The Catapult.

Synonym(s): Full Body Steeple, Catapult (The), Interlaced Hands Behind The Head.

Description: Hooding is a body posture that occurs by placing both hands up and clasped behind the head, elbows back, and chest puffed out while in a seated position. Think of making a hood with your arms and hands.

In One Sentence: Hooding is a posture signaling high dominance.

How To Use it: Use hooding to expand the body and make it appear larger than it is in reality. This will be viewed by others as dominance and confidence therefore it should be reserved for higher ranking individuals who will not be challenged by others.

Bosses, should feel free to assert their dominance with the hooding posture, whereas lower ranking employees should not.

Women should generally not carry the posture due to its high perceived dominance. When done by women it can appear overbearing. If women do choose to do it, they should be expecting to be viewed as capable of backing their dominance with not only verbal counterarguments, but also supportive action. When dominance lacks substance it is viewed in a negative light rather than a positive one.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m so dominant and confident that I’m placing my hands on my head where they can’t be used for defense, splaying wide open and taking up a bunch of space and leaning back to be comfortable.”

Variant: See Military Man or Regal Stance and Cowboy Pose Stance for two similarly dominant postures.

Cue In Action: The boss was cocky and confident. When meeting with employees he always placed his hands up behind his head and leaned back in his chair. When the owner of the company showed up and surprised him, he quickly shot forward, took his hands off the back of his head and made a point of shaking hands with him. He didn’t get back to his hooding posture until the owner was safely out of the office.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Hooding or interlaced hands behind the head is an extremely dominant and possibly arrogant, self-satisfied, even threatening display.

The arms behind the head posture shows arrogance because it openly exposes the body to attack through its expansiveness. Dominant people don’t worry about being attacked and often show this confidence by overexposing themselves and their vulnerable areas to challengers.

The full body steeple is common to professionals such as lawyers, accountants, managers, bosses, and others that feel more superior then their counterparts.

Hooding can be used to intimidate others, or convey a relaxed, cocky disposition, but as always, body language needs to be taken in context. The accompanying dialogue will help tell us what is really going on.

Professionals, such as lawyers, accountants, managers, bosses, and others that tend to take their superiority to higher levels than the rest of us, will be seen using the full body steeple. This is the hooding posture coupled with a figure four leg cross and leaning back in the chair.

Cue Cluster: When seated hooding is coupled with body leaning backward with the legs spread wide open we have a very dominant crotch display. The postures is completed by combining it with the figure-four-leg cross which happens by placing the ankle of the opposite foot across the knee.

Body Language Category: Arrogance or arrogant body language, Aggressive body language, Authoritative body language, Confident body language, Dominant body language, Expansive movements, Gravity defying body language, High confidence body language, Open body language.

Resources:

Arnette, S. L., & Pettijohn, T. F., II. (2012). The effects of posture on self-perceived leadership. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 3, 8–13.

Briñol, P., Petty, R. E., & Wagner, B. (2009). Body posture effects on self-evaluation: A self-validation approach. European Journal of Social Psychology, 39, 1053–1064.

Bartholomewn, Morgan E.; Sheri L. Johnson. Nonverbal Dominance Behavior Among Individuals at Risk for Mania. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2014. 159: 133-138.

Cashdan, Elizabeth. Smiles, Speech, and Body Posture: How Women and Men Display Sociometric Status and Power. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1998. 22(4): 209-228.

Cesario, J., & McDonald, M. M. (2013). Bodies in context: Power poses as a computation of action possibility. Social Cognition, 31, 260–274.

Laird, J. D., & Lacasse, K. (2014). Bodily influences on emotional feelings: Accumulating evidence and extensions of William James’s theory of emotion. Emotion Review, 6, 27–34.

Lee, E. H., & Schnall, S. (2014). The influence of social power on weight perception. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143, 1719–1725.

Michalak, J., Mischnat, J., & Teismann, T. (2014). Sitting posture makes a difference: Embodiment effects on depressive memory bias. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 21, 519–524.

Roberts, Tomi-Ann and Yousef Arefi-Afshar. Not All Who Stand Tall Are Proud: Gender Differences in the Proprioceptive Effects of Upright Posture. Cognition and Emtion. 2007. 21(4):714-727.

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Riskind, J. H., & Gotay, C. C. (1982). Physical posture: Could it have regulatory or feedback effects on motivation and emotion? Motivation and Emotion, 6, 273–298.

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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/

Yap, Andy J. Abbie S. Wazlawek, Brian J. Lucas, Amy J. C. Cuddy, Dana R. Carney. The Ergonomics of Dishonesty: The Effect of Incidental Posture on Stealing, Cheating, and Traffic Violations, 24(11); 2281-2289.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/body-posture-physical-environment-determine-feelings-and-behaviour-study/

*No Photo, Adaptors, Approach tell, Arrogance or arrogant body language, Crotch display, Disengagement body language, Dislike (nonverbal), Frustration or frustrated body language, Hostile body language, Stubborn body language

Body Language of The Head Toss

by Chris • October 23, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of The Head Toss

Cue: Head Toss

Synonym(s): Flicking The Head.

Description: The head is tossed forward or backward.

In One Sentence: Tossing the head shows distain, or conversely, is a way to show off luscious hair (in a dating context).

How To Use it: Toss the head back and shake it to show that you disagree. You can use this in any context to send a strong nonverbal message of disapproval. Simply toss the head backward or from side-to-side to show that you do not approve. When you do so, imagine being “hit in the head” with a bad idea.

In dating, tossing the head is a way women (mostly) can show off their hair. This is especially so if it is long and free-flowing. Putting the hair in motion is a way to draw attention to it and its qualities. Television commercials use the hair toss effectively to show off their shampoo products. You can also produce a like effect. The hair toss is boosted in effectiveness when it is coupled with direct eye contact with whom you wish would notice. When the hair toss is done without eye contact, it is not anchored and therefore is a broadcast signal to anyone to which is visible.

Context: a) General, b) Dating.

Verbal Translation: a) “I’m not happy with you so I’m tossing my head back and shaking it from side to side showing my disdain and haughtiness.” b) “I’m sexually aroused and showing off my luscious hair by flicking and tossing it and hopefully you find that appealing.”

Variant: Sometimes the head is held high and tossed back showing extra verbal charge. See Hair Play.

Cue In Action: a) Eighteen year old Maggie wasn’t happy with her mom and made it known that she had no intension of serving her full punishment. She tossed her head back and shook it at the mere suggestion of being grounded. b) Eighteen year old Maggie tossed her head back while flicking her hair, batted her eyelashes and smiled coyly at the cute boy in her class.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Depending on context can be sexually suggestive or show disdain or haughtiness.

a) Disdain is usually done by women through a combination of a head backward with a small headshake. Sometimes the head is held high and shot forward to deliver a potent message. This shows no interest and no intention of complying, engaging further and certainly no interest in what is being said. b) When the head is meant to remove long hair from the face and coy eye contact is delivered to punctuate it, can mean a sexual invitation. c) Other times, the head is tossed back to remove hair from the eyes and has no other meaning.

Cue Cluster: See Meaning and Motivation for cue cluster.

Body Language Category: Adaptors, Arrogance or arrogant body language, Approach tell, Courtship display, Disengagement body language, Dislike (nonverbal), Frustration or frustrated body language, Hostile body language, Stubborn body language.

Resources:

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Aggressive body language, Amplifier, Arrogance or arrogant body language, Authoritative body language, Confident body language, Dislike (nonverbal), Dominant body language, Doubt or disbelief body language, Evaluative body language, Expansive movements, Eye Language, Gravity defying body language, Hostile body language

Body Language of The Head Tilted Back

by Chris • October 23, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of The Head Tilted Back

Cue: Head Tilted Back

Synonym(s): Looking Down The Nose, Nose up gesture, Tilting The Head Back.

Description: A posture done by tilting the head back and looking down and across the bridge of the nose upon other people as if glaring. Sometimes the head is cocked to the side or the eyes peer over glasses.

In One Sentence: Tiling the head back indicates smugness and pride.

How To Use it: Tilt the head back to demonstrate pride after winning a dominance competition. The stance is appropriate after victory in sports as it is in any other situation where one must overcome great obstacles. Holding the head high will show others that you are winning in the battle of life and that you are worthy of special attention and to be followed. Holding the head high in business will show others that you have leadership qualities.

When one tilts the head back when pride is not earned, it can backfire and be read as smugness, so be prepared for challenges to your stance should you choose to apply them.

When you want to belittle another, simply title the head back and stare down your nose at them. This shows condescension. Think of the stern librarian as she lowers her eye glasses and glares down upon you.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m superior to you in many ways so I tilt my head back and appear haughty and special, demonstrating that you are not worthy of my gaze.”

Variant: See Peering Over Glasses, Chin Jut and Chin Lift.

Cue In Action: Upon entering a coffee shop, she turned the heads of men. When she noticed that she was being watched, she averted her gaze and instead of making eye contact she would “look down her nose at them” by tilting her head backward showing disapproval. It is read by onlookers correctly as an “I’m better than you” glare. They don’t even bother to approach her.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Looking down one’s nose at someone is a dominant, judgment posture and is viewed negatively by others. The opposite cue is the forehead bow, where the head is tilted back and they eyes cast upward. This shows submission.

Looking down the nose at someone can be done without glasses, but their addition makes the posture even more salient. The head back is a domineering teacher or librarian look when a student has done something she does not approve of, so she stares him down. The posture elicits a prey response in others because it puts them in an aggressive relationship with the predator peering down on them.

Tilting the head back is a way to adjust the height levels between people because by doing so it raises the level of the eyes by a few inches. Looking down the nose is indicative of someone that is condescending or pushy, authoritarian, arrogant, but is also a gravity defying body language so shows confidence often bordering on overconfidence.

The phrase “keep your chin up” stems from the power that chin’s held high carries. Holding a high head helps people frame their own views in a more constructive light.

Cue Cluster: Crossing the legs by bringing one foot over the opposite leg (the Figure-Four Leg Cross), hand steepling, or interlocked fingers, leaning back in the chair, and tilting the head back and looking down through the nose at others. This cluster shows arrogance and superiority.

Body Language Category: Amplifier, Arrogance or arrogant body language, Aggressive body language, Authoritative body language, Confident body language, Dislike (nonverbal), Doubt or disbelief body language, Dominant body language, Expansive movements, Eye Language, Gravity defying body language, Hostile body language, Evaluative body language.

Resources:

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Arrogance or arrogant body language, Authoritative body language, Confident body language, Dominant body language, High confidence body language, High confidence hand displays, Leadership body language, Power play, Up nonverbals

The Hidden Body Language of Hand Steepling

by Chris • October 22, 2014 • 0 Comments

The Hidden Body Language of Hand Steepling

Cue: Hand Steepling.

Synonym(s): Steepling The Hands, Tenting the Fingers, Finger Steepling, Hand Tenting.

Description: A posture where the hands are propped up by the fingers of each hand to form a bridge – like a church steeple. In this posture fingers are not interlocked and the palms do not touch. Instead, the finger tips simply touch at their tips.

In One Sentence: Hand steepling is a sign of confidence and that one knows something that another doesn’t.

How To Use it: Use hand steepling to demonstrate true or feigned confidence. This can work when portraying an image of strength is beneficial such as in business or legal negotiations. Steeple the hands when you want other people to think that you are privy to beneficial information that they are not.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I have access to hidden information, and life experience, and this is the source of my power and control over you. I demonstrate this by pressing my fingertips together in a high confidence hand gesture like the roof of a church.”

Variant: Rocking might accompany the steeple where the hands move back and forth by adding and reducing pressure between them. The steeple can be placed low on a lap, or seen hovering slightly above the lap. Other times the steeple is in full view of others with the elbows propped up on the table. The steepler can hold the posture so high that they have to look through the steeple to see others. See Hand Clasping, Hand Wringing, Hand Clasping.

Cue In Action: Donald Trump performed the steeple frequently on his television show The Apprentice, in preparation, of all things, to fire his next apprentice! His steepling was an obvious cue signaling the power he had over his subordinates.

Meaning and/or Motivation: The steepler is someone that is confident, sometimes overconfident, authoritative, and particularly evaluative of others around him.

Confidence, in this case, is held in the power and control they possess and also in knowing things that other people do not. Steeplers are found carrying the gesture when around subordinates, or whenever they seem to have the upper hand. This gesture is effective if you already possess power or want others to think you do, but it is ineffective in team building, since it comes off as arrogant. It does have subconscious manipulative properties though, such as bluffing in poker but in most cases, this gesture is only as effective as that which can be backed up with real confidence and true access to valuable hidden information.

Superiors will also be seen using this gesture in meetings and when giving orders and the higher the steeple is held, the greater the arrogance it depicts. In extreme forms, the person carrying the gesture can be seen “looking right through their hands” between the triangle formed by the pent up fingers and the thumbs.

A high steepler comes off as a “know-it-all” and arrogant and smug especially when coupled with the head tilted backward. A more subtle version is the hidden steeple of which the sender could be trying to hide or shelter their opinion from view by keeping the steepled fingers below the table. The lower steeple is more often used by women and when someone is listening rather than speaking. A low steeple signifies that someone is interested and ready to respond.

Hidden steepling, such as a steeple on the lap under a table, refers to hidden confidence or a desire to limit arrogance in attempt to appear more open and accepting. When the hands are steepled, but holding support of the head, it does not signal confidence, but rather boredom, self-consciousness, or awkwardness.

Steepling can also ebb and flow along with confidence to what is being said which can be useful in negotiations or in arguments. If something is said to drop confidence the steepling might be broken in favour of interlocked hands as if praying but then quickly return when a person feels that their position has improved. Interlocked fingers is a signal of low confidence and the fingers might even be seen wringing themselves. Lawyers quickly learn to control this nonverbal cue in favour of constant steepling rather than any other gesture.

Cue Cluster: The steeple can occur in body language clusters as well, but what is important is not what happens after the steepling, as in the chin stroke and eye glass language, but rather what happens preceding the steepling. By watching for positive open postures such as palms up and arms un-crossed or closed postures such as arms crossed, touching the nose or face and avoiding eye contact, we can tell if the person is trying to be honest or manipulative with his or her apparent power. In other words, steepling is a finish posture serving to punctuate a body language clue cluster rather than the other way around.

Another example of a cue cluster is as follows: crossing the legs by bringing one foot over the opposite leg (the figure-four leg cross), fingers steepling, leaning back in the chair, and tilting the head back and looking down through the nose at others. This cluster shows arrogance and superiority.

Body Language Category: Arrogance or arrogant body language, Authoritative body language, Confident body language, Dominant body language, High confidence body language, High confidence hand displays, Leadership body language, Power play, Up nonverbals.

Resources:

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Aggressive body language, Anger body language, Arrogance or arrogant body language, Authoritative body language, Body pointing, Dominant body language, Enthusiasm (nonverbal), Expansive movements, Hostile body language, Space invasion, Threat displays

Body Language of Finger Pointing

by Chris • October 21, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Finger Pointing

Cue: Finger Pointing

Synonym(s): Pointing, Closed Palm Finger Pointing.

Description: The hand is balled up with the index finger remaining extended ready to jab.

In One Sentence: Finger pointing is a way people distract others from things they are doing by refocusing the attention of others.

How To Use it: Use the index finger like a spear and wave it around when you really want to drive a point. It must be used with caution and with a receptive audience or it will be seen negatively and threatening. The finger is also effective at provoking especially when you wish to arouse confrontation. Use finger pointing when you want someone else to lose their emotional cool as it will incite an aggressive counter reaction. Therefore, prodding with a finger can perform two functions including helping to punctuate important points as well as instigate emotional rebuttals. The index finger, regardless, should be used with care.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I want everyone to look at what I’m pointing at and not at me.” “I’ve sharpened my spear. It is my index finger, and it’s extended and ready to thrust. It will jab at anyone or anything that might be in its path – so watch-out! I’m here to make a point.”

Variant: The middle finger is sometimes used rather than the index which is viewed as offensive by many. The thumb in the hand gesture is a more authoritative and acceptable way to make a point. Also see Finger Wagging (left and right).

Cue In Action: During a confrontation, Jill, pointed over and over, stabbing and prodding her husband with her index finger, each time laying in more and more blame.

Meaning and/or Motivation: The pointer is akin to a spear thrower. Every time they thrust their finger forward or shake it rhythmically it is as if they are jabbing their ideas into their audience and turning them submissive. We see this most often during aggressive verbal fights where the accuser is making strong personal attacks against the other. We also see it during passionate presentations when the speaker wishes to strongly emphasis a point.

Pointing finds its place all over the world to indicate direction or to emphasis a point. However, even the pointing gesture shows variation across culture as some will point with the index finger, others will use the middle finger and yet others still will point with a closed fist and use the thumb to indicate. Most cultures find pointing rude altogether, but others are more tolerant of its use. Where the middle finger is seen as a rude gesture, using it to point can be extremely off-putting and should be avoided.

Pointing fingers is a universal gesture that is negative in nature because it is as if the person is throwing spears. Finger pointing usually appears during aggressive verbal arguments. Finger pointing puts the reflection and responsibility onto the listener, and for this reason, they attach negative connotations to the speaker. It creates defensive feelings in the listener and as it persists, these defensive feelings grow into aggression. Parents will often use the pointing finger to scold children but adults will be far less tolerant of other’s authority especially those of equal status so it is unwise to exercise this gesture with abandon.

Cue Cluster: Finger pointing is usually coupled with a loud voice, enthusiastic gesticulation, leaning inward or encroaching.

Body Language Category: Arrogance or arrogant body language, Aggressive body language, Anger, Authoritative body language, Body pointing, Dominant body language, Enthusiasm (nonverbal), Expansive movements, Hostile body language, Space invasion, Threat displays.

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