Category: Pacifying body language

*No Photo, Amplifier, Masked emotions, Pacifying body language, Relaxed body language, Self-motivating gestures, Stressful body language

Body Language of Whistling

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Body Language of Whistling

Cue: Whistling.

Synonym(s): Singing to Oneself

Description: Blowing air over the lips and teeth to produce a high pitched sound – often producing a ‘tune’ with varying music notes.

In One Sentence: Whistling is a sign of happiness or that a person needs to self-sooth and calm themselves.

How To Use it: Use whistling to show others your positive spirit. Carrying an upbeat tune shows other people that you are content which can be contagious. Whistling can be used in any context, but should be avoided where silence is the norm such as in a library or other situations where other people require focus and concentration.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m whistling because I’m happy or because I need to calm myself down in a stressful situation.”

Variant: See Blowing Off Steam.

Cue In Action: a) He just won first prize and was whistling a happy upbeat tune. b) He was lost in the woods and had circled the same area more than once. He whistled to himself to stay motivated and calm his nerves.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Whistling indicates contentment, usually, however it can also signify the desire to be pacified making it context specific.

The type of tune, high or low, happy or sad, as well as the context will determine the hidden meaning behind whistling. One might also watch for breaks in singing that is otherwise content. This might indicate a level of momentary stress that has arisen during a difficult task. For example, one might be pleasantly working on a home car build project and struggle with the wrench. As a person applies force or concentrates, there is a break in singing. Long pauses might be present during deep concentration. The break in whistling is an indication that there has been a change in focus.

Cue Cluster: Watch for adjoining stress related cues or relaxed cues to verify the meaning. It is important to verify the baseline of an individual to decide what whistling really means as some use it to pacify and others to indicate happiness.

Body Language Category: Amplifier, Masked emotions, Pacifying body language, Relaxed body language, Self-motivating gestures, Stressful body language.

Resources:

NONE

Amplifier, Auto contact or self touching, Boredom body language, Courtship display, Displacement behaviour, Embarrassment (nonverbal), Emotional body language, Idiosyncratic body language, Indicator Of Sexual Interest (IOsI), Low confidence body language, Oral displacement activities, Pacifying body language, Pensive displays, Pseudo-infantile gestures, Security blankets, Shy nonverbal, Worry body language

Body Language of Suckling

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Body Language of Suckling

BodyLanguageProjectCom - Suckling 1Cue: Suckling.

Synonym(s): Mouthing An Object, Chewing On A Pen, Pen Sucking, Sucking On A Pen (or other), Oral Fixation.

Description: When any object including pens or fingers are brought to the lips and chewed or sucked on.

In One Sentence: Suckling indicates a need for self-soothing due to negative feelings.

How To Use it: While suckling can help produce comfort, it is not considered a cue that should be used in full view of others as it is unlikely to produce a desirable impression.

Context: a) General. b) Dating.

Verbal Translation: “I’m in need of an oral fixation to calm my nerves so I’m suckling – on my finger or pen, as I did when I was a baby.”

Variant: See Hand to Mouth, Lip Chewing or Chewing The Lips, Hair Play, Nail Biting.

Cue In Action: a) Debbie was a shy, timid person, she kept her gaze low, easily blushed, and was quiet around strangers. This was especially so when put on the spot or questioned. At her desk, she habitually mouthed pens, paper clips, or chewed on her fingers. a) During the exam, the student mouthed her pen as she suffered through a question she wasn’t familiar with. b) Debbie was thinking about Mark and subconsciously tapped the end of her pen against her lower lip. The pen was a phallic replacement.

Meaning and/or Motivation: The mouth and lips are full of nerve endings which, when stimulated, provides tactile gratification and comfort. However, anytime the fingers go to the mouth such as playing with the side of the mouth or lip, it’s a retrogressive action indicating insecurity. These types of gestures are called “pacifying behaviours” because they are designed to reduce anxiety when someone is exposed to something distressing. Pacifying language tells us that the mind is not at ease, and it is attempting to restore the body’ natural state.

Suckling body language essentially turns us back into babies or at least indicates to others our need for self-soothing due to emotional stress.

Adults that are tense or anxious will play with their mouth or lip. Mouthing a pen, cigarette, hair, and even a piece of gum during emotional distress are substitutes for the mother’s breast. They remind us of early childhood mouthing. Sucking, like plucking, picking or chewing the lips or rubbing them with a finger or thumb are all forms of auto touching. Confident individuals would never consider using these types of security blankets.

Alternatively, an object to the mouth can represent a phallic purpose. Subconscious controls can lead one to bring an object to the mouth during sexual thoughts. The pen for example, can be a substitute for a penis during arousal.

Cue Cluster: Watch for other negative emotional cues such as pinching the skin, scratching, smoothing clothing, eye aversion, head lowered, blushing, trembling, attempt to exit (escape movements), ventral denial, turning the body away, sweating and so forth.

Body Language Category: Amplifier, Auto contact or self touching, Boredom body language, Courtship displays, Displacement behaviour, Embarrassment (nonverbal), Emotional body language, Idiosyncratic body language, Indicators of sexual interest (IOsI), Low confidence body language, Oral displacement activities, Pensive displays, Pseudo-infantile gestures, Pacifying body language, Security blankets, Shy nonberbal, Worry body language.

Resources:

Azrin, N.H. ; Nunn, R.G. ; Frantz-Renshaw, S. Habit reversal treatment of thumbsucking. Behaviour Research and Therapy. 1980. 18(5): 395-399.

Argo, J. J., Dahl, D. W., & Morales, A. C. (2006). Consumer contamination: How consumers react to products touched by others. Journal of Marketing, 70(April), 81–94.

Bakwin, Harry. Thumb- and finger-sucking in children. The Journal of Pediatrics. 1948. 32(1): 99-101.

Cohen, Keith N. ; Clark, James A. Hogan, Robert (editor). Transitional object attachments in early childhood and personality characteristics in later life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1984. 46(1): 106-111.

Caplovitz Barrett, Karen. The origins of social emotions and self-regulation in toddlerhood: New evidence. Cognition & Emotion. 2005. 19(7): 953-979.

Castles, Duncan L. ; Whiten, Andrew ; Aureli, Filippo. Social anxiety, relationships and self-directed behaviour among wild female olive baboons. Animal Behaviour. 1999. 58(6): 1207-1215.

D’alessio, M. ; Zazzetta, A. Development of Self-Touching Behavior in Childhood. Perceptual and Motor Skills. 1986. 63(1): 243-253.

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

Erkolahti, R., & Nystro¨m, M. (2009). The prevalence of transitional object use in adolescence: is there a connection between the existence of a transitional object and depressive symptoms? European Child Adolescence Psychiatry, 18, 400–406.

Foster, Laura Gutermuth. Nervous Habits and Stereotyped Behaviors in Preschool Children. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. 1998. 37(7): 711-717.

Festjens, Anouk; Sabrina Bruyneel and Siegfried Dewitte. What a Feeling! Touching Sexually Laden Stimuli Makes Women Seek Rewards. Journal of Consumer Psychology. 2013. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcps.2013.10.001
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/not-sexy-images-sexy-touch-drives-womens-purchases/

Friman, P C ; Mcpherson, K M ; Warzak, W J ; Evans, J. Influence of thumb sucking on peer social acceptance in first-grade children. Pediatrics. 1993. 91(4): 784-6.

Goldberg, Shelly ; Rosenthal, Robert. Self-touching behavior in the job interview: Antecedents and consequences. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1986. 10(1): 65-80.

Garnefski N 2004) Cognitive emotion regulation strategies and depressive symptoms: differences between males and female. Personal Indiv Diff 36: 267–76.

Huflejt-Łukasik M, Czarnota-Bojarska J (2006) Short Communication: Selffocused attention and self-monitoring influence on health and coping with stress. Stress Health 22: 153–59.

Honzik, Marjorie P. ; McKee, John P. The sex difference in thumb-sucking. The Journal of Pediatrics. 1962. 61(5): 726-732.

Juni, Samuel ; Cohen, Phyllis. Partial impulse erogeneity as a function of fixation and object relations. Journal of Sex Research. 1985. 21(3): 275-291.

Kalpidou, Maria. Sensory Processing Relates to Attachment to Childhood Comfort Objects of College Students. Early Child Development and Care. 2012. 182(12): 1563-1574.

Kochanska, G., Coy, K. C., & Murray, K. T. (2001). The development of self-regulation in the first four years of life. Child Development, 72, 1091–1111.

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

Kirschbaum C, Pirke K-M, Hellhammer DH. 1993. The ‘Trier Social Stress Test’: a tool for investigating psychobiological stress responses in a laboratory setting. Neuropsychobiology 28: 76–81.

Kammers, Marjolein P.M. ; de Vignemont, Frédérique ; Haggard, Patrick. Cooling the Thermal Grill Illusion through Self-Touch. Current Biology. 2010. 20(20): 1819-182.

Lastovicka, J. L., & Sirianni, N. J. (2011). Truly, madly, deeply: Consumers in the throes of material possession love. Journal of Consumer Research, 38(2), 323–341.

Lehman, E.B., Arnold, B.E., & Reeves, S.L. (1995). Attachments to blankets, teddy bears, and other nonsocial objects: A child’s perspective. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 156(4), 443–459.

Lehman, E.B., Holtz, B.A., & Aikey, K.L. (1995). Temperament and self-soothing behaviour in children: Object attachment, thumbsucking, and pacifier use. Early Education and Development, 6(1), 53–72.

Meier, B. P., Schnall, S., Schwarz, N., & Bargh, J. A. (2012). Embodiment in social psychology. Topics in Cognitive Science, 4(4), 705–716.

Maclaren, Kym. Touching matters: Embodiments of intimacy. Emotion, Space and Society. 2014. 13: 95-102.

Maestripieri D, Schino G, Aureli F, Troisi A. 1992. A modest proposal: displacement activities as an indicator of emotions in primates. Anim Behav 44:967–979.

Mohiyeddini, C., Bauer, S., & Semple, S. (2013a). Displacement behaviour is associated with reduced stress levels among men but not women. PLoS One, 8, e56355.

Mohiyeddini, C., Bauer, S., & Semple, S. (2013b). Public self-consciousness moderates the link between displacement behaviour and experience of stress in women. Stress, 16, 384–392.

Mohiyeddini, C., & Semple, S. (2013). Displacement behaviour regulates the experience of stress in men. Stress, 16, 163–171.

Mahalski, P. (1983). The incidence of attachment objects and oral habits at bedtime in two longitudinal samples of children aged 1.5–7 years. Journal of Child Psychology and
Psychiatry, 24(2), 283–295.

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/

Michel Desmurget; Nathalie Richard; Sylvain Harquel; Pierre Baraduc; Alexandru Szathmari; Carmine Mottolese; and Angela Sirigu. Neural representations of ethologically relevant hand/mouth synergies in the human precentral gyrus. PNAS. 2014. 111 (15).

Mendez, Mario F. ; Mirea, Adrian. Adult head-banging and stereotypic movement disorders. Movement Disorders. 1998. 13(5): 825-828.

Neuroscience: Why babies live hand to mouth. Nature. 2014. 508(7494). p.10.

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

Nolen-Hoeksema S, Aldao A (2011) Gender and age differences in emotion regulation strategies and their relationship to depressive symptoms. Personal Indiv Diff 51: 704–8.

Peck, J., & Shu, S. B. (2009). The effect of mere touch on perceived ownership. Journal of Consumer Research, 36(Oct), 434–447.

Pless, I. B. ; Cripps, H. A. ; Davies, J. M. C. ; Wadsworth, M. E. J. Chronic physical illness in childhood: psychological and social effects in adolescence and adult life. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology. 1989. 31(6): 746(10).

Pecora, Giulia ; Addessi, Elsa ; Schino, Gabriele ; Bellagamba, Francesca. Do displacement activities help preschool children to inhibit a forbidden action? Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. 2014. 126: 80-90.

Passman, R.H. (1987). Attachments to inanimate objects: Are children who have security blankets insecure? Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55(6), 825–830.

Schino G, Perretta G, Taglioni AM, Monaco V, Troisi A. 1996. Primate displacement activities as an ethopharmacological model of anxiety. Anxiety 2:186–191.

Supplee, Lauren H ; Skuban, Emily Moye ; Shaw, Daniel S ; Prout, Joanna. Emotion regulation strategies and later externalizing behavior among European American and African American children. Development and Psychopathology. 2009. 21(2): 393-415.

Troisi A (2002) Displacement activities as a behavioural measure of stress in nonhuman primates and human subjects. Stress 5: 47–54.

Troisi A (1999) Ethological research in clinical psychiatry: the study of nonverbal behaviour during interviews. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 23: 905–913.

Troisi A, Moles A (1999) Gender differences in depression: an ethological study of nonverbal behaviour during interviews. J Psychiatr Res 33: 243–250.

Val-laillet, David ; Nowak, Raymond ; Giraud, Sandra ; Tallet, Céline ; Boivin, Xavier. Nonnutritive sucking: One of the major determinants of filial love. Developmental Psychobiology. 2006. 48(3): 220-232.

von Hippel W, von Hippel C, Conway L, Preacher KJ, Schooler JW, et al. (2005) Coping with stereotype threat: denial as an impression management strategy. J Personal Soc Psychol 89: 22–35.

*No Photo, Aggressive body language, Amplifier, Comfort body language, Confident body language, Emotional body language, Negative body language, Pacifying body language, Stressful body language

Body Language of Smoking Body Language

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Body Language of Smoking Body Language

No picCue: Smoking Body Language

Synonym(s): Deep Smoking, Quick Puff Of Cigarette, Cigarette Blown Up or Down.

Description: The method by which smoking cigarettes occurs such as quick or slow puffs, deep or shallow, with exhalation up or down, can indicate hidden thoughts.

In One Sentence: Smoking body language may give off cues of underlying emotion depending on how it is done.

How To Use it: See Meaning and/or Motivation for clues as to how you might signal nonverbally while smoking.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: See Meaning and/or Motivation.

Variant: See Blowing Off Steam.

Cue In Action: See Meaning and/or Motivation.

Meaning and/or Motivation: An addictive habit that sometimes serves as an oral fix to sooth discomfort. Some have said that smoking is a replacement to the comfort brought about by thumb-sucking. Reading the body language of smoking serves to indicate hidden underlying emotions.

A deep inhalation signals the desire to be sedated and calmed when under pressure.

A quick puff show a desire to stimulate the brain and get to work. This person might be seen picking up and putting the cigarette down as if agitated.

Quick exhalation with smoke blown upwards shows positive thoughts, while smoke blown down shows negative thoughts.

Slow exhalation is a sign of an increase in consideration.

Conversely, those who smoke are often conscious of the wind direction and will blow smoke such that it does not waft into the faces of nearby non-smokers. Thus, they may blow smoke in the most contentious way. If this is done, it shows that a person is caring of others.

Cue Cluster: Watch for accompanying signals depending on the way in which smoking occurs to verify the emotional message.

Body Language Category: Amplifier, Aggressive body language, Comfort body language, Confident body language, Emotional body language, Negative body language, Pacifying body language, Stressful body language.

Resources:

Allen, Ben ; Friedman, Bruce H. Positive emotion reduces dyspnea during slow paced breathing. Psychophysiology. 2012 49(5): 690-696.

Brown, Richard P ; Gerbarg, Patricia L. Sudarshan Kriya yogic breathing in the treatment of stress, anxiety, and depression: part I-neurophysiologic model. Journal of alternative and complementary medicine . 2005. 11(1): 189-201.

Ekerholt, Kirsten Bergland. Breathing: a sign of life and a unique area for reflection and action. Astrid Physical therapy. 2008 88(7): 832-40.

Freud S. On sexuality. London: Penguin, 1977.

Geronemus, Hillary. Breathe Through It. Women’s Health. 2010. 7(3): 068

Hunter, Virginia. Clinical clues in the breathing behaviors of patient and therapist. Clinical Social Work Journal. Summer. 1993 21(2):161-118

Holsti, Liisa ; Oberlander, Timothy F. ; Brant, Rollin. Does breastfeeding reduce acute procedural pain in preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit? A randomized clinical trial. Pain. 2011. 152(11): 2575-2581.

Leite, Adriana Moraes ; Linhares, Maria Beatriz Martins ; Lander, Janice ; Castral, Thaíla Corrêa ; Dos Santos, Cláudia Benedita ; Silvan Scochi, Carmen Gracinda. Effects of breastfeeding on pain relief in full-term newborns. The Clinical journal of pain. 2009. 25(9): 827-32

Martin, Peter ; Waldo Bird, H. One type of the “in-search-of-a-mother” marital patterns. The Psychiatric Quarterly. 1962. 36(1): 283-293.

Michel Desmurget; Nathalie Richard; Sylvain Harquel; Pierre Baraduc; Alexandru Szathmari; Carmine Mottolese; and Angela Sirigu. Neural representations of ethologically relevant hand/mouth synergies in the human precentral gyrus. PNAS. 2014. 111 (15).

Nishitani, Shota ; Miyamura, Tsunetake ; Tagawa, Masato ; Sumi, Muneichiro ; Takase, Ryuta ; Doi, Hirokazu ; Moriuchi, Hiroyuki ; Shinohara, Kazuyuki. The calming effect of a maternal breast milk odor on the human newborn infant. Neuroscience Research. 2009. 63(1): 66-71.

Oral fixation in the 21st century. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 2004, Vol.38(6), p.478-478.

Story, R. Ian Hunt, Howard F. (editor). Effets on Thinking of Relationships Between Conflict Arousal and Oral Fixation. Journal of Abnormal Psychology. 1968. 73(5): 440-448.

Sand-Jecklin, Kari. Patient Anxiety Levels Related to Gynecologic Examinations: Use of the Color Breathwork Relaxation Method. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing. 2008. 22(4): 240-242.

Tainsky, Al. Calm, cool, collected: a meditation primer. Inside MS, Wntr. 2002. 20(1): 24(4).

Val-laillet, David ; Nowak, Raymond ; Giraud, Sandra ; Tallet, Céline ; Boivin, Xavier. Nonnutritive sucking: One of the major determinants of filial love. Developmental Psychobiology. 2006. 48(3): 220-232.

Auto contact or self touching, Comfort body language, Emotional body language, Low confidence body language, Pacifying body language, Stressful body language, Stroking body language, Worry body language

Body Language of Self Stroking or Auto Contact

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Body Language of Self Stroking or Auto Contact

BodyLanguageProjectCom - Self Stroking or Auto Contact 3 BodyLanguageProjectCom - Self Stroking or Auto Contact 2 BodyLanguageProjectCom - Self Stroking or Auto Contact 5 BodyLanguageProjectCom - Self Stroking or Auto Contact 6Cue: Self Stroking or Auto Contact.

Synonym(s): Auto Contact, AutoErotic Touching, Stroking The Self, Petting The Self, Self-Soothing, Touching The Self, Self-Touching.

Description: When the body is stroked or petted or touching in a way to produce a soothing effect as a mother would sooth her child.

In One Sentence: Self stroking is a sign of anxiety, nervousness, and need for reassurance.

How To Use it: Self stroking is a common form of self-soothing. Using it makes us feel comforted as we remind ourselves of the type of touching we received as infants by our parents. Self soothing helps release positive hormones when we need them the most. The context in which self stroking works is limitless, however, one should generally avoid self stroking if one wishes to appear dominant, confident, and in control. Touching the back of the head or stroking the arm are a couple ways that help produce a calming feeling.

In dating, women can use self stroking to create desire in men. Women should touch themselves in ways that simulate how they would like their partner to touch them (within reason or course). Lightly touching the upper chest area by playing with a necklace draws attention to the breast area. This serves to arouse a companion. Another area women can emphasis is the outside of the thigh or if one really wishes to arouse, the inside of the upper thigh with legs crossed. Lightly stroking the neck with hair moved to one side shows vulnerability. This is read as alluring and submissive.

Context: a) General b) Dating.

Verbal Translation: a) “I’m anxious, nervous, and in need of reassurance so I’m replicating the touch patterns my parents used to comfort me in their stead.” b) I’m aroused and am subconsciously stroking my body in response to the positive sexual feelings I’m experiencing.”

Variant: See Chin Stroking, Hand To Cheek, Hand to Mouth, Slow Stroking Of Upper Thigh.

Cue In Action: a) He was stressed out. While pondering his next move, his hand reached back and stroked the back of his head. a) Her breast momentarily rose as she crossed her arms tightly underneath them. It went unnoticed and even out of her consciousness, but the slight touch of her breast released oxytocin and helped calm her excited nerves. b) She stroked her neck with her fingers drawing attention to the most vulnerable part of her body.

Meaning and/or Motivation: a) “Auto contact” is a term used to describe any gesture such as rubbing the hands, tugging the ear, massaging the throat, pulling the fingers, rubbing the back of the neck and so forth, which is meant to sooth the body and create comfort. These gestures are also used to eliminate internal tensions and provide reassurance. Self-soothing is linked to insecurity since they attempt to provide reassurance.

It is believed that these mannerisms stem from childhood sources when our parents would comfort us with touch. Social touching has been shown to increase oxytocin which is a natural chemical messenger released by the brain. Oxytocin also helps in reducing anxiety, and creates feelings of contentment, calmness and creates trust.

Self-touching serves to fight the underlying stress associated with the negative stimulus so as to recreate the feelings of having someone sooth you. This reminds people of more pleasurable situations. In short, it takes the mind to a better place.

b) Conversely, self-touching can have a positive connotation, as is the case during a dating context. Here, a person, usually a woman will touch herself because she is experiencing sexual feelings. She strokes her neck, wrists, or a bare shoulder as a subconscious act which in turn has the effect of drawing male attention to her features.

Self-touching in a dating context is as if a person is doing the type of touching they are seeking to be performed on them, by someone else. Thus, the self-touch is a touch invitation, or touch prelude and a touch replacement.

Cue Cluster: Watch for stroking the beard, rubbing the hands, tugging the ear, massaging the throat, pulling the fingers, rubbing the back of the neck, wringing the hands or rubbing the legs, rubbing the temples, hair touches and grooming or stroking the sides of the arms. When in a dating context watch for the cue to be anchored to a specific person through eye contact and at least three other independent sexual cues of interest.

Body Language Category: Auto contact or self touching, Comfort body language, Emotional body language, Stroking body language, Low confidence body language, Pacifying body language, Stressful body language, Worry body language.

Resources:

Barroso, Felix ; Feld, Jason. Self-touching and attentional processes: The role of task difficulty, selection stage, and sex differences. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1986. 10(1): 51-64.

Bouras, N. ; Dykens, E. M. ; Smith, A. C. M. Distinctiveness and correlates of maladaptive behaviour in children and adolescents with Smith–Magenis syndrome. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research. 1998. 42(6): 481-489.

Butzen, Nathan David ; Bissonnette, Victor ; Mcbrayer, Dan. Effects of modeling and topic stimulus on self-referent touching. Perceptual and motor skills. 2005. 101(2): 413-20.

Broome, Marion E.. Helping Parents Support Their Child In Pain. Pediatric Nursing. 2000. 26(3): 315.

Bornstein, Marc H. ; Tamis-Lemonda, Catherine S. Maternal responsiveness and infant mental abilities: Specific predictive relations. Infant Behavior and Development. 1997. 20(3): 283-296.

Buckley, V., & Semple, S. (2012). Evidence that displacement activities facilitate behavioural transitions in ring-tailed lemurs. Behavioural Processes, 90, 433–435.

Bernal, Gilda Rios ; Wortham, Suec. How to Calm Children through Massage. Childhood Education. 1997. 74(1): 9-14.

Bouhuys, A.L. ; Jansen, C.J. ; van den Hoofdakker, R.H. Analysis of observed behaviors displayed by depressed patients during a clinical interview: relationships between behavioral factors and clinical concepts of activation. Journal of Affective Disorders. 1991. 21(2): 79-88.

Bouhuys, A.L. ; Beersma, Domien G.M. ; van den Hoofdakker, Rutger H. Observed behavior as a predictor of the response to sleep deprivation in depressed patients. Psychiatry Research. 1989. 28(1): 47-61.

Berridge CW,Mitton E, ClarkW, Roth RH. 1999. Engagement in a non-escape (displacement) behavior elicits a selective and lateralized suppression of frontal cortical dopaminergic utilization in stress. Synapse 32:187–197.

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

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

Caplovitz Barrett, Karen. The origins of social emotions and self-regulation in toddlerhood: New evidence. Cognition & Emotion. 2005. 19(7): 953-979.

Castles, Duncan L. ; Whiten, Andrew ; Aureli, Filippo. Social anxiety, relationships and self-directed behaviour among wild female olive baboons. Animal Behaviour. 1999. 58(6): 1207-1215.

D’alessio, M. ; Zazzetta, A. Development of Self-Touching Behavior in Childhood. Perceptual and Motor Skills. 1986. 63(1): 243-253.

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

Karagozoglu, Serife ; Kahve, Emine. Effects of back massage on chemotherapy-related fatigue and anxiety: Supportive care and therapeutic touch in cancer nursing. Applied Nursing Research. 2013. 26(4): 210-217.

Goldberg, Shelly ; Rosenthal, Robert. Self-touching behavior in the job interview: Antecedents and consequences. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1986. 10(1): 65-80.

Garnefski N 2004) Cognitive emotion regulation strategies and depressive symptoms: differences between males and female. Personal Indiv Diff 36: 267–76.

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

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

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

Huflejt-Łukasik M, Czarnota-Bojarska J (2006) Short Communication: Selffocused attention and self-monitoring influence on health and coping with stress. Stress Health 22: 153–59.

Hernandez-Reif, Maria ; Diego, Miguel ; Field, Tiffany. Preterm infants show reduced stress behaviors and activity after 5 days of massage therapy. Infant Behavior and Development. 2007. 30(4): 557-561.

Harrison, Lynda Law. The use of comforting touch and massage to reduce stress for preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit. Newborn and Infant Nursing Reviews. 2001. 1(4): 235-241.

Hennessy, Michael B ; T. Williams, Michael ; Miller, Deborah D ; Douglas, Chet W ; Voith, Victoria L. Influence of male and female petters on plasma cortisol and behaviour: can human interaction reduce the stress of dogs in a public animal shelter? Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 1998. 61(1): 63-77.

Harrigan, Jinni A. Self-touching as an indicator of underlying affect and language processes. Social Science & Medicine. 1985. 20(11): 1161-1168.

Harrigan, Jinni A.; Karen S. Lucic; Denise Kay; Anne McLaney and Robert Rosenthal. Effect of Expresser Role and Type of Self-Touching on Observers’ Perceptions. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 1991. 21(7): 585-609.

Heaven, Laura ; Mcbrayer, Dan ; Prince, Bob. Role of sex in externally motivated self-touching gestures. Perceptual and motor skills. 2002. 95(1): 289-94.

Heaven, L ; Mcbrayer, D. External motivators of self-touching behavior. Perceptual and motor skills. 2000. 90(1): 338-42.

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/

Hall, Judith ; LeBeau, Lavonia ; Reinoso, Jeannette ; Thayer, Frank. Status, Gender, and Nonverbal Behavior in Candid and Posed Photographs: A Study of Conversations Between University Employees. Sex Roles. 2001 44(11): 677-692.

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

Kochanska, G., Coy, K. C., & Murray, K. T. (2001). The development of self-regulation in the first four years of life. Child Development, 72, 1091–1111.

Kochanska, G., Murray, K. T., & Harlan, E. T. (2000). Effortful control in early childhood: Continuity and change, antecedents, and implications for social development. Developmental Psychology, 36, 220–232.

Kirschbaum C, Pirke K-M, Hellhammer DH. 1993. The ‘Trier Social Stress Test’: a tool for investigating psychobiological stress responses in a laboratory setting. Neuropsychobiology 28: 76–81.

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

Lee Ann Renninger, T. Joel Wade, Karl Grammer. Getting that female glance: Patterns and consequences of male nonverbal behavior in courtship contexts. Evolution and Human Behavior. 2004; 25: 416–431.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/part-i-how-to-read-male-sexual-body-language-a-study-for-women-and-the-men-who-wish-to-cheat-the-system/

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/

Moore, M. M. and D. L. Butler. 1989. Predictive aspects of nonverbal courtship behavior in women. Semiotica 76(3/4): 205-215.

Moore, M. M. 2001. Flirting. In C. G. Waugh (Ed.) Let’s talk: A cognitive skills approach to interpersonal communication. Newark, Kendall-Hunt.

Moore, M. M. 1985. Nonverbal courtship patterns in women: context and consequences. Ethology and Sociobiology 64: 237-247.

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

Moszkowski, Robin J. ; Stack, Dale M. ; Chiarella, Sabrina S. Infant touch with gaze and affective behaviors during mother–infant still-face interactions: Co-occurrence and functions of touch. Infant Behavior and Development. 2009. 32(4): 392-403.

Maestripieri D, Schino G, Aureli F, Troisi A. 1992. A modest proposal: displacement activities as an indicator of emotions in primates. Anim Behav 44:967–979.

Mohiyeddini, C., Bauer, S., & Semple, S. (2013a). Displacement behaviour is associated with reduced stress levels among men but not women. PLoS One, 8, e56355.

Mohiyeddini, C., Bauer, S., & Semple, S. (2013b). Public self-consciousness moderates the link between displacement behaviour and experience of stress in women. Stress, 16, 384–392.

Mohiyeddini, C., & Semple, S. (2013). Displacement behaviour regulates the experience of stress in men. Stress, 16, 163–171.

Marcus-Newhall A, Pedersen WC, Carlson M, Miller N. 2000. Displaced aggression is alive and well: a meta-analytic review. J Pers Soc Psychol 78:670–689. Ingram GIC. 1960. Displacement activity in human behavior. Am Anthropol. 62:994–1003.

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

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

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

Nolen-Hoeksema S, Aldao A (2011) Gender and age differences in emotion regulation strategies and their relationship to depressive symptoms. Personal Indiv Diff 51: 704–8.

Pecora, Giulia ; Addessi, Elsa ; Schino, Gabriele ; Bellagamba, Francesca. Do displacement activities help preschool children to inhibit a forbidden action? Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. 2014. 126: 80-90.

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

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

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

Schaafsma, Juliette ; Krahmer, Emiel ; Postma, Marie ; Swerts, Marc ; Balsters, Martijn ; Vingerhoets, Ad. Comfortably Numb? Nonverbal Reactions to Social Exclusion. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2015. 39(1): 25-39.

Schino G, Perretta G, Taglioni AM, Monaco V, Troisi A. 1996. Primate displacement activities as an ethopharmacological model of anxiety. Anxiety 2:186–191.

Supplee, Lauren H ; Skuban, Emily Moye ; Shaw, Daniel S ; Prout, Joanna. Emotion regulation strategies and later externalizing behavior among European American and African American children. Development and Psychopathology. 2009. 21(2): 393-415.

Tamres L, Janicki D, Helgeson VS (2002) Sex differences in coping behaviour: a meta-analytic review. Personal Soc Psychol Rev 6: 2–30.

Troisi A (2002) Displacement activities as a behavioural measure of stress in nonhuman primates and human subjects. Stress 5: 47–54.

Troisi A (1999) Ethological research in clinical psychiatry: the study of nonverbal behaviour during interviews. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 23: 905–913.

Troisi A, Moles A (1999) Gender differences in depression: an ethological study of nonverbal behaviour during interviews. J Psychiatr Res 33: 243–250.

Vannorsdall, Tracy ; Dahlquist, Lynnda ; Shroff Pendley, Jennifer ; Power, Thomas. The Relation Between Nonessential Touch and Children’s Distress During Lumbar Punctures. Children’s Health Care. 2004. 33(4): 299-315.

von Hippel W, von Hippel C, Conway L, Preacher KJ, Schooler JW, et al. (2005) Coping with stereotype threat: denial as an impression management strategy. J Personal Soc Psychol 89: 22–35.

Adaptors, Amplifier, Arousal, Auto contact or self touching, Comfort body language, Frustration or frustrated body language, Hostile body language, Idiosyncratic body language, Low confidence body language, Lying or deceptive body language, Nervous Body Language, Pacifying body language, Stressful body language, Stroking body language

Body Language of Scratching

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Body Language of Scratching

BodyLanguageProjectCom - Scratching 1Cue: Scratching.

Synonym(s): Itching.

Description: The fingers are flexed and turned into a claw shape with the nails pointing to the skin. They move in a back and forth motion over a specific area in effort to provide comfort.

In One Sentence: Scratching can be due to negative emotions, or due to an actual itch, and therefore, have no meaning at all.

How To Use it: Scratching is not a cue that is beneficial in using necessarily, however, it can help resolve some of the discomfort due to negative thoughts. Scratching serves as a distraction to negative emotions and can help alleviate the sensation caused by stress. When scratching is done vigorously or, conversely, gently, it may reduce stress by releasing painkilling hormones or comforting hormones respectively. When stress due to lying or otherwise, is the cause of scratching, one should be careful to make it appear that one is simply using scratching to reduce normal skin discomfort. This will avoid being perceived in a negative light.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: a) “I’m nervous and stressed causing an increase in blood flow and sweating. I can comfort through scratching as a distraction to the underlying cause.” B) “Conversely, I’m scratching to alleviate a legitimate itch which has no emotional meaning at all.”

Variant: See Neck Scratching or Neck Massaging, Ear Grab, Hand Behind Head or Head Pacifying, Hand To Nose, Neck Rubbing (back of neck) or Holding The Back Of The Neck.

Cue In Action: The pressure was really getting to him, but he tried to remain calm. His palms began to perspire and his forehead began to bead with sweat. As the heat increased, his shirt chaffed against his skin. He scratched at his torso and pawed at his face. His partners knew he wouldn’t make the deadline.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Scratching the neck is a stress related behaviour aimed at pacifying because it diverts attention away from the true source of pain. Scratching when no itch is present is a way to displace some of the nervous energy created by the situation.

As blood flow increases to various parts of our body it stimulates nerves that in turn cause irritation and discomfort. It is the tingling sensation due to an increase in blood flow that gives clues to the underlying meaning. Thus, scratching can be due to high stress or anxiety.

In proper context itching indicates uncertainty and a lack of knowledge such as when being asked a question. The scratching behaviour is a pain inducer that causes painkilling hormones to be released to create relaxation in the face of emotional discomfort.

Scratching often has no meaning at all. In normal circumstances it is used to reduce discomfort as a result of tight or dry skin, clothing that causes tickling, or chafing and so forth. It is the motivation, method, and context that will help the body language reader decide its underlying meaning or lack thereof.

Cue Cluster: Coupled with stress scratching we might find pulling at the sleeves, blushing or flushing of the face, perspiration, touching or scratching of the face and cheeks, front and back of the neck and ear, eyebrows of grief combined with other close facial expressions such as lip pursing, squinted eyes and grimacing.

Body Language Category: Adaptors, Amplifier, Arousal, Auto contact or self touching, Comfort body language, Stroking body language, Frustration or frustrated body language, Hostile body language, Idiosyncratic body language, Low confidence body language, Lying or deceptive body language, Nervous body, Pacifying body language, Stressful body language.

Resources:

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Breau, Lynn M. ; Camfield, Carol S. ; Symons, Frank J. ; Bodfish, James W. ; MacKay, Alison ; Finley, G.Allen ; McGrath, Patrick J. Relation between pain and self-injurious behavior in nonverbal children with severe cognitive impairments. The Journal of Pediatrics. 2003 142(5): 498-503.

Barroso, Felix ; Feld, Jason. Self-touching and attentional processes: The role of task difficulty, selection stage, and sex differences. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1986. 10(1): 51-64.

Butzen, Nathan David ; Bissonnette, Victor ; Mcbrayer, Dan. Effects of modeling and topic stimulus on self-referent touching. Perceptual and motor skills. 2005. 101(2): 413-20.

Bouhuys, A.L. ; Jansen, C.J. ; van den Hoofdakker, R.H. Analysis of observed behaviors displayed by depressed patients during a clinical interview: relationships between behavioral factors and clinical concepts of activation. Journal of Affective Disorders. 1991. 21(2): 79-88.

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

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

Castles, Duncan L. ; Whiten, Andrew ; Aureli, Filippo. Social anxiety, relationships and self-directed behaviour among wild female olive baboons. Animal Behaviour. 1999. 58(6): 1207-1215.

Croyle, Kristin L. ; Waltz, Jennifer. Subclinical Self-Harm: Range of Behaviors, Extent, and Associated Characteristics. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. 2007. 77(2): 332-342.

Everly, Jr., G. S. & Lating, J. M. (2002). A clinical guide to the treatment of the human stress response (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers

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

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/

Goldberg, Shelly ; Rosenthal, Robert. Self-touching behavior in the job interview: Antecedents and consequences. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1986. 10(1): 65-80.

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

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

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

Harrison, Lynda Law. The use of comforting touch and massage to reduce stress for preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit. Newborn and Infant Nursing Reviews. 2001. 1(4): 235-241.

Harrigan, Jinni A. Self-touching as an indicator of underlying affect and language processes. Social Science & Medicine. 1985. 20(11): 1161-1168.

Harrigan, Jinni A.; Karen S. Lucic; Denise Kay; Anne McLaney and Robert Rosenthal. Effect of Expresser Role and Type of Self-Touching on Observers’ Perceptions. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 1991. 21(7): 585-609.

Harriss, Louise ; Hawton, Keith. Deliberate self-harm in rural and urban regions: A comparative study of prevalence and patient characteristics. Social Science & Medicine. 2011. 73(2): 274-281.

Jaquier, Véronique ; Hellmuth, Julianne C. ; Sullivan, Tami P.. Posttraumatic stress and depression symptoms as correlates of deliberate self-harm among community women experiencing intimate partnerviolence. Psychiatry Research. 2013. 206(1): 37-42.

Jacobson, Colleenm. ; Muehlenkamp, Jenniferj. ; Miller, Alecl. ; Turner, J. Blake. Psychiatric Impairment Among Adolescents Engaging in Different Types of Deliberate Self-Harm. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology. 2008. 37(2): 363-375.

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

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

Laye – Gindhu, Aviva ; Schonert – Reichl, Kimberly A.. Nonsuicidal Self-Harm among Community Adolescents: Understanding the “Whats” and “Whys” of Self-Harm. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. 2005. 34(5): 447-457.

Mohiyeddini, C., Bauer, S., & Semple, S. (2013a). Displacement behaviour is associated with reduced stress levels among men but not women. PLoS One, 8, e56355.

Mohiyeddini, C., Bauer, S., & Semple, S. (2013b). Public self-consciousness moderates the link between displacement behaviour and experience of stress in women. Stress, 16, 384–392.

Mohiyeddini, C., & Semple, S. (2013). Displacement behaviour regulates the experience of stress in men. Stress, 16, 163–171.

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

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

Nock, Matthew K. Actions speak louder than words: An elaborated theoretical model of the social functions of self-injury and other harmful behaviors. Applied and Preventive Psychology. 2008. 12(4): 159-168.

Pecora, Giulia ; Addessi, Elsa ; Schino, Gabriele ; Bellagamba, Francesca. Do displacement activities help preschool children to inhibit a forbidden action? Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. 2014. 126: 80-90.

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

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

Ross, Shana ; Heath, Nancy. A Study of the Frequency of Self-Mutilation in a Community Sample of Adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. 2002. 31(1):.67-77.

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

Seekles, Wike ; van Straten, Annemieke ; Beekman, Aartjan ; van Marwijk, Harm ; Cuijpers, Pim. Effectiveness of guided self-help for depression and anxiety disorders in primary care: A pragmatic randomized controlled trial. Psychiatry Research. 2011. 187(1): 113-120.

Straker, Gillian. Signing with a Scar: Understanding Self-Harm. Psychoanalytic Dialogues. 2006. 16(1): 93-112

Schino G, Perretta G, Taglioni AM, Monaco V, Troisi A. 1996. Primate displacement activities as an ethopharmacological model of anxiety. Anxiety 2:186–191.

Supplee, Lauren H ; Skuban, Emily Moye ; Shaw, Daniel S ; Prout, Joanna. Emotion regulation strategies and later externalizing behavior among European American and African American children. Development and Psychopathology. 2009. 21(2): 393-415

Troisi A (2002) Displacement activities as a behavioural measure of stress in nonhuman primates and human subjects. Stress 5: 47–54.

Troisi A (1999) Ethological research in clinical psychiatry: the study of nonverbal
behaviour during interviews. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 23: 905–913.

Troisi A, Moles A (1999) Gender differences in depression: an ethological study
of nonverbal behaviour during interviews. J Psychiatr Res 33: 243–250.

Tureck, Kim ; Matson, Johnny L. ; Beighley, Jennifer S. An investigation of self-injurious behaviors in adults with severe intellectual disabilities. Research in Developmental Disabilities. 2013. 34(9): 2469-2474.

*No Photo, Auto contact or self touching, Autoerotic touching, Courtship display, Indicator Of Sexual Interest (IOsI), Pacifying body language, Stressful body language, Stroking body language, Worry body language

Body Language of Running The Tongue Over The Teeth or Lips

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Body Language of Running The Tongue Over The Teeth or Lips

No picCue: Running The Tongue Over The Teeth or Lips.

Synonym(s): Tongue To teeth, Licking The Teeth.

Description: When the tongue is run back and forth over the teeth or lips either with the mouth closed or mouth opened (rare). When the tongue is run back and forth across the teeth with the mouth closed, it shows up as only a bulge passing under the lips as the skin is forced out.

In One Sentence: Running the tongue over the teeth is a sign of the need for pacifying due to negative emotions.

How To Use it: Running the tongue over the teeth produces a comforting feeling. This cue generally goes unnoticed by most people so can be covertly used to pacify the mind.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m running my tongue over my teeth or lips in order to creating a soothing sensation because I’m in need of pacifying due to anxiety.”

Variant: See Lip Licking, Leg Cleansing or Leg Pacifying Behaviour, Neck Rubbing (back of neck) or Holding The Back Of The Neck.

Cue In Action: a) His tongue darted in and out, sweeping left and right during his daily tasks inciting his underlying obsessive-compulsive disorder. b) A bulge formed under his front lips indicating that his tongue was sweeping his teeth. The salesman knew his final price wasn’t going to cut it.

Meaning and/or Motivation: At times, lip licking is a sexual cue, but when it is absent of other sexual cues in cluster, it signifies a need to pacify. When done to pacify, it is usually done repeatedly and rhythmically without eye contact. The tongue on teeth provides a soothing tactile stimuli aimed at reducing anxiety.

Often the cue happens just out of perception to a casual observer, but when watched for, can be quite pronounced. A person might sweep their teeth and enjoy the soft surface they provide while dealing with distress.

Habitual teeth lickers provide evidence that they harbor hidden underlying discomfort. The same can be said for habitual lip lickers who sweep their lips over and over again. As the tongue sweeps, it serves the same purpose as running the palms over the thighs, or rubbing the back of the neck, stroking the hands, rubbing the back of the head and so forth. These are all ways we pacify and sooth ourselves throughout the day as stress presents itself.

Cue Cluster: Watch for other pacifying behaviours such as rubbing the face, playing with the hair, stroking the arm or thighs, or hand or an object to the mouth.

Body Language Category: Auto contact or self touching, Autoerotic touching, Courtship display, Stroking body language, Indicators of sexual interest (IOsI), Pacifying body language, Stressful body language, Worry body language.

Resources:

Barroso, Felix ; Feld, Jason. Self-touching and attentional processes: The role of task difficulty, selection stage, and sex differences. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1986. 10(1): 51-64.

Butzen, Nathan David ; Bissonnette, Victor ; Mcbrayer, Dan. Effects of modeling and topic stimulus on self-referent touching. Perceptual and motor skills. 2005. 101(2): 413-20.

Broome, Marion E.. Helping Parents Support Their Child In Pain. Pediatric Nursing. 2000. 26(3): 315.

Bornstein, Marc H. ; Tamis-Lemonda, Catherine S. Maternal responsiveness and infant mental abilities: Specific predictive relations. Infant Behavior and Development. 1997. 20(3): 283-296.

Buckley, V., & Semple, S. (2012). Evidence that displacement activities facilitate behavioural transitions in ring-tailed lemurs. Behavioural Processes, 90, 433–435.

Bernal, Gilda Rios ; Wortham, Suec. How to Calm Children through Massage. Childhood Education. 1997. 74(1): 9-14.

Bouhuys, A.L. ; Jansen, C.J. ; van den Hoofdakker, R.H. Analysis of observed behaviors displayed by depressed patients during a clinical interview: relationships between behavioral factors and clinical concepts of activation. Journal of Affective Disorders. 1991. 21(2): 79-88.

Bouhuys, A.L. ; Beersma, Domien G.M. ; van den Hoofdakker, Rutger H. Observed behavior as a predictor of the response to sleep deprivation in depressed patients. Psychiatry Research. 1989. 28(1): 47-61.

Berridge CW,Mitton E, ClarkW, Roth RH. 1999. Engagement in a non-escape (displacement) behavior elicits a selective and lateralized suppression of frontal cortical dopaminergic utilization in stress. Synapse 32:187–197.

Caplovitz Barrett, Karen. The origins of social emotions and self-regulation in toddlerhood: New evidence. Cognition & Emotion. 2005. 19(7): 953-979.

Castles, Duncan L. ; Whiten, Andrew ; Aureli, Filippo. Social anxiety, relationships and self-directed behaviour among wild female olive baboons. Animal Behaviour. 1999. 58(6): 1207-1215.

D’alessio, M. ; Zazzetta, A. Development of Self-Touching Behavior in Childhood. Perceptual and Motor Skills. 1986. 63(1): 243-253.

Everly, Jr., G. S. & Lating, J. M. (2002). A clinical guide to the treatment of the human stress response (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers

Karagozoglu, Serife ; Kahve, Emine. Effects of back massage on chemotherapy-related fatigue and anxiety: Supportive care and therapeutic touch in cancer nursing. Applied Nursing Research. 2013. 26(4): 210-217.

Goldberg, Shelly ; Rosenthal, Robert. Self-touching behavior in the job interview: Antecedents and consequences. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1986. 10(1): 65-80.

Garnefski N 2004) Cognitive emotion regulation strategies and depressive symptoms: differences between males and female. Personal Indiv Diff 36: 267–76.

Huflejt-Łukasik M, Czarnota-Bojarska J (2006) Short Communication: Selffocused attention and self-monitoring influence on health and coping with stress. Stress Health 22: 153–59.

Hernandez-Reif, Maria ; Diego, Miguel ; Field, Tiffany. Preterm infants show reduced stress behaviors and activity after 5 days of massage therapy. Infant Behavior and Development. 2007. 30(4): 557-561.

Harrison, Lynda Law. The use of comforting touch and massage to reduce stress for preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit. Newborn and Infant Nursing Reviews. 2001. 1(4): 235-241.

Hennessy, Michael B ; T. Williams, Michael ; Miller, Deborah D ; Douglas, Chet W ; Voith, Victoria L. Influence of male and female petters on plasma cortisol and behaviour: can human interaction reduce the stress of dogs in a public animal shelter?
Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 1998. 61(1): 63-77.

Harrigan, Jinni A. Self-touching as an indicator of underlying affect and language processes. Social Science & Medicine. 1985. 20(11): 1161-1168.

Harrigan, Jinni A.; Karen S. Lucic; Denise Kay; Anne McLaney and Robert Rosenthal. Effect of Expresser Role and Type of Self-Touching on Observers’ Perceptions. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 1991. 21(7): 585-609.

Heaven, Laura ; Mcbrayer, Dan ; Prince, Bob. Role of sex in externally motivated self-touching gestures. Perceptual and motor skills. 2002. 95(1): 289-94.

Heaven, L ; Mcbrayer, D. External motivators of self-touching behavior. Perceptual and motor skills. 2000. 90(1): 338-42.

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

Kochanska, G., Coy, K. C., & Murray, K. T. (2001). The development of self-regulation in the first four years of life. Child Development, 72, 1091–1111.

Kochanska, G., Murray, K. T., & Harlan, E. T. (2000). Effortful control in early childhood: Continuity and change, antecedents, and implications for social development. Developmental Psychology, 36, 220–232.

Moszkowski, Robin J. ; Stack, Dale M. ; Chiarella, Sabrina S. Infant touch with gaze and affective behaviors during mother–infant still-face interactions: Co-occurrence and functions of touch. Infant Behavior and Development. 2009. 32(4): 392-403.

Maestripieri D, Schino G, Aureli F, Troisi A. 1992. A modest proposal: displacement activities as an indicator of emotions in primates. Anim Behav 44:967–979.

Mohiyeddini, C., Bauer, S., & Semple, S. (2013a). Displacement behaviour is associated with reduced stress levels among men but not women. PLoS One, 8, e56355.

Mohiyeddini, C., Bauer, S., & Semple, S. (2013b). Public self-consciousness moderates the link between displacement behaviour and experience of stress in women. Stress, 16, 384–392.

Mohiyeddini, C., & Semple, S. (2013). Displacement behaviour regulates the experience of stress in men. Stress, 16, 163–171.

Marcus-Newhall A, Pedersen WC, Carlson M, Miller N. 2000. Displaced aggression is alive and well: a meta-analytic review. J Pers Soc Psychol 78:670–689. Ingram GIC. 1960. Displacement activity in human behavior. Am Anthropol. 62:994–1003.

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/

Nolen-Hoeksema S, Aldao A (2011) Gender and age differences in emotion regulation strategies and their relationship to depressive symptoms. Personal Indiv Diff 51: 704–8.

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

Kirschbaum C, Pirke K-M, Hellhammer DH. 1993. The ‘Trier Social Stress Test’: a tool for investigating psychobiological stress responses in a laboratory setting. Neuropsychobiology 28: 76–81.

Pecora, Giulia ; Addessi, Elsa ; Schino, Gabriele ; Bellagamba, Francesca. Do displacement activities help preschool children to inhibit a forbidden action? Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. 2014. 126: 80-90.

Schaafsma, Juliette ; Krahmer, Emiel ; Postma, Marie ; Swerts, Marc ; Balsters, Martijn ; Vingerhoets, Ad. Comfortably Numb? Nonverbal Reactions to Social Exclusion. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2015. 39(1): 25-39.

Schino G, Perretta G, Taglioni AM, Monaco V, Troisi A. 1996. Primate displacement activities as an ethopharmacological model of anxiety. Anxiety 2:186–191.

Supplee, Lauren H ; Skuban, Emily Moye ; Shaw, Daniel S ; Prout, Joanna. Emotion regulation strategies and later externalizing behavior among European American and African American children. Development and Psychopathology. 2009. 21(2): 393-415.

Smith, John, Julia Chase, and Anna Lieblich (1974). “Tongue Showing.” In Semiotica (Vol. 11, No. 3), pp. 201-46.

Stern, Daniel and Estelle Bender (1974). “An Ethological Study of Children Approaching a Strange Adult.” In Richard Friedman et al. (Eds.), Sex Differences in Behavior (New York: John Wiley and Sons), pp. 233-58.

Tamres L, Janicki D, Helgeson VS (2002) Sex differences in coping behaviour: a meta-analytic review. Personal Soc Psychol Rev 6: 2–30.

Troisi A (2002) Displacement activities as a behavioural measure of stress in nonhuman primates and human subjects. Stress 5: 47–54.

Troisi A (1999) Ethological research in clinical psychiatry: the study of nonverbal behaviour during interviews. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 23: 905–913.

Troisi A, Moles A (1999) Gender differences in depression: an ethological study
of nonverbal behaviour during interviews. J Psychiatr Res 33: 243–250.

Vannorsdall, Tracy ; Dahlquist, Lynnda ; Shroff Pendley, Jennifer ; Power, Thomas. The Relation Between Nonessential Touch and Children’s Distress During Lumbar Punctures. Children’s Health Care. 2004. 33(4): 299-315.

von Hippel W, von Hippel C, Conway L, Preacher KJ, Schooler JW, et al. (2005) Coping with stereotype threat: denial as an impression management strategy. J Personal Soc Psychol 89: 22–35.

*No Photo, Amplifier, Arousal, Autonomic signal, Boredom body language, Energy Displacement, Escape movements, Metronomic signals, Nervous Body Language, Pacifying body language, Stressful body language, Worry body language

Body Language of Rocking The Body

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Body Language of Rocking The Body

No picCue: Rocking The Body.

Synonym(s): Rocking Back and Forth, Swaying Back and Forth, Body Rocking, Body Shifting.

Description: a) A rhythmic motion of the torso from side to side or from front to back. b) The body is rocked from weight forward to weight back, from side to side usually while standing but can also be done while sitting.

In One Sentence: Rocking the body indicates emotional or body discomfort.

How To Use it: Body rocking is generally seen as a negative cue, but it can be used to signal to others that you are discomforted and wish to leave. Simply rock the body back and forth to show others that you want to leave. Rocking the body is also a way to prepare the body for action. This is useful in sports where people need to stay loose and ready for quick action such as in sprinting. Similarly, rocking is useful in keeping the blood flowing in other contexts too which can stimulate thinking.

Context: General, Dating.

Verbal Translation: “I’m rocking back and forth from side to side because I’m mentally ill (unlikely), ready to take action in a stressful event, or really need to move and burn off some of this pent up energy.” “I’m firing my engine and getting ready to take off – it’s time to wrap things up.” “I’m too cool so I’m rocking off by peeling my body away as if I’m about to leave, it’s time for you to do a little bit of the chasing.”

Variant: See Foot Kicking, Foot Fidgeting, Pacing, Blading Body Language, Body Angling or Ventral Displays, Buttress Stance or Foot Forward Leg Stance.

Cue In Action: a) Betsy was elderly and would rock constantly from side-to-side with a blank, empty expression. b) The sprinter rocked back and forth, kicked out his feet and jumped up and down readying to put in his best effort. c) You could tell the toddler needed to get outdoors after watching television for far too long, as he began to rock back and forth on the sofa. d) Danny rocked away slightly to his back foot as he needed to get to a meeting. e) After talking with a girl for some time, Danny body rocked to show that he was about to leave forcing her to do a little bit of the chasing to keep him interested.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Usually rocking signifies a negative thought and based on its intensity and persistence spells to what degree it is felt. High intensity rocking is found in the mentally ill such as those with schizophrenia, those with obsessive compulsive disorder, or hyperactivity disorder. Low grade rocking can be found in toddlers (and others) who are bored or who don’t get enough physical activity in efforts to release some of their pent up energy.

Rocking also indicates nervousness and can be found in people preparing for sporting events such as sprinting, or taking the stage such for a presentation, or even while waiting to engage in a stressful event such as a school test. In this case, rocking is a substitute for pacing and burning off positive energy in a controlled fashion in order to prepare for the constructive action that is to follow. Rocking can also mean that someone is agitated or upset and is ready to take action or self sooth so they can inhibit themselves from lashing out.

Body rocking is also a technique used to show a desire to leave a conversation. It is a body language expression done by design to show others that one must be someplace else in order to appear more important. It is meant to indicate a nonverbal “time constraint” and has been presented in a dating context to raise status in the eyes of women.

It is the associated clues coupled with the context that will determine the accurate message.

Cue Cluster: Watch for context over associated clue clusters to decipher the true meaning of body rocking. An empty, expressionless face in the elderly might indicate mental illness. Waiting outside a lecture room for an examination indicates nervous rocking while a toddler that rocks while watching television is almost a sure indication that he needs exercise. It is used in accompaniment with eye aversion, head lowered, reduced gestures, body angled away and toes pointed toward an exit, all of which signifies a desire to leave.

Body Language Category: Amplifier, Arousal, Autonomic signal, Boredom body language, Energy Displacement, Escape movements, Impatience, Intention movements, intension postures or intension cues, Metronomic signals, Nervous body language, Pacifying body language, Stressful body language, Worry body language.

Resources:

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

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

Dube, Ashlynn ; Marjanne Kameka ; Stacy M. Lopresti-Goodman. Stereotypical Behaviors in Chimpanzees Rescued from the African Bushmeat and Pet Trade. Behavioral Sciences. 2012. 3(1): 1-20.

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/

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

Leete, Esso. How I Perceive and Manage My Illness. Schizophrenia Bulletin. 1989. 15(2): 197-200.

Mason, G.J. Stereotypies and suffering. Behavioural Processes. 1991. 25(2): 103-115.

Mendez, Mario F. ; Mirea, Adrian. Adult head-banging and stereotypic movement disorders. Movement Disorders. 1998. 13(5): 825-828.

Pederson, David R. Davidson, Park O. (editor). The soothing effect of rocking as determined by the direction and frequency of movement. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science/Revue canadienne des Sciences du comportement. 1975. 7(3): 237-243.

Perkins, M. ; Wolkind, S. N. Asperger’s syndrome: who is being abused? Archives of Disease in Childhood. 1991. 66(6): 693(3)

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/

Shimooka, Yukiko ; Nakagawa, Naofumi. Functions of an unreported “rocking-embrace” gesture between female Japanese Macaques ( Macaca fuscata ) in Kinkazan Island, Japan. Primates. 2014. 55(2): 327-335.

Wolff, Sula. Childhood autism: its diagnosis, nature, and treatment. Archives of Disease in Childhood. 1991. 66(6): 737(5).

Boredom body language, Displacement behaviour, Pacifying body language, Security blankets, Stressful body language

Body Language of Playing With Objects

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Body Language of Playing With Objects

BodyLanguageProjectCom - Playing With Objects 2 BodyLanguageProjectCom - Playing With Objects 1Cue: Playing With Objects

Synonym(s): Giggling Change, Opening And Closing Glasses, Running Fingers Over Zippers, Running The Hands Over Stubble, Playing With Keys, Rolling A Ring Around The Finger, Object Play.

Description: Playing with objects such as a set of keys, ring, change, zippers, or any other artifact that is easy and conveniently located.

In One Sentence: Playing with objects is a way to pacify.

How To Use it: Playing with objects can give others a negative impression of you, however, it does serve a useful purpose. It provides busy hands with an outlet to release emotional tension or placate boredom. A set of keys in a pocket can be manipulated to give the hands something to do while releasing stress relieving hormones through tactile stimulation.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m uneasy, insecure, bored, and need to pacify myself by keeping my hands busy.”

Variant: See Masked Arm Cross, Fondling A Cylindrical Object, Covering The Neck Dimple or Hand to Lower Neck.

Cue In Action: a) The widower played with his wristwatch. It provided him a sense of comfort during stressful events. b) While waiting for the bus, he rolled his ring around his finger due to sheer boredom. c) When she couldn’t think of the answer on the test she twisted the eraser back and forth trying to squeeze the answer out of her mind. d) She always felt awkward on the subway and made a habit of placing her handbag on her lap. When someone she didn’t approve of sat near her, she opened her purse and sorted through her belongings to displace her negative feelings.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Playing with objects is a sign that the body needs to be pacified and is suffering from inner turmoil and discomfort or outright boredom. Most are rooted in infantile actions such as playing with a favourite toy, hugging a blanket, sucking a soother and being comforted by mom or dad. The object keeps the hands busy and helps pacify by burning up some of the excess negative energy. Playing with objects creates a soothing touch over the fingers or palms helping to release positive hormones further reinforcing the behaviour.

If the object belongs to another person, it might signal the desire to be with them and in effort to reestablish closeness. If a loved one has passed away, they may stroke a necklace given to them by this person. This too is a signal that insecurity is taking place and they are seeking their affiliation to the person for support.

Many different forms of object play exist. A person might jiggle change in their pocket, play with a pen or jewelry, open and close the arms of glasses, adjust clothing, shaking a shoe, smoking, or running fingers through the hair.

Cue Cluster: The context, more so than other cues will decide the true meaning of playing with objects.

Body Language Category: Boredom body language, Displacement behaviour, Pacifying body language, Security blankets, Stressful body language.

Resources:

Argo, J. J., Dahl, D. W., & Morales, A. C. (2006). Consumer contamination: How consumers react to products touched by others. Journal of Marketing, 70(April), 81–94.

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

Argo, J. J., Dahl, D. W., & Morales, A. C. (2006). Consumer contamination: How consumers react to products touched by others. Journal of Marketing, 70(April), 81–94.
Farley, James; Risko, Evan F; Kingstone, Alan. Everyday Attention And Lecture Retention: The Effects Of Time, Fidgeting, And Mind Wandering. Frontiers In Psychology, 2013; 4: 619
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/mind-wandering-fidgeting-and-attention/

Berridge CW,Mitton E, ClarkW, Roth RH. 1999. Engagement in a non-escape (displacement) behavior elicits a selective and lateralized suppression of frontal cortical dopaminergic utilization in stress. Synapse 32:187–197.

Boniface, D., & Graham, P. (1978). The three-year-old and his attachment to a special soft object. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 20, 217–224.

Cardasis, W ; Hochman, J A ; Silk, K R. Transitional objects and borderline personality disorder. The American journal of psychiatry 1997, Vol.154(2), pp.250-5.

Cohen, Keith N. ; Clark, James A. Hogan, Robert (editor). Transitional object attachments in early childhood and personality characteristics in later life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1984. 46(1): 106-111.

Claus, B., & Warlop, L. (2010). Once bitten, twice shy: Attitudes towards humans spill over to anthropomorphizable products. Jacksonville, FL: Association for Consumer Research.

Chandler, J., & Schwarz, N. (2010). Use does not wear ragged the fabric of friendship: Thinking of objects as alive makes people less willing to replace them. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 20, 138–145.

Claus, B., & Warlop, L. (2010). Once bitten, twice shy: Attitudes towards humans spill over to anthropomorphizable products. Jacksonville, FL: Association for Consumer Research.

Donate-Bartfield, E., & Passman, R.H. (2004). Relations between children’s attachments to their mothers and to security blankets. Journal of Family Psychology, 18(3), 453–458.

Erkolahti, R., & Nystro¨m, M. (2009). The prevalence of transitional object use in adolescence: is there a connection between the existence of a transitional object and depressive symptoms? European Child Adolescence Psychiatry, 18, 400–406.

Everly, Jr., G. S. & Lating, J. M. (2002). A clinical guide to the treatment of the human stress response (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers

Epley, N., Waytz, A., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2007). On seeing human: A three factor theory of anthropomorphism. Psychological Review, 114, 864–886.

Feldman, R., Singer, M.,& Zagoory, O. (2010). Touch attenuates infants’ physiological reactivity to stress. Developmental Science, 13(2), 271–278.

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/

Garnefski N 2004) Cognitive emotion regulation strategies and depressive symptoms: differences between males and female. Personal Indiv Diff 36: 267–76.

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/

Hadi, R., and Valenzuela, A., A meaningful embrace: Contingent effects of embodied cues of affection. Journal of Consumer Psychology. 2014. http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/whats-in-a-nonverbal-object-caress/

Hobara, M. (2003). Prevalence of transitional objects in young children in Tokyo and New York. Infant Mental Health Journal, 24, 174–191.

Kalpidou, M., & Gilson, C. (2010). Sensory processing and children’s attachment to comfort objects. Poster session presented at the Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, Boston, MA.

Kalpidou, Maria. Sensory Processing Relates to Attachment to Childhood Comfort Objects of College Students. Early Child Development and Care. 2012. 182(12): 1563-1574.

Krishna, A., & Morrin, M. (2008). Does touch affect taste? The perceptual transfer of product container haptic cues. Journal of Consumer Research, 34(6), 807–818.

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

Lastovicka, J. L., & Sirianni, N. J. (2011). Truly, madly, deeply: Consumers in the throes of material possession love. Journal of Consumer Research, 38(2), 323–341.

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

Lehman, E.B., Arnold, B.E., & Reeves, S.L. (1995). Attachments to blankets, teddy bears, and other nonsocial objects: A child’s perspective. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 156(4), 443–459.

Lehman, E.B., Arnold, B.E., Reeves, S.L., & Steir, A. (1996). Maternal beliefs about children’s attachments to soft objects. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 66(3), 427–436.

Lehman, E.B., Denham, S., Moser, M.H., & Reeves, S.L. (1992). Soft object and pacifier attachments in young children: The role of security of attachment to the mother. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 33(7), 1205–1215.

Lehman, E.B., Holtz, B.A., & Aikey, K.L. (1995). Temperament and self-soothing behaviour in children: Object attachment, thumbsucking, and pacifier use. Early Education and Development, 6(1), 53–72.

Liss, M., Timmel, L., Baxley, K., & Killingsworth, P. (2005). Sensory processing and its
relation to parental bonding, anxiety, and depression. Personality and Individual Differences, 39, 1429–1439.

Meier, B. P., Schnall, S., Schwarz, N., & Bargh, J. A. (2012). Embodiment in social psychology. Topics in Cognitive Science, 4(4), 705–716.

Mahalski, P. (1983). The incidence of attachment objects and oral habits at bedtime in two longitudinal samples of children aged 1.5–7 years. Journal of Child Psychology and
Psychiatry, 24(2), 283–295.

Mahalski, P.A., Silva, P., & Spears, G. (1985). Children’s attachment to soft objects at bedtime, child rearing, and child development. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 24(4), 442–446.

Mack, Avram H. ; Viederman, Milton. The Use of a Transitional Object in the Context of Medical Illness. Psychosomatics. 2000. 41(5): 433-435.

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/

Moore, M. M. and D. L. Butler. 1989. Predictive aspects of nonverbal courtship behavior in women. Semiotica 76(3/4): 205-215.

Moore, M. M. 1985. Nonverbal courtship patterns in women: context and consequences. Ethology and Sociobiology 64: 237-247.

Maestripieri D, Schino G, Aureli F, Troisi A. 1992. A modest proposal: displacement activities as an indicator of emotions in primates. Anim Behav 44:967–979.

Mohiyeddini, C., Bauer, S., & Semple, S. (2013a). Displacement behaviour is associated with reduced stress levels among men but not women. PLoS One, 8, e56355.

Mohiyeddini, C., Bauer, S., & Semple, S. (2013b). Public self-consciousness moderates the link between displacement behaviour and experience of stress in women. Stress, 16, 384–392.

Mohiyeddini, C., & Semple, S. (2013). Displacement behaviour regulates the experience of stress in men. Stress, 16, 163–171.

Peck, J., & Shu, S. B. (2009). The effect of mere touch on perceived ownership. Journal of Consumer Research, 36(Oct), 434–447.

Pecora, Giulia ; Addessi, Elsa ; Schino, Gabriele ; Bellagamba, Francesca. Do displacement activities help preschool children to inhibit a forbidden action? Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. 2014. 126: 80-90.

Peck, J., & Wiggins, J. (2006). It just feels good: Consumers’ affective response to touch and its influence on persuasion. Journal of Marketing, 70(Oct), 56–69.

Passman, R.H. (1987). Attachments to inanimate objects: Are children who have security blankets insecure? Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55(6), 825–830.

Passman, R.H., & Halonen (1979). A developmental survey of young children’s attachments to inanimate objects. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 134, 165–178.

Steir, A., & Lehman, E.B. (2000). Attachment to transitional objects: Role of maternal personality and mother-toddler interaction. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 70(3), 340–350.

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/

Schino G, Perretta G, Taglioni AM, Monaco V, Troisi A. 1996. Primate displacement activities as an ethopharmacological model of anxiety. Anxiety 2:186–191.

Sigall, H., & Johnson, M. (2006). The relationship between facial contact with a pillow and mood. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 36, 505–526.

Seli, Paul; Jonathan S. A. Carriere; David R. Thomson; James Allan Cheyne, Kaylena A. Ehgoetz Martens, and Daniel Smilek. Restless Mind, Restless Body Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition. American Psychological Association. 2014. 40(3): 660-668. DOI: 10.1037/a0035260
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/fidgeting-body-language-really-mean-fidget-bored-mentally-taxed/

Triplett, June L. ; Arneson, Sara W. The Use of Verbal and Tactile Comfort to Alleviate Distress in Young Hospitalized Children. Research in Nursing & Health. 1979. 2(1): 17-23.

Tamres L, Janicki D, Helgeson VS (2002) Sex differences in coping behaviour: a meta-analytic review. Personal Soc Psychol Rev 6: 2–30.

Troisi A (2002) Displacement activities as a behavioural measure of stress in nonhuman primates and human subjects. Stress 5: 47–54.

Troisi A (1999) Ethological research in clinical psychiatry: the study of nonverbal behaviour during interviews. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 23: 905–913.

Troisi A, Moles A (1999) Gender differences in depression: an ethological study of nonverbal behaviour during interviews. J Psychiatr Res 33: 243–250.

Van Der Zee, Sophie; Ronald Poppe; Paul J. Taylor; and Ross Anderson. To Freeze or Not to Freeze A Motion-Capture Approach to Detecting Deceit.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/detect-lies-whole-body-nonverbals-new-lie-detector-successful-using-body-language-70/

Williams, L. E., Huang, J. Y., & Bargh, J. A. (2009). The scaffolded mind: Higher mental processes are grounded in early experience of the physical world. European Journal of Social Psychology, 39, 1257–1267.

Winnicott, D.W. (1953). Transitional objects and transitional phenomena. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 34, 89–97.

*No Photo, Arousal, Displacement behaviour, Emotional body language, Energy Displacement, Nervous Body Language, Pacifying body language, Worry body language

Body Language of Pacing

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Body Language of Pacing

No picCue: Pacing.

Synonym(s): Walking Back And Forth.

Description: Walking back and forth for the sake of burning off excess energy.

In One Sentence: Pacing is a sign of anxiety.

How To Use it: Use pacing to help burn off excess energy when one is not able to fix the actual issue. Pacing will release pain killing hormones and help simulate real productive action in your mind thus helping you overcome the negative thoughts.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m uneasy and full of stress so I’m walking back and forth to burn off some of my excess energy and provide a self soothing feeling.”

Variant: See Fidgeting or Fidget and Foot Kicking.

Cue In Action: He paced back and forth while waiting for news about the surgery.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Pacing is a classic full-blown signal of anxiety, and falls into the energy displacement category because it gives us something to do and burns extra calories in a slight, but controlled fashion to make us feel more relaxed. It is the burning of energy that provides a release of soothing neurochemicals.

When pacing occurs, it is an indication that physiological factors are occurring. The body is likely producing stress hormone which creates the desire and capability to sustain action. In an evolutionary sense, this surge of adrenaline and cortisol would have pushed us from our inactivity in order to get things done. The action would then result in a soothing effect.

Cue Cluster: Watch for face touching, rubbing the back of the neck, blushing or blanching of the face, clenching and gripping, jerky movements, eyes alert, head up or down in thought, a worried facial expression, excess perspiration.

Body Language Category: Arousal, Displacement behaviour, Emotional body language, Energy Displacement, Nervous body language, Pacifying body language, Worry body language.

Resources:

Arduino, P. J., & Gould, J. L. (1984). Is tonic immobility adaptive? Animal Behavior, 32, 921–923.

Buckley, V., & Semple, S. (2012). Evidence that displacement activities facilitate behavioural transitions in ring-tailed lemurs. Behavioural Processes, 90, 433–435.

Bouhuys, A.L. ; Beersma, Domien G.M. ; van den Hoofdakker, Rutger H. Observed behavior as a predictor of the response to sleep deprivation in depressed patients. Psychiatry Research. 1989. 28(1): 47-61.

Berridge CW,Mitton E, ClarkW, Roth RH. 1999. Engagement in a non-escape (displacement) behavior elicits a selective and lateralized suppression of frontal cortical dopaminergic utilization in stress. Synapse 32:187–197.

Bracha, H. S. (2004). Freeze, flight, fight, fright, faint: Adaptionist perspectives on the acute stress response spectrum. CNS Spectrums, 9, 679–685.

Cannon, W. B. (1929). Bodily changes in pain, hunger, fear and rage (2nd ed.). New York: Appleton, Century, Crofts.

Everly, Jr., G. S. & Lating, J. M. (2002). A clinical guide to the treatment of the human stress response (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers

Estes, Zachary Estes and Michelle Verges. Freeze or flee? Negative stimuli elicit selective responding. Cognition. 2008. 108(2): 557-565.

Fyer, M. R., Uy, J., Martinez, J., & Goetz, R. (1987). CO2 challenge of patients with panic disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 144, 1080–1082.

Farley, James; Risko, Evan F; Kingstone, Alan. Everyday Attention And Lecture Retention: The Effects Of Time, Fidgeting, And Mind Wandering. Frontiers In Psychology, 2013; 4: 619
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/mind-wandering-fidgeting-and-attention/

Kalin, N. H., Shelton, S. E., Rickman, M., & Davidson, R. J. (1998). Individual differences in freezing and cortisol in infant and mother rhesus monkeys. Behavioral Neuroscience, 112, 251–254.

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

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

Mohiyeddini, C., Bauer, S., & Semple, S. (2013a). Displacement behaviour is associated with reduced stress levels among men but not women. PLoS One, 8, e56355.

Mohiyeddini, C., Bauer, S., & Semple, S. (2013b). Public self-consciousness moderates the link between displacement behaviour and experience of stress in women. Stress, 16, 384–392.

Mohiyeddini, C., & Semple, S. (2013). Displacement behaviour regulates the experience of stress in men. Stress, 16, 163–171.

Maestripieri D, Schino G, Aureli F, Troisi A. 1992. A modest proposal: displacement activities as an indicator of emotions in primates. Anim Behav 44:967–979.

Porter, S., & ten Brinke, L. (2010). The truth about lies: What works in detecting high-stakes deception? Legal and Criminological Psychology, 15(1), 57.

Szamado, S. (2008). How threat displays work: species-specific fighting techniques, weaponry and proximity risk. Anim. Behav. 76, 1455-1463.

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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

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Body Language of Nail Biting

BodyLanguageProjectCom - Nail Biting 2Cue: 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/

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.

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.