Category: Submissive body language

Body size reduction, Courtship display, Eye Language, Indicator Of Sexual Interest (IOsI), Power play, Pseudo-infantile gestures, Remotivating gesture, Submissive body language

The Secrete Meaning Behind The Forehead Bow Body Language

by Chris • October 22, 2014 • 0 Comments

The Secrete Meaning Behind The Forehead Bow Body Language

Cue: Forehead Bow (The)

Synonym(s): Come-Hither-Look, Downward Titled Head With Upcast Eyes, Looking Up Through The Forehead or The Looking-Up Cluster, Dipping The Head, Looking Up Cluster, Head Down With Eyes Up.

Description: The forehead bow is a posture done by artificially lowering the head, then looking up from under the eyebrows. It is often coupled with a titling of the head at forty-five degrees to the side and when done by women in a dating context, batting the eyelashes.

In One Sentence: The forehead bow signals the desire to submit in a coy fashion.

How To Use it: The forehead bow is effective when trying to play submissive in order to gain extra favours. Children can use this effectively to gain special permission, as can women whom are trying to manipulate men. In dating, eyes cast upward makes women look childlike and this can be arousing due to its submissive origin. Cast the eyes upward whenever you wish to gain special treatment and sympathy from others. However, the cue is far less effective when done by men as compared to women and children. In other words, the cue, requires a sympathetic audience to gain any traction.

Context: a) General b) Dating.

Verbal Translation: “I’m weak and vulnerable, pleading, just watch how I look coyly and submissively up at you from my lowered position with big eyes. I need your sympathy, care, attention, permission and assistance – can you please help and care for me.”

Variant: See Sideways Glance Over Raised Shoulder.

Cue In Action: a) His daughter wanted a new pony so she stuck out her lip, cast her eyes up pleading, batted her eyes and tilted her head to the side. How could a Dad refuse? b) She wanted a new BMW so she stuck out her lip, cast her eyes up pleading, batted her eyes and tilted her head to the side. How could her husband refuse?

Meaning and/or Motivation: The forehead bow is a posture done by artificially lowering the head, then looking up under the eyebrows in a “come hither” fashion. It has roots in the bow (greeting gesture) since it exposes the top of the head making it vulnerable to attack.

Just like neck and wrist displays, it indicates that trust is present. It also comes off as a childlike gesture primarily because children are shorter than adults and habitually peer up at them.

The posture is a reflection back into early childhood as children look up at us seeking our approval or permission. It is designed to appear vulnerable and pleading. As we age, we recall these gestures and go back to them when wish to revive juvenile submissive feelings and evoke protective feelings in others. The opposite to the forehead bow happens by tilting the head back and looking down one’s nose at someone, which is a judgment posture and is seen negatively.

The forehead bow is a submissive posture and can be done by anyone but is especially prevalent during courtship. When done by women towards men it is a “come hither” look and when done by children shows shyness and submission. Either way, it is a submissive posture aimed at gaining sympathy, protection and favours from others.

Cue Cluster: It is often coupled with a titling of the head at forty-five degrees to the side and when done by women, batting the eyes.

Body Language Category: Body size reduction, Courtship displays, Eye Language, Indicators of sexual interest (IOsI), Pseudo-infantile gestures, Power play, Remotivating, Submissive body language.

Resources:

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Appease, Embarrassment (nonverbal), Energy Displacement, Excited body language, Fearful body language, Nervous Body Language, Shy nonverbal, Stressful body language, Submissive body language

Body Language of Forced Laughter

by Chris • October 22, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Forced Laughter

Cue: Forced Laughter

Synonym(s): Stress Laugh.

Description: Laughter that is not due to real enjoyment.

In One Sentence: Forced laughter indicates the desire to appease another person.

How To Use it: Stress laughing shows that you are willing to submit to the authority of another person or laugh to be part of a group or simply to be polite. Laughing at bad jokes is useful to lower ranking employees whom should, by all means, laugh at the jokes of their bosses, no matter how funny they are found to be. This sends the message that you are willing to be a “team player” and placate.

Context: General, Stress.

Verbal Translation: “I’m not really happy nor do I find that funny, but I’m laughing to show my appeasement and submission to you and to join in on your amusement.”

Variant: See Laughter.

Cue In Action: a) The boss made a joke that no one found funny, but everyone still laughed. b) She was presenting her findings to the University. She giggled often showing her nervousness and lack of confidence, making everyone take her a little less seriously, but still welcoming her speech and empathizing with her discomfort.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Laughter that is meant to disguise hidden anxiety or disagreement, stress, be polite, or in effort to connect with new people. We use a stress-laugh to dispel and ease tension both for our own purpose and that of others. Laughter is a fear based response and also shows others that we are submitting to them.

Cue Cluster: Other agreement indicators such as head nods, eye contact and will accompany a forced laughter. It can also be accompanied by blushing, uneasy or quivering voice, and pacifying cue such as face and neck touching.

Body Language Category: Appease, Embarrassment (nonverbal), Energy Displacement, Excited body language, Fearful body language, Nervous body language, Shy nonverbal, Stressful body language, Submissive body language.

Resources:

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*No Photo, Appease, Closed body language, Conflicting gestures, Emotional body language, Fearful body language, Masked emotions, Negative body language, Stressful body language, Submissive body language

Body Language of Fear Smile or Stress Smile

by Chris • October 21, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Fear Smile or Stress Smile

Cue: Fear Smile

Synonym(s): Stress Smile, Fear Grin.

Description: A smile where the lips are stretched to form a rectangular shape. These muscles sometimes pull the corners of the mouth upwards slightly to produce a grimace. Accompanying the lips stretch is a contraction of the eyebrows together coupled with an upward lift and widened eyes.

In One Sentence: The fear smile indicates emotional stress.

How To Use it: The fear smile is more of a reactive nonverbal signal then one to be used to influence other people. In other words, when stressed, our natural inclination is to smile in fear, however, this is usually taken as a demonstration of smugness as the smile appears out of context. Most often, when it appears people wonder why you are laughing and will command you wipe that smug look off your face. This is especially the case when the fear smile appears when being reprimanded.

Therefore, concealing or stifling the fear smile is probably the best recourse. Stifling an expression, especially the fear smile, while dishonest, does make one appear more stoic when facing a particularly difficult situation.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m scared and my smile is motivated by stress, rather than joy, and it’s a way to mask my truly felt emotions.”

Variant: See Smiling, Fear Smile, Friendly Smile, Frown (the) or Downturned Smile, Honest Smile or Duchenne Smile, Jaw Drop Smile, Nervous Smile, Polite Smile (the), Uneven Smile Or Lopsided Smile, Upper Lip Smile, Artificial Smile or Fake Smile, Nervous Smile, Honest Smile or Duchenne Smile, Contempt Facial Expression.

Cue In Action: She came up to him yelling and screaming. He backed away and put his arms over his chest and smiled awkwardly. He had no idea she had been brooding and was not expecting her to confront him in this way. She continued, “wipe that smug look off your face.” She didn’t realize that his smile was due to feeling overwhelmed.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Not all smiles are due to happiness. Sometimes people will smile when they are under high stress. Being confronted can produce the fear smile. If we’re careful to watch for it, it appears like a goofy looking smile. For great examples of the fear smile, watch television courtroom shows. When Judge Judy asks the defendant to wipe that smile off their face – you know she’s asking them to be more stoic rather than flash the fear smile. She is misperceiving the fear smile as smugness.

We see stress smiles when people are at a loss for words in a verbal confrontation and have no way to escape. Research has theorized that the smile actually has roots as a sign of fear where the teeth are bared to confront aggressive challenges. When people show the fear grin they are usually labeled as smug, but the emotion behind this smile is anything but. Human smiles are a universally submissive gesture but they can also symbolize pleasure, amusement, aggression, or anxiety (grimace). However, these other emotions never truly supercede the most common purpose of the smile, which is to show submission.

Cue Cluster: The fear smile is accompanied by defensive postures such as arm crossing, leaning away, head turned away, eyes averted and a deadpan look on the face.

Body Language Category: Appease, Closed body language, Conflicting gestures, Emotional body language, Fearful body language, Masked emotions, Negative body language, Stressful body language, Submissive body language.

Resources:

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Russell, James A. 1995. Facial Expressions of Emotion: What Lies Beyond Minimal Universality? Psychological bulletin. 118(3): 379-391.

Russell, James A. 1994. Is There Universal Recognition of Emotion From Facial Expression? A Review of the Cross-Cultural Studies. Psychological Bulletin. 115(1): 102-141.

Reed, Lawrence Ian; Katharine N. Zeglen and Karen L. Schmidt. Facial Expressions as Honest Signals of Cooperative Intent in a One-Shot Anonymous Prisoner’s Dilemma Game. Evolution and Human Behavior. 2012. 33: 200-209.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/facial-expressions-honest-signals-smiling-contempt-predict-cooperation-defection/

Reissland, Nadja; Brian Francis, James Mason, Karen Lincoln. Do Facial Expressions Develop before Birth? August 2011. 6(8): e24081. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0024081.g001
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/the-cry-and-laugh-face-in-the-human-fetus/

Samuele Centorrino, Elodie Djemai, Astrid Hopfensitz, Manfred Milinski, Paul Seabright. Honest Signaling in Trust Interactions: Smiles Rated as Genuine Induce Trust and Signal Higher Earning Opportunities. Evolution and Human Behavior DOI:
dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2014.08.001.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/smile-great-gain-smiling-key-negotiation/

Tidd, K., & Lockard, J. (1978). Monetary Significance Of The Affiliative Smile: A Case For Reciprocal Altruism. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 11, 344-346.

Vazire, S., Naumann, L.P., Rentfrow, P. J., and Gosling, S. D. (2009). Smiling reflects different emotions in men and women. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 32:5, 403–405.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/smiling-reflects-different-emotions-men-women/

Vigil, J. M. (2009). A socio-relational framework of sex differences in the expression of emotion. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 32, 375–428.

Walsh, D. G., & Hewitt, J. (1985). Giving Men The Come-On: Effect Of Eye Contact And Smiling In A Bar Environment. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 61, 873-874.

*No Photo, Amplifier, Eye Language, Microexpression, Open facial gestures, Submissive body language, Surprised body language

Body Language of Eyebrow Raise

by Chris • October 21, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Eyebrow Raise

Cue: Eyebrow Raise

Synonym(s): Raising The Eyebrows, Lifting The Eyebrows.

Description: Raising both eyebrows in unison.

In One Sentence: When the eyebrows rise in unison it signals excitement and surprise.

How To Use it: Raise your eyebrows when you want to tell other people that you find what they have said, or what you have said, surprising, shocking or exciting. A more expressive face helps people connect with you more easily as it helps build your personality. Women usually have a far easier time with these sorts of facial expressions, but men can also benefit especially when they are trying to connect with other women and children.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “My eyebrows are bopping up and down in unison with my speech to emphasis points and produce emotion and expression.”

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

Cue In Action: The news reporter raised her eyebrows as she punctuated each news item to show emphasis.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Eyebrows that rise are an indication of excitement. When we speak, we show our enthusiasm more frequently than a full surprise or fear expression, which also has the raises the eyebrows. If you watch closely, you will see a person’s eyebrows rise several times as they deliver their story. It is more common in woman than men.

Eyebrows can also rise to show agreement or to emphasize and punctuate points in speech. The eyebrows frequently rise at the end of questions, as if asking others to clarify. Where eyebrows lower, it signifies dominance, whereas eyebrows raised signals a mild submission and an open facial expression. When one eyebrow rises, the eye cock, it shows suspicion.

Cue Cluster: When eyebrows rise, the eyes also tend to pop open as well. This cue cluster seeks to improve vision, often accompanying surprise.

Body Language Category: Amplifier, Eye Language, Microexpressions, Open facial gestures, Submissive body language, Surprised body language.

Resources:

Aviezer, Hillel; Ran R. Hassin; Jennifer Ryan; Cheryl Grady; Josh Susskind; Adam Anderson; Morris Moscovitch and Shlomo Bentin. Angry, Disgusted, or Afraid? Studies on the Malleability of Emotion Perception. Psychological Science. 2008. 19(7): 724-732.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/emotions-read-context-study/

App, Betsy; Catherine L. Reed and Daniel N. McIntosh. Relative Contributions Of Face And Body Configurations: Perceiving Emotional State And Motion Intention. Cognition and Emotion. 2012. 26(4): 690-698.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/facial-expressions-versus-bodily-expressions-nonverbal-communication/

Aaron, Sell; Cosmides, Leda and Tooby, John. The Human Anger Face Evolved to Enhance Cues of Strength. Evolution and Human Behavior. 2014. 35(5): 425-429.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/the-universal-anger-face/

Ben-Zeev, Avi; Tara C. Dennehy; Rachel Sackman; Andres Olide and Christopher C. Berger. Flirting With Threat: Social Identity and the Perils of the Female Communality Prescription. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 2011. 47: 1308-1311.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/flirting-with-danger-women-flirt-to-avoid-conflict/

Bard, K. A. (2003). Development of emotional expressions in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). In P. Ekman, J. Campos, R. J. Davidson & F. B. M. De Waal (Eds.), Emotions inside out: 130 years after Darwin’s The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (Vol. 1000, pp. 88-90). New York: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

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Biehl, M., Matsumoto, D., Ekman, P., Hearn, V., Heider, K., Kudoh, T., et al. (1997). Matsumoto and Ekman’s Japanese and Caucasian Facial Expressions of Emotion (JACFEE): Reliability Data and Cross-National Differences. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 21, 3-21.

Carroll E. 1994. Innate and universal facial expressions: Evidence from developmental and cross-cultural research Izard, Psychological Bulletin. 115(2): 288-299.

Daniel H. Lee, Reza Mirza, John G. Flanagan and Adam K. Anderson. Optical Origins of Opposing Facial Expression Actions. Psychological Science published online 24 January 2014 DOI: 10.1177/0956797613514451
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/eyes-and-facial-expressions-may-be-biologically-controlled-serve-a-real-non-emotional-purpose-says-research/

de Waal, F. B. M. (2003). Darwin’s legacy and the study of primate visual communication. In P. Ekman, J. Campos, R. J. Davidson & F. B. M. De Waal (Eds.), Emotions inside out: 130 years after Darwin’s The Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals (pp. 7-31). New York: New York Academy of Sciences.

Duan, Xujun ; Dai, Qian ; Gong, Qiyong ; Chen, Huafu. Neural mechanism of unconscious perception of surprised facial expression. NeuroImage. 2010. 52(1): 401-407.

e Charlesworth, W. R. (1964). Instigation and maintenance of curiosity behavior as a function of surprise versus novel and familiar stimuli. Child Development, 35, 1169–1186.

Ekman, P. & O’Sullivan, M. (1991). Who can catch a liar? American Psychologist. 46, 913-920.

Ekman, P., Friesen, W. V., O’Sullivan, M., Chan, A., Diacoyanni-Tarlatzis, I., Heider, K., et al. (1987). Universals and cultural differences in the judgments of facial expressions of emotion. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 53(4), 712-717.

Ekman, P., Levenson, R. W., & Friesen, W. V. (1983). Autonomic nervous system activity distinguishes among emotions. Science, 221(4616), 1208-1210.

Ekman, P., O’Sullivan, M., & Matsumoto, D. (1991a). Confusions about context in the judgment of facial expression: A reply to “The contempt expression and the relativity thesis.”. Motivation & Emotion, 15(2), 169-176.

Ekman, P., O’Sullivan, M., & Matsumoto, D. (1991b). Contradictions in the study of contempt: What’s it all about? Reply to Russell. Motivation & Emotion, 15(4), 293-296.

Elfenbein, H. A., & Ambady, N. (2002). On the universality and cultural specificity of
emotion recognition: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 128(2), 205-235.

Ekman, Paul. 1994. Strong evidence for universals in facial expressions: A reply to Russell’s mistaken critique Psychological Bulletin. 115(2): 268-287.

Ekman, Paul. 1986. A new pan-cultural facial expression of emotion. Source: Motivation and Emotion Ekman. 10(2): 159-168.

Ekman, Paul and Friesen, W. V. 1987. Universals and cultural differences in the judgments of facial expressions of emotion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 53(4): 712-717.

Ekman, Paul; Friesen, Wallace V. 1971. Constants across cultures in the face and emotion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 17(2): 124-129.

Ekman, Paul. 1972. Universals and cultural differences in facial expressions of emotion. In J. Cole (Ed.), Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, 1971. 19: 207-282. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

Fulcher, J. S. “Voluntary” facial expression in blind and seeing children. Archives of Psychology, 1942. 38: 272.

Grezes, Julie; Le´onor Philip; Michele Chadwick; Guillaume Dezecache; Robert Soussignan and Laurence Conty. Self-Relevance Appraisal Influences Facial Reactions to Emotional Body Expressions. PLoS ONE. 2013. 8(2): e55885. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0055885
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/face-reacts-body-anger-brains-wired-process-emotional-body-language

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.

Hatz, Jessica L. and Martin J. Bourgeois. Anger as a Cue to Truthfulness. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 2010. 46: 680-683.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/anger-nonverbal-cue-truth-telling/

Hareli, Shlomo; Noga Shomrat and Ursula Hess. Emotional Versus Neutral Expressions and Perceptions of Social Dominance and Submissiveness. Emotion. 2009 9(3): 378-384. DOI: 10.1037/a0015958
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/dominance-expression-conveyed-different-facial-expressions-men-women/

James A. Russell, Naoto Suzuki and Noriko Ishida. 1993. Canadian, Greek, and Japanese freely produced emotion labels for facial expressions. Motivation and Emotion. 17(4): 337 -351

Kret, Mariska Esther and Beatrice de Gelder. Social Context Influences Recognition of Bodily Expressions. Exp Brain Res. 2010. 203:169-180. DOI 10.1007/s00221-010-2220-8
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/context-matters-judging-body-language/

Levenson, R. W., Ekman, P., & Friesen, W. V. (1990). Voluntary facial action generates emotion-specific autonomic nervous system activity. Psychophysiology, 27(4), 363-384.

Levenson, R. W., Ekman, P., Heider, K., & Friesen, W. V. (1992). Emotion and autonomic nervous system activity in the Minangkabau of West Sumatra. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 62(6), 972-988.

Ludden, G. D. S., Schifferstein, H. N. J., & Hekkert, P. (2009). Visual–tactual incongruities in products as sources of surprise. Empirical Studies of the Arts, 27, 63–89.

Marzoli, Daniele; Mariagrazia Custodero; Alessandra Pagliara and Luca Tommasi. Sun-Induced Frowning Fosters Aggressive Feelings. Cognition And Emotion. 2013; 27 (8): 1513-1521.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/avoid-anger-sunny-days/

Mondloch, Catherine J.; Nicole L. Nelson and Matthew Horner. Asymmetries of Influence: Differential Effects of Body Postures on Perceptions of Emotional Facial Expressions. PLOS one. September 2013. 8(9): e73605.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/facial-expressions-versus-bodily-expressions-nonverbal-communication-2

McClure, Erin B 2000. A meta-analytic review of sex differences in facial expression processing and their development in infants, children, and adolescents
Psychological Bulletin. 126(3): 424-453.

Mead, M. 1975. Review of “Darwin and facial expression.” Journal of Communication, 25: 209-213.

Matsumoto, D. (1989). Cultural influences on the perception of emotion. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 20(1), 92-105.

Matsumoto, D. (1992). American-Japanese cultural differences in the recognition of universal facial expressions. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 23(1), 72-84.

Matsumoto, D. (2001). Culture and Emotion. In D. Matsumoto (Ed.), The Handbook of Culture and Psychology (pp. 171-194). New York: Oxford University Press.

Matsumoto, D., & Ekman, P. (1989). American-Japanese cultural differences in intensity ratings of facial expressions of emotion. Motivation & Emotion, 13(2), 143-157.

Matsumoto, D., Keltner, D., Shiota, M. N., Frank, M. G., & O’Sullivan, M. (2008). What’s in a face? Facial expressions as signals of discrete emotions. In M. Lewis, J. M. Haviland & L. Feldman Barrett (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (pp. 211-234). New York: Guilford Press.

Matsumoto, D., & Willingham, B. (2009). Spontaneous Facial Expressions of Emotion of Congenitally and Non-Congenitally Blind Individuals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96(1), 1-10.

Mesquita, B., & Frijda, N. H. (1992). Cultural variations in emotions: A review. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 197-204.

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

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

Parzuchowski, Michal ; Szymkow-Sudziarska, Aleksandra. Well, slap my thigh: expression of surprise facilitates memory of surprising material. Emotion. 2008. 8(3): 430-4.

Peleg, G., Katzir, G., Peleg, O., Kamara, M., Brodsky, L., Hel-Or, H., et al. (2006). Heriditary family signature of facial expression. Proceedings from the National Academy of Sciences, 103(43), 15921-15926.

Russell, James A. 1995. Facial Expressions of Emotion: What Lies Beyond Minimal Universality? Psychological bulletin. 118(3): 379-391.

Russell, James A. 1994. Is There Universal Recognition of Emotion From Facial Expression? A Review of the Cross-Cultural Studies. Psychological Bulletin. 115(1): 102-141.

Reed, Lawrence, Ian; Peter DeScioli and Steven A. Pinker. The Commitment Function of Angry Facial Expressions. Psychological Science. 2014 DOI: 10.1177/0956797614531027
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/anger-facial-expression-gets-people-to-do-what-you-want/

Reisenzein, R. (2000). Exploring the strength of association between the components of emotion syndromes: the case of surprise. Cognition and Emotion, 14, 1–38.

Reisenzein, R., Bördgen, S., Holtbernd, T., & Matz, D. (2006). Evidence for strong dissociation between emotion and facial displays: the case of surprise. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 295–315.

Reisenzein, R., & Studtmann, M. (2007). On the expression and experience of surprise: no evidence for facial feedback, but evidence for a reverse self-inference effect. Emotion, 7, 612–627.

Scherer, K. R., Zentner, M. R., & Stern, D. (2004). Beyond surprise: the puzzle of infants’ expressive reactions to expectancy violation. Emotion, 4, 389–402.

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http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/friend-foe-let-body-language-decide

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Sell, A., Cosmides, L. and Tooby, J., The Human Anger Face Evolved to Enhance Cues of Strength. Evolution and Human Behavior. 2014, doi: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2014.05.008
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http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/using-nonverbal-behaviour-to-assess-depression-severity/

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http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/using-touch-convey-emotion/

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http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/fear-amygdala

Vrticka, Pascal ; Lordier, Lara ; Bediou, Benoît ; Sander, David Desteno, David (editor). Human Amygdala Response to Dynamic Facial Expressions of Positive and Negative Surprise. Emotion. 2014. 14(1): 161-169.

Vanhamme, J. (2000). The link between surprise and satisfaction: an exploratory research on how to best measure surprise. Journal of Marketing Management, 16, 565–582.

Confused body language, Eye Language, Microexpression, Nonthreatening body language, Open facial gestures, Submissive body language

Body Language of Eyebrow Hold

by Chris • October 21, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Eyebrow Hold

Cue: Eyebrow Hold

Synonym(s): Eyebrow Shrug.

Description: Happens when the eyebrows raise and pause for a second before being lowered.

In One Sentence: The eyebrow hold is a signal that a person is dumbfounded and is questioning what they are hearing or seeing.

How To Use it: Hold the eyebrows up when you want to make a nonverbal inquiry. Holding the eyebrows up momentarily, is a way to ask people to complete their thought. In other words, you are holding your eyebrows up awkwardly in hopes they will resolve the problem so you can drop them back down.

Mothers can use this effectively with misbehaving children. Simply raise the eyebrows, cock the head to the side, make your request, and wait for a correct response before lowering them.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: a) “I’m raising my eyebrows and I’m willing to hold them here until someone steps in and fixed my problem.” B) “So, what do you think, have I don’t a good job?”

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

Cue In Action: The speaker would often raise his eyebrows as he told a joke and held them up. He wanted and expected applause.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Eyebrow hold indicates a lack of knowledge or even helplessness. It is a mild form of unpleasant surprise. Eyebrows are held up when someone seeks approval from others. This approval may come nonverbally as a head nod or smile or a verbal agreement.

Politicians and children often raise their eyebrows and hold them up waiting for approval from others.

Cue Cluster: The eyebrow hold is sometimes accompanied by palms up, as if “offering.”

Body Language Category: Confused, Eye Language, Microexpressions, Nonthreatening body language, Open facial gestures, Submissive body language.

Resources:

Duan, Xujun ; Dai, Qian ; Gong, Qiyong ; Chen, Huafu. Neural mechanism of unconscious perception of surprised facial expression. NeuroImage. 2010. 52(1): 401-407.

e Charlesworth, W. R. (1964). Instigation and maintenance of curiosity behavior as a function of surprise versus novel and familiar stimuli. Child Development, 35, 1169–1186.

Ekman, P. & O’Sullivan, M. (1991). Who can catch a liar? American Psychologist. 46, 913-920.

Grammer, Karl ; Schiefenhövel, Wulf ; Schleidt, Margret ; Lorenz, Beatrice ; Eibl eibesfeldt, Irenäus. Patterns on the Face: The Eyebrow Flash in Crosscultural Comparison. Ethology. 1988. 77(4): 279-299.

Ludden, G. D. S., Schifferstein, H. N. J., & Hekkert, P. (2009). Visual–tactual incongruities in products as sources of surprise. Empirical Studies of the Arts, 27, 63–89.

Martin, David John. 1997. Slaughtering a sacred cow: The eyebrow flash is not a universal social greeting. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering 58(5-B): 2751.

Moore, Monicam. Human Nonverbal Courtship Behavior—A Brief Historical Review. Journal of Sex Research. 2010 47(2-3): 171-180.

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

Parzuchowski, Michal ; Szymkow-Sudziarska, Aleksandra. Well, slap my thigh: expression of surprise facilitates memory of surprising material. Emotion. 2008. 8(3): 430-4.

Reisenzein, R. (2000). Exploring the strength of association between the components of emotion syndromes: the case of surprise. Cognition and Emotion, 14, 1–38.

Reisenzein, R., & Studtmann, M. (2007). On the expression and experience of surprise: no evidence for facial feedback, but evidence for a reverse self-inference effect. Emotion, 7, 612–627.

Scherer, K. R., Zentner, M. R., & Stern, D. (2004). Beyond surprise: the puzzle of infants’ expressive reactions to expectancy violation. Emotion, 4, 389–402.

Vanhamme, J. (2000). The link between surprise and satisfaction: an exploratory research on how to best measure surprise. Journal of Marketing Management, 16, 565–582.

Watt, Roger ; Craven, Ben ; Quinn, Sandra. A role for eyebrows in regulating the visibility of eye gaze direction. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. 2007. 60(9): 1169-1177.

Wheldall, Kevin ; Mittler, Peter. Eyebrow-raising, eye widening and visual search nursery school children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 1976. 17(1): 57-62.

Appease, Approach tell, Courtship display, Eye Language, Indicator Of Sexual Interest (IOsI), Open facial gestures, Power play, Pseudo-infantile gestures, Remotivating gesture, Signature gestures, Submissive body language, Tie signals

Body Language of Eye Widening

by Chris • October 21, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Eye Widening

Cue: Eye Widening

Synonym(s): Baby Eyes, Wide Eyes.

Description: Making the eyes appear bigger than normal through plucking the eyebrows, raising the eyebrows or lifting the eyelids.

In One Sentence: Eye widening is a signal that says one is enjoying what they are seeing.

How To Use it: Show positive emotions by keeping the eyes open and inviting. Women can effectively and near permanently increase the perception of their eye size by plucking their brows. This creates the illusion of having larger eyes that actual fact.

While men do not benefit in the same way from this cue, open eyes in women signals that they are more childlike and therefore worthy of protection. If women desire special treatment, emphasizing the size of the eyes is highly effective.

Context: General, Dating.

Verbal Translation: “By widening my eyes you can see how big and childlike my eyes are, therefore you need to help and protect me.”

Variant: Related to Eye Flash, Eye Pop and Flashbulb Eyes as well as Eye Squinting or Narrowing Eyes (for opposite cue).

Cue In Action: It was a cold morning and she didn’t want to go out to the car and warm it. She turned her head to the side, batted her eyes, raised her eyebrows and opened her eyes wide, pleading. Her Dad had no choice but to give her a hand.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Eye widening is a positive nonverbal cue indicating that someone is observing positive stimuli that bring them joy and happiness. It may indicate surprise and shock.

Raising the eyebrows and eyelids can also be used to simulate widened eyes. Plucking the eyebrows has the same effect as eye widening, except it is permanent. The appearance of big bright eyes may be why we have culturally encouraged women to shrink the size of their brow.

Have you ever noticed the size of a newborns eyes in relation to their body and face? What about cartoon characters? Eye widening evokes protective feelings in others and women will use this to gain sympathy from men during courtship. Research has shown that when women widen their eyes, men release hormones that motive them to protect and defend.

Eye widening is a form of gravity defying behaviour that is ubiquitous in showing positive emotions and joy. When true contentment is present the eyes will lack any tension at all and will appear relaxed. The size of the eyes directly indicates how positive someone feels about a topic. While making eyes bigger and flashing them means that good thoughts are held, squinting, where the eyes are compressed, means negative thought are held.

Cue Cluster: Eye widening is clustered with head to the side, batting eyelashes, raised eyebrows, eyelids opened, shoulders turned inward, head up with smiling or pouting to gain sympathy.

Body Language Category: Appease, Approach tell, Courtship display, Eye Language, Indicators of sexual interest (IOsI), Open facial gestures, Pseudo-infantile gestures, Power play, Remotivating, Signature gestures, Submissive body language, Tie signals.

Resources:

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

Davis 1978. Camera Eye-Contact by the Candidates in the Presidential Debates of 1976 Source: The journalism quarterly. 55 (3): 431 -437.

Duan, Xujun ; Dai, Qian ; Gong, Qiyong ; Chen, Huafu. Neural mechanism of unconscious perception of surprised facial expression. NeuroImage. 2010. 52(1): 401-407.

e Charlesworth, W. R. (1964). Instigation and maintenance of curiosity behavior as a function of surprise versus novel and familiar stimuli. Child Development, 35, 1169–1186.

Ekman, P. & O’Sullivan, M. (1991). Who can catch a liar? American Psychologist. 46, 913-920.

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

Gordon, A. K. and A. G. Miller. 2000. Perspective differences in the construal of lies: is deception in the eye of the beholder? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 26 (1): 46-55.

Gilliam, Harold V. B.; Van Den Berg, Sjef. 1980. Different Levels of Eye Contact: Effects on Black and White College Students. Urban Education. 15 (1): 83-92.

Goldman. 1980. Effect of Eye Contact and Distance on the Verbal Reinforcement of Attitude. The Journal of social psychology 111(1): 73 -78.

Greene 1979. Title: Need-Fulfillment and Consistency Theory: Relationships Between Self-Esteem and Eye Contact. Source: Western journal of speech communication. 43(2): 123 -133.

Galin, D. and Ornstein, R., 1974. Individual Differences in Cognitive Style – Reflective Eye Movements; Neuropsychologia, 12: 376-397.

Hocking. 1985. Eye contact contrast effects in the employment interview. Communication research reports 2(1): 5-10.

Kinsbourne, M., 1972. Eye and Head Turning Indicates Cerebral Lateralization; Science, 179: 539-541.

Kocel, K., et al.,1972. Lateral Eye Movement and Cognitive Mode; Psychon Sci. 27: 223-224.

Knackstedt, G., & Kleinke, C. L. (1991). Eye contact, gender, and personality judgments. Journal of Social Psychology, 131: 303-304.

Konopacki 1987. Eye Movement Betrays a Prospect’s Inner Feelings Source: Marketing news 21(10): 4.

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Reisenzein, R. (2000). Exploring the strength of association between the components of emotion syndromes: the case of surprise. Cognition and Emotion, 14, 1–38.

Reisenzein, R., & Studtmann, M. (2007). On the expression and experience of surprise: no evidence for facial feedback, but evidence for a reverse self-inference effect. Emotion, 7, 612–627.

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Appease, Arrogance or arrogant body language, Authoritative body language, Body size reduction, Closed body language, Courtship display, Defensive body language, Disengagement body language, Dislike (nonverbal), Distancing or moving away, Embarrassment (nonverbal), Escape movements, Eye Language, Fearful body language, Indicator Of Sexual Interest (IOsI), Negative body language, Nervous Body Language, Nonthreatening body language, Power play, Readiness to submit postures, Rejection body language, Shy nonverbal, Submissive body language

Body Language of Eye Aversion, Gaze Avoidance and Wandering Eyes

by Chris • October 21, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Eye Aversion, Gaze Avoidance and Wandering Eyes

Cue: Eye Aversion and Wandering Eyes

Synonym(s): Eye Avoidance, Eye Withdrawal, Gaze Avoidance, Averting Eyes, Roving Eyes.

Description: When eyes avoid making contact with other eyes on purpose.

In One Sentence: Avoiding eye contact signals that a person wants to avoid being called upon or that they want to create an air of superiority.

How To Use it: Eye contact can be powerful especially when it is avoided. You can show your disdain for someone by simply ignoring their presence on purpose. Likewise, avoiding eye contact can have the effect of making you disappear as well. For example, if you want to avoid being called upon by the teacher or your boss, simply avert your eyes. This tells them that you’re not prepared to interact with them and nonverbally suggests that they move along and pick on someone else.

In a dating context, women should avoid eye contact with potential suitors they do not find agreeable. Even a small amount of eye contact can be seen to be an invitation to solicit especially when combined with a smile. Thus, if possible, keep eyes only for the types of men you wish would approach. This isn’t to say, however, that women should be unfriendly, but women should realize that with friendliness, comes the responsibility of having to acknowledge and interact. If you (accidentally) make eye contact, follow through with a polite verbal decline. Here is an example: “Hi, I’m sorry, I have to leave, I’m supposed to meet with someone.”

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: a) “I don’t want to cause any more problems for myself so I’m going to avoid making eye contact with other more dominant people so I don’t draw attention and provoke people into attacking.” b) “I’m superior to you and so I’m withdrawing my eye contact and affection, and pretending you are an object not worthy of my attention or acknowledgment.”

Variant: Many other variants in eye language exist. See Eye Language category.

Cue In Action: a) The pupil didn’t want to draw any more attention to himself after throwing the paper air plane so he ducked his head down and averted his eyes in shame. His teacher knew that he was embarrassed for what he had done so she went easier on him. b) They went to bed angry at each other and instead of talking it out the next morning; they avoided each other – pretending that they didn’t exist. c) The seducer had eyes for her, but she wasn’t game. Instead of acknowledging him, she chose to avert her eyes by looking at the ground instead.

Meaning and/or Motivation: The general meaning of eyes avoiding is to show submission or discomfort. Averting the eyes has two primary purposes. One is to avoid conflict and other to power play. Eye avoidance might mean defensiveness, submission, defeat, or negative feelings. It may be done to tease and allure.

People who avert their eyes might also do so because of uncomfortable feelings such as sadness, shame or embarrassment.

Eye aversion is used to prevent others from resorting to an attack response and prevents others from seeing us as a threat. Subordinates commonly avoid eye contact with dominant individuals to indicate submission and respect. Eyes might wander to avoid being reprimanded. Eyes that avoid can serve to “flee” from an encounter, a protective response, as a person subconsciously tries to make distance between himself and his aggressor.

This is the case even if an argument is minor – the eyes will withdraw first showing that a person does not wish to pursue the debate. Eyes can also avoid eye contact thus demonstrating submission. For example, a pupil will look away from his teacher to avoid reprimand. As such, avoidant eyes can be used to reduce conflict, and at the same time, search for possible escape routes to vacate the threat.

Alternatively, eyes can show other people that they aren’t worthy of being acknowledged. We see this when people act passive aggressive. They will avoid eye contact with another person at all costs. When women walk down the street, they will purposely avoid eye contact with men so as to avoid initiating conversation, and their nonverbal message says “I don’t see you as a person worthy of my gaze, so don’t bother me.”

Other times eye contact withdrawal is a way to tease and play such as the peek-a-boo game where the absence of eye contact is part of the allure and so is a signal of interest.

Cue Cluster: When eye aversion is linked to negative thoughts it will be coupled with head dropping, shoulders turned inward and down, cowering, slouching, arm withdrawal and other protective and shrinking body language

During a power play we will see signs of both dominance and apathy. For example, a person might ignore personal space by brushing up against the other person or bumping into them, orient their bodies away, talk over or around them. Likewise, they may purposely show affection to someone else thereby creating discomfort in another.

Body Language Category: Appease, Arrogance or arrogant body language, Anger, Authoritative body language, Body size reduction, Courtship displays, Closed body language, Defensive, Disengagement, Dislike (nonverbal), Distancing or moving away, Embarrassment (nonverbal), Escape movements, Eye Language, Fearful body language, Indicators of sexual interest (IOsI), Nervous body language, Negative body language, Nonthreatening body language, Power play, Rejection body language, Readiness to submit postures, Shy nonverbal, Submissive body language.

Resources:

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Appease, Courtship display, Embarrassment (nonverbal), Escape movements, Indicator Of Sexual Interest (IOsI), Pensive displays, Readiness to submit postures, Shy nonverbal, Submissive body language

Body Language of Downcast Eyes or Eyes Down

by Chris • October 20, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Downcast Eyes or Eyes Down

Cue: Downcast Eyes or Eyes Down.

Synonym(s): Downward Gaze, Eye Dip, Eyes Down.

Description: Eyes that are averted by looking down rather than by looking left or right.

In One Sentence: Eyes cast downward signals that one is submissive or embarrassed.

How To Use it: Women are advised to use eyes cast downward in a dating context to show men that they are interested. This is one of the best ways to show that a woman is prepared to accept the dominance of a man. While this is not the only way women can show interest, it is the most universal.

Likewise, small children should use eyes down in order to gain the sympathy and care of adults. When children cast their eyes down, it makes them seem helpless which cues the desire to protect. The same effect is useful for teenagers and even adults who are looking for special privileges which they wish to receive from others.

Reducing eye contact has been shown to help reduce the level of punishment as it shows that one is shameful and submissive and thus, no longer a threat. Thus, use eyes down to placate more dominant individuals.

To avoid being called upon, such as in class, cast they eyes down to show lack of confidence.

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

Verbal Translation: a) “I’m shy and I’m submit to you because I’m attracted to you.” b) “You’re the boss and I’m looking down because you are dominant and I feel threatened by you and respect you.” c) “I’m embarrassed and shamed so I’m acting like a child and submitting to your authority.”

Variant: See Eye Aversion, Gaze Avoidance and Wandering Eyes, Eye Squinting or Narrowing Eyes, Downcast Eyes or Eyes Down.

Cue In Action: a) She was casually looking around the room when her eyes met with a cute guy, she panicked and didn’t know what to do so she averted her eyes by looking down and smiled coyly as she knew she was caught with “her hand in the cookie jar.”

b) The intern kept her gaze low and listened attentively at her new boss to keep the peace and remain low on her radar.

c) When the boss came in with an angry expression, he knew this was headed in the wrong direction. He averted his eyes downward and readied to be scolded.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Indicates submission, coyness, lack of certainty, defeat, guilt, shame or embarrassment depending on the context. Down cast eyes is an indication of submission and serves to placate other more dominant people. Downcast Eyes or Eyes Down can also signify interest especially in a dating context.

Usually the person who looks away first is the more submissive or passive so long as it is done by looking down rather than left or right. The eyes averted downward evoke a protective response from others so we do it in hopes of lessening punishment. When women do it in dating, it signals interest because unlike eyes that move left and right – scanning, eyes down punctuations the eye contact to a specific person.

Alternatively, eyes down can mean someone is concentrating or evaluating information and needs to focus on a problem.

Cue Cluster: a) If she spots someone she is interested in she will quickly avert her eyes downward to show that she isn’t a threat and to show submission, and then she will take a second look. This second glance is directed only toward a man of interest and is not cast around the room. It will be short and she will rotate her head twenty-five to forty degrees to the side then look away (usually downward) within about three seconds. Women usually continue this behavior until they meet their target’s eyes. b) Eyes down in a business context when concentrating is coupled with putting up blinders such as hand to the sides of the face, hand to chin, a blank face, head bobbled from side to side weighing information and so forth. c) When downcast eyes wish to avoid confrontation they will be accompanied by a shrinking body such as shoulders down, head sunk in, palms up, torso down or away and head bowed.

Body Language Category: Appease, Courtship displays, Embarrassment (nonverbal), Escape movements, Indicators of sexual interest (IOsI), Pensive displays, Protective reflexes, Readiness to submit postures, Shy nonverbal, Submissive body language.

Resources:

Allison, T., Puce, A., & McCarthy, G. (2000). Social perception from visual cues: role of the STS region. Trends in Cognitive Neurosciences, 4, 267–278.

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

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Body size reduction, Closed body language, Defensive body language, Distancing or moving away, Escape movements, Fearful body language, Orienting reflex or orienting response, Protective reflexes, Submissive body language

Body Language of Crouching

by Chris • October 20, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Crouching

Cue: Crouching

Synonym(s): Cowering

Description: The body takes on a smaller form by bending at the knees or ducking the head.

In One Sentence: Cowering by lowering and taking on a smaller body profile indicates that one desires to submit.

How To Use it: Cower when you want to feel more protected or to ‘hide in plain sight.’ Bringing the chin down, arms in and slumping the shoulders will show others that you are not prepared to battle. More than likely, people will come to your assistance and offer you sympathy and care rather than present further attack. Cowering is best done when you feel that you can not win against another person and instead wish to manipulate their gentle side.

By reducing your profile, you are not only producing a smaller target for attack, but you are also flexing muscles which will help brace against impact. When viewed by an aggressor, cowering is a cue telling him or her than you are not a threat to their dominance and do not wish to challenge them. If read properly by an aggressor, it will lessen their verbal or physical violence.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m scared. I’m going to shrink the outline of my body in effort to escape injury or emotional threat.”

Variant: Bow and Body Bend, Body Lowering or Body Shrinking.

Cue In Action: a) A foul ball was coming straight for her so she duck her head down and bent her knees. b) The boss came in looking for trouble so the employees ducked down in their cubicles so they wouldn’t attract attention.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Crouching or cowering is a submissive body posture done to reduce confrontation. Crouching out of fear is a universal posture. When scared either due to emotional discomfort of physical fear, our bodies will shrink down to become a smaller target. Instinctively, people will pull their arms in, tuck their chins down, lower their eyes and otherwise seem to succumb to the effects of gravity.

Making the body smaller is the opposite of defying gravity through expansive movements. It is an indication of confidence and desire in the ability to challenge others.

Cue Cluster: Our heads tuck into our shoulders, our eyes wince and our face scrunches up. Heads can also drop forward to protect the neck from attack and the arms brought up over the chest to protect the heart and lungs. All sorts of crouching takes place over the body and takes on the form of contracted muscles pulling on various parts of the body and shrinking up. When bodies are un-crouched, they are relaxed and loose.

Body Language Category: Body size reduction, Closed body language, Defensive, Distancing or moving away, Escape movements, Fearful body language, Orienting reflex or orienting response, Protective reflexes, Submissive body language.

Resources:

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Closed body language, Defensive body language, Dislike (nonverbal), Escape movements, Negative body language, Submissive body language

What Does Body Language of Chin Tuck Mean?

by Chris • October 20, 2014 • 0 Comments

What Does Body Language of Chin Tuck Mean?

Cue: Chin Tuck

Synonym(s): N/A

Description: When the chin is pulled down toward the sternum.

In One Sentence: Tucking the chin shows that one is taken aback.

How To Use it: Use the chin tuck to show that you are not in agreement with what was said. Tucking in the chin can also signal submission especially if combined with lowering the head. When you want to raise an objection without verbally stating it, quickly tucking the chin in shows others that you have been ‘punched’ in the chin by their thoughts. Performing this gesture, therefore, may cause them to backtrack on their suggestion, or put them on their heels trying to justify what they have said. Regardless, it can make them act more conservatively.

Context: a) General b) Dating

Verbal Translation: a) “I don’t like what I just heard so I’m tucking my chin down in disdain.” b) “To appear smaller, I’m tucking my chin and lowering my eyes so you don’t hurt me.”

Variant: See Disgust Facial Expression and Contempt Facial Expression, Head Lowered in Judgement, Chin Jut and Chin Lift.

Cue In Action: a) Bill tucked his chin in as he had a look of disdain on his face. b) She pulled her chin in to appear more childlike and submissive.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Pulling the chin in spells anger and disdain or when used in courtship submission, innocent and childlike.

As the profile of the chin is reduced, it eliminates the exposure it suffers during an attack. The chin is particularly vulnerable to injury and a quick blow can send someone unconscious. Therefore, a tucked chin indicates that a person does not wish to engage in conflict. When someone wants to confront an attacker, they will perform the opposite cue by jutting the chin out as a challenge.

Cue Cluster: The chin tuck is accompanied by a sneering nose and looking downward or eyes averted, head turned away, shoulders slumped cowering. When it is used in courtship it is accompanied by a coy smile and eyes cast upward.

Body Language Category: Closed body language, Defensive, Dislike (nonverbal), Escape movements, Negative body language, Submissive body language.

Resources:

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