According to Your Readings, What Are the Universal Characteristics of Human Language?

1. What is Torso Language?
2. Why is Body Language And then Important?
3. What Are Some Body Language Examples?
1. Open Body Language Examples
2. Airtight Body Linguistic communication Examples
4. What Are the 11 Types of Body Language?
1. Facial Expressions
2. Body Proxemics
3. Gestures
4. Ornaments
5. Interest
6. Heart Gaze
7. Pacifying
8. Haptics
9. Blocking
10. Paralanguage
11. Emblems
5. Understanding & Interpreting body language
6. Body Language Mini FAQ

This article is part of our trunk language guide. Click here for more.

Did y'all know that we can only spot lies with 54% accuracy?

Did yous know there are over 20 muscles in the face that make up over x,000 facial expressions?

Learning to decode body language is powerful and ane of the nearly important nonverbal communication skills.

This guide is your key to reading people AND having confident body linguistic communication.

In this commodity, we're going to cover the essential must-knows to mastering your body linguistic communication skills:

• What is body language?
• How to make yourself await outgoing and relaxed during conversations.
• ten negative cues to avoid (that you might be using regularly!).
• The 11 types of body language y'all'll encounter.

Before we dive in, be sure to accept our body language quiz here to find out how good y'all are at reading torso language!

Tin can You Read Torso Language? (Quiz)

How good are your body language skills? Take our free torso linguistic communication quiz to notice out!

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What is Body Language?

Torso Language Definition

Trunk language is the scientific discipline of nonverbal signals such as gestures, facial expressions, and eye gaze that communicate a person'south emotions and intentions. In total, there are 11 types of torso language that we use to communicate. Unlike words, body linguistic communication is often done subconsciously and constitutes a large part of our communication.

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Why is Trunk Language Then Important?

What if I told you there'due south a manner to become almost annihilation you want? Things similar…

• secretly knowing what someone's thinking
• getting a raise without working whatever harder
• having your date never forget you and wanting more

People who are good at reading body language typically excel in their careers, have great relationships, and get "freebies" in life.

But if you're non good at torso language, don't fret!

Body language is a skill ANYONE can learn.

If you want to learn more about the importance of body linguistic communication, I recommend checking out my commodity here:

5 Powerful Reasons Why Trunk Linguistic communication is Important

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What Are Some Body Language Examples?

Body language can be broken down into 2 major categories—positive or open up body language, and negative or airtight body language.

And simply like how they sound, these two broad categories of cues point only how open (or closed) someone is from their external environs. Whether at a networking issue talking to a random stranger you lot've just met, giving a presentation or voice communication, or on a beginning date, knowing how to read these cues is key to knowing how receptive others are to you lot or the situation.

Reading trunk language is every bit close to mind reading as nosotros can get.

Open up Body Linguistic communication Examples

THE Countenance Flash

Description: When someone does an eyebrow wink, you'll typically encounter their eyebrows raise slightly for less than ⅕ of a 2nd.

What it Means: The eyebrow enhance is a great sign of interest. People tend to apply the eyebrow flash in 3 main means:

• The eyebrow flash tin show intersest professionally, equally when giving approving, agreeing to something, thanking someone, or seeking confirmation. It's used as a nonverbal "aye" during chat.

• The eyebrow flash can also show interest romantically.

• Or the countenance wink can prove involvement socially, as when 2 people recognize each other. Information technology signals to the other person that you are happy to see them.

Whenever we use the eyebrow flash, nosotros phone call attention to our face up. Teachers and speakers oft utilize it every bit a mode to say, "Listen to this!" Or "Look at me!"

Interestingly, some cultures like the Japanese find this cue indecent and avoid information technologyⁱⁱⁱ.

The Scientific discipline: According to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, the eyebrow wink is a universally recognized form of greeting and can exist found all over the earth, suggesting that this gesture is mutual among all cultures.

Yes, this gesture is even used by monkeys and apes¹ .

Mmm, tasty!

How to Utilize it: There are so many ways to utilize the eyebrow wink. Here are a few:

• To Show Liking: When you see someone you like or who yous want to similar you lot, give them a quick eyebrow flash followed past a warm smile.
• To Increase Appointment: If y'all want someone to listen to something you are about to say, heighten your eyebrows right before you deliver.
• To Show Interest: Are you lot curious? Your eyebrows are the best way to show it!

THE EQUAL HANDSHAKE

Take you e'er had a cold, clammy handshake?

Or an overly dominant handshake?

Or fifty-fifty… a really bad-mannered one?

Yuck! These handshakes are Non great for building mutual rapport. Enter: the equal handshake.

Description: An equal handshake has these 7 elements:

1. adept eye contact
2. a warm, genuine smiling
3. an extended arm with a slight bend at the elbow
4. fingers pointing downward while approaching the other person's paw
5. this 1'due south the big one—EQUAL pressure during the hand clasp
6. slight forrard lean toward the other person
7. a slow release after one–2 seconds

What it Means: This handshake is a breath of fresh air and signals mutual respect for both parties.

An equal handshake signals confidence, openness, and power during an interaction and leaves both interactants feeling warm and fuzzy inside.

How to Use it: Before shaking hands, consider the context. Salespeople learned early that an uninvited or surprise handshake from nowhere was dissentious to their sales—the buyer obviously didn't welcome them, and they felt forced to milk shake hands.

Handshakes as well aren't universal—some cultures, like Japan, usually bow as a greeting, and other cultures, like Italian republic or Spain, give a kiss on the cheek.

A adept rule of pollex is to only shake hands when yous know the other person will warmly reciprocate it. Otherwise, a head nod is a good option—or expect for the other person to initiate offset.

On another important annotation, older people require less pressure, so avoid burdensome their mitt with your firm grip. When shaking hands with a college-status individual, allow them to set the length and pressure of the handshake commencement, and follow up with an equal substitution for maximum bonding.

Authentic MIRRORING

Clarification: Displaying like body language to other interactants during a social situation.

What information technology Ways: Mirroring is a highly rapport-building cue that signals a want to connect with someone else. People tend to mirror only those they like, and seeing someone else mirror our own torso language creates a feeling of similarity and likeness.

The Science: Mirroring is powerful. Studies have shown that mirroring leads to:

• Greater compliance from requests. So mirror if you lot desire to persuade someone.
• Higher sales numbers. Then be sure to mirror if you are in sales.
• Positive evaluations. So mirror your manager to build rapport.
• Fifty-fifty larger tips from customers!

Mirroring others is literally hardwired into our brains. Professor Joseph Heinrich from the Academy of Michigan explains that mirroring others helps us cooperate—which leads to more than food, improve wellness, and economic growth for communities.

How to Use it: Make sure to mirror subtly. If someone nods their head vigorously in agreement, and you practice the aforementioned, you may come off equally as well obvious—this can fifty-fifty atomic number 82 to suspicion or decreased rapport.

Best friends often mirror without fifty-fifty realizing it!

Y'all can also avoid mirroring someone entirely if y'all're disinterested in them or desire to create boundaries.

If the other person is displaying negative trunk linguistic communication cues, try displaying open positive language cues yourself to get them to open up, instead of copying their closed gestures.

MUTUAL GAZING

Type: Interest

Description: Eye contact that is mutual—neither lacking eye contact or being a petty… err, too interested.

What information technology Ways: Longer eye contact, particularly from people who are loftier-condition, makes us experience favored. This is especially true when receiving eye contact from celebrities or movie stars².

Increased eye contact also indicates the other person may be curious, as when people are more than attentive to their environs, their blink rate will mostly decrease^three.

Warning:

Practise not brand 100% eye contact! That is actually a territorial signal and shows aggression. People oft do information technology before a fight:

You desire to do mutual gazing. Eye contact when you agree, when you lot are listening, when you are exchanging ideas, or when staring at your amazing self in the mirror:

The Science: Making centre contact simply thirty% of the fourth dimension has been shown to significantly increase what people retrieve you lot say.

Yous can also give a boost to your perceived persuasiveness, truthfulness, sincerity, and credibility just by mutual eye gazing³.

Interestingly, certain personality traits were found to relate to more mutual gazing—namely, extroversion, agreeableness, and openness³.

How to Utilise information technology: Increase your eye gaze to bond. Still, make sure to glance abroad occasionally, since too much eye contact can exist seen equally threatening and make people feel uncomfortable.

Pop Quiz: Real vs. Fake

Take a look at the photo below. Tin y'all tell if this is a real or imitation grinning?

Click to Reveal Answer

This is a fake smiling. This smile lacks the characteristic "crow's feet" wrinkles effectually the corners of the eyes.

DUCHENNE SMILE

Description: The Duchenne smile is a grin characterized past the "crow'south anxiety" wrinkles around the corners of the eyes along with upturned corners of the mouth. This is a existent smile.

What it Means: When you see a Duchenne grinning, this likely indicates 18-carat happiness.

It is hard, but non impossible, to fake a real smiling. In most cases, we smiling dozens of times in normal chat, but many of these smiles are given out of politeness or formality.

The Science: Enquiry shows that babies several weeks old will already use the Duchenne smile for their mothers only, while using a more polite, social smile for othersⁱⁱ.

People besides tend to smile more than with others than when solitary—in fact, when we see a smile face, endorphins are released into our system¹.

Studies show that athletes volition grinning noticeably differently, whether they cease in beginning, second, or tertiary place. This distinction was the same fifty-fifty in congenitally bullheaded athletes who never fifty-fifty saw a smile before¹.

How to Use information technology: When smiling, remember to "smile with your eyes," instead of but your rima oris. It also helps to smile widely plenty to bring the cheeks up, helping activate the muscles around your optics. Retrieve to maintain the grinning even after an encounter—in fake happiness encounters, y'all may often see an "on-off" smile that flashes and then vanishes quickly after ii people go their split ways⁴.

Example: In this example, George W. Bush flashes a childish Duchenne smile ("Oops, I got defenseless!") when he tries to open a door, but fails:

THE Head TILT

Description: The caput tilts to one side, exposing the neck.

What information technology Ways: A caput tilt is a sign of openness. Your neck is i of your nearly vulnerable areas. Cervix skin is much thinner and requires protection. And exposing your neck and throat opens yous up.

When someone tilts their caput, they are showing that they're comfortable enough to allow their cervix be exposed. You can often run across the caput tilt (peculiarly from women) when others are attracted to someone, although this tin also be used to indicate platonic interest.

Information technology can also show that someone is curious nigh what you're maxim, especially if yous get the head tilt and caput nod cluster:

The Scientific discipline: Studies of paintings from the final 2,000 years prove that women are depicted 3 times equally often equally men using the head tilt¹. Today, y'all tin also come across women tilting their heads 3 times more than men in modern advertizement:

How to Use information technology: Since this is a very powerful convincing behavior, you can tilt the caput to the side, along with other open up body language cues, to ease a tense state of affairs or go someone to open up.

The head tilt is a very warm cue—it softens you. Y'all want to be careful non to use information technology likewise much during sales pitches or meetings.

Example: In The Bachelor, you tin ofttimes run across the head tilt during romantic encounters. Lookout this scene as Cassie tilts her caput during their first engagement before she sleeps with Colton (timestamp two:46):

SHARED LAUGHTER

Description: Simultaneous laughter shared between individuals in response to a joke or funny observation.

What it Ways: When you crack a joke and the other person shares a laugh with you, this is a expert sign that they are open to connecting with y'all. Laughter is meant to establish potential relationships or maintain existing ones, especially if the joke wasn't specially funny.

Laughter is also an indication that someone is relaxed, since stiff and nervous people usually do not express joy genuinely, or instead requite a tense laugh if they are in a nervous state of affairs.

The Science: Neurologist Henri Rubenstein found that merely one infinitesimal of laughter provides up to 45 minutes of subsequent relaxation¹! The relaxation heave you get certainly justifies watching your favorite comedians on Telly. And you know who's great at laughing? Volition Smith. In this funny "insult" episode of Will Smith vs. Margot Robbie, Will's laughter is and so contagious that his laughter even makes others express mirth!

Equally we age, we usually laugh less. Adults laugh an average of but xv times per day, while preschoolers express mirth 400 times daily¹.

A great manner to boost your laughter is to get more social! Robert Provine establish that laughter is more than than 30x more probable to occur in social situations rather than when solitary. In his study, participants were videotaped watching a funny video clip in iii unlike situations:

• alone,
• with a same-sexual activity stranger, and
• with a same-sex friend.

Those who watched alone had significantly less laughter than when watching with a stranger or friend.

How to Utilise it: Try incorporating humour into your conversations, such as giving the opposite answer to a yes/no question.

Case: If people are expecting you lot to say yes, say no; if people are expecting you to say no, say yes instead. Information technology'due south simple but effective.

This is Jennifer Lawrence'southward go-to strategy.

The World's Funniest Joke

In 2001, Richard Wiseman set out to find the world's funniest joke. In his experiment, Wiseman prepare a website named LaughLab, in which users could input their favorite joke, and participants could charge per unit them.

Past the end of the project, which garnered 40,000 jokes and had over 350,000 participants from lxx countries, one joke was found to stand out to a higher place the residue:

Two hunters are out in the forest when ane of them collapses. He doesn't seem to be breathing, and his optics are glazed. The other guy whips out his telephone and calls the emergency services. He gasps, "My friend is dead! What tin I practise?" The operator says, "At-home downwardly. I can help. First, let's brand sure he's expressionless." There is a silence, then a shot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says, "OK, now what?"

OPEN PALMS

Type: Gesture

Description: When using paw gestures, make sure you display your palms and don't hide them from others. Pockets, hands behind dorsum, and closed fists can all deed as barriers against open up palms.

What it Means: People who brandish open palms are seen every bit honest and sincere:

And have you always been in a state of affairs where y'all met someone, and they seem nice, but something inside yous felt a bit… off? It might accept been that their palms weren't showing.

Evolutionarily, when nosotros see closed palms, our brains receive signals that we might be in danger—after all, they could be brandishing a weapon or hiding something even more unsafe…

How to Use it: When gesturing with your hands, make sure your easily are open most of the time and people can run across your open palms. It is also a skillful thought to keep the palms facing upward most of the fourth dimension, rather than downwards.

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Airtight Trunk Language Examples

CROSSED ANKLES

Description: The feet are crossed, and one talocrural joint lies on top of the other. This can exist washed whether sitting or standing—or even with the anxiety on the tabular array.

What it Means: A person crossing their ankles might experience uncomfortable and closed-off, although there is an exception (I'll talk almost that below). The tighter their ankles are locked, the more than feet or stress the person may exist experiencing.

Women often sit with their ankles locked², particularly if they are wearing a skirt. However, it is unnatural to sit like this for a prolonged period of time and should be considered strange, especially if done by males.

When taken a step further, people may lock their feet effectually the legs of a chair under high-stress situations. I call this the "ejection seat" position, because it's something many people would do if they were about to be launched out of their seat:

The big exception to this rule is if you lot see the ankles crossed while legs are outstretched on the floor. This can be a relaxed posture with the legs taking up space:

The Science: In a study of 319 dental patients by the Peases^ane, ankle locking was a mutual body language cue done by about patients: 68% of patients getting a checkup locked their ankles, 89% of patients locked their ankles as soon as they sabbatum in their chair to go some dental work done, and a whopping 98% of them ankle-locked when they received an injection.

It's safe to say that these patients felt de-feeted during this situation!

HAND CLASPING

Description: You know that appreciating, tender feeling of holding hands with a significant other?

Well, sometimes nosotros don't take that option (at that place's no shame in that!). In these cases, we might choose to agree our own manus. Sometimes we interlace our fingers, and other times nosotros hug one manus on pinnacle of the other.

Hither'due south an interesting fact: every time nosotros interlock our fingers, one pollex is on top, and this is our dominant thumb⁴. For most people, it feels super weird if we switch thumbs and put our dominant one underneath!

What it Means: Interlaced fingers are a form of "self-hug." Essentially, people who perform this gesture are comforting themselves with their hands, and it acts equally a nostalgic reminder of the security we felt when holding easily with our parents equally kids.

Every bit adults, nosotros exercise this when we're insecure—you lot'll find this during overly formal events or when meeting a nervous client at work.

How to Use it: Use this gesture if y'all desire to conclude a meeting or end an interaction with someone. If you want to appear confident, y'all tin even use this cue but with your thumbs stuck out—this signals conviction instead of stress.

If you encounter someone with interlaced fingers and want to open them up, endeavour humor. Once they start laughing, you'll come across their body language beginning opening upwards!

Description: Have y'all e'er seen a fencing bout before? These guys are on their feet, constantly moving back and forth in a game of who-can-stab-the-other-guy-commencement. Information technology'due south basically chess merely with swords.

But the mode that fencers use their stance is exactly what people practice when closing off. When blading, the torso is turned away, maximizing accomplish in case violence occurs, while minimizing harm to the oh-so-vulnerable frontal parts.

Since up to 90% of people are right-handed, when you see blading, the left foot (which is besides non-ascendant in virtually cases) is ordinarily the one that steps forward, or the right foot may step backward.

What information technology Means: Blading tin commonly be seen correct before a fight begins. You lot tin see it earlier a bar fight breaks loose, during a boxing match, or if you made a statement your chat partner disagrees with.

If you're talking to a buddy in a front-to-front situation, and you see him blade all of a sudden, he might exist feeling a chip defensive or threatened.

An exception to blading is when both people are observing an result and square up shoulder-to-shoulder, such as sitting on the couch and watching TV together.

THUMBS Subconscious

Description: The thumbs are hidden away from view, such as inside pockets or fifty-fifty wrapped around the other fingers.

What it Means: Ordinarily a brandish of lower self-conviction, hiding thumbs usually signals concern, insecurity, or feelings of threat. Loftier-condition people have been observed to do this sometimes when relaxing² but never when they're "on."

Dogs besides perform a similar cue by hiding their ears during times of stress. They exercise this in lodge to streamline themselves in case they need to make a mad nuance… like if they manage to bite a hole through your $l doggy bed while yous were out dining with your partner (oddly specific?).

How to Utilise it: Around close friends and trusted others, information technology'due south totally fine to relax your easily in your pockets one time in a while. But if y'all want to make the other person feel a bit insecure for any reason, sticking your hands deep in your pockets is a surefire mode to practice it!

Pop Quiz: Thumbs Out

In the moving picture beneath, the person has their hands in their pockets, merely their thumbs are sticking out. What does this likely indicate?

one. confidence
2. nervousness or feet
3. apprehension
4. fright

Click to Reveal Answer

a) confidence. Even though the hands are inside the pockets, the large difference hither is that the thumbs are sticking out. Thumbs are too the most powerful digits of your hand. When they are displayed confidently, this can often point conviction or ability in a given situation.

NECK RUBBING

Clarification: When people rub their necks, they'll usually do it on the side or back of the neck. In more extreme cases, you'll run across the suprasternal notch, or the office where your neck meets your clavicle, existence touched (usually more in women).

What it Means: People ordinarily rub their neck when feeling insecure or stressed. For some people, this is their go-to method to save stress.

Those who habitually rub the cervix likewise have a tendency to exist more than negative or critical^ane than others.

The Science: When the nerve on the side of the cervix called the vagus nerve is massaged, acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that sends signals to the heart, causes the eye rate to go down.

A Mortiferous Example:

Alert:

This example contains graphic content.

In the formal interview of a Canadian-born Chinese-Vietnamese woman named Jennifer Pan, she told detectives that her parents were murdered in her business firm by 3 unknown thugs.

All the same, the interview officially turned into an interrogation when the detectives became suspicious. They noticed her story didn't line up, and the nonverbal cues she displayed weren't quite normal for her situation. It turns out that she really staged the murder herself, and she was faking her story the entire time!

I nonverbal cue she consistently displayed that signaled loftier stress was touching her suprasternal notch:

CROSSED Artillery

Description: Chances are, you lot know this one. Practically everyone has crossed their arms at some point or another.

What it Ways: Most people who exercise this are projecting acrimony, anxiety, or stress—information technology's likewise known equally the "self-hug"^two.

That'southward why people will commonly cross their arms only in public and non when lonely. You lot'll see it often in public, such as in line at the DMV, in doctors' and dentists' waiting rooms, or with outset-time air travelersⁱ.

People who are feeling angry, hostile, or defensive may clench their fists and fifty-fifty combine this gesture with a tight-lipped grin or clenched teethⁱ.

The Scientific discipline: Research on over one,500 volunteers was conducted by the Peases¹ to find out exactly how the crossed-arms gesture fabricated people experience. The volunteers, asked to nourish a series of lectures, were divided into 2 groups:

• One group was asked to continue their legs uncrossed, artillery unfolded, and take a relaxed sitting position.
• The second group did the same, except they were asked to cross their arms throughout the lectures.

The upshot? The second grouping learned and retained 38% less information than the group with unfolded arms. They also gave more than critical opinions of the lecturers and the lecturer.

How to Disarm it: If y'all meet someone with this gesture, yous can intermission their barrier by giving them something to agree onto¹—a pen, volume, java, or brochure will work just fine. You can also ask them to lean forward to look at something to open their arms up.

Example: Right before a tug-of-war competition, most of the men on a tug-of-state of war team face up off against 4 big Strongman competitors. Their crossed arms are a expressionless giveaway that they're feeling tension from the upcoming struggle:

How Do You Cross

Here'south a unproblematic self-test you can do right now: cross your arms. Now permit me accept a guess… Did you cross your left arm over your right one?

Inquiry has constitute that seven out of 10 people cross their left arm over their right arm¹. This implies that this gesture might exist genetic, with the less ascendant left arm protecting the more useful right one. If yous try crossing your arms the other way, you lot might be surprised that it feels completely wrong!

And we all cross differently. Have a expect at the chart beneath and meet a scattering of the quirky ways nosotros tend to cross our artillery!

HUNCHED SHOULDERS

Clarification: How many times accept you heard "shoulders back, head straight!"

Believe information technology or not, hunched shoulders are becoming even more common present, as you'll see people slumped over, looking at their cellphones. Over time, this might even get the norm, every bit people develop chronically-hunched shoulders from staring at smartphones and hunched over laptops all day.

We may all literally end up like the Hunchback of Notre Dame:

All kidding aside, people who are super submissive in social situations, like those with clinical depression or cocky-proclaimed "social failures," may too walk with a permanent stoop, with shoulders rounded and their neck hunched forward.

Meaning: This is a naturally defensive posture. Forward shoulders may bespeak that someone is trying to hide something or feeling vulnerable, since y'all are endmost off your vulnerable cervix and chest areas.

You'll likewise rarely see this in fashion shows and magazines, as it instantly drops your attraction value. This cue literally reminds me of a turtle withdrawing into its beat out:

Perhaps a better proper noun for this cue would be "turtling!"

RUBBING Eyes

Type: Pacifying

Description: People who rub their eyes commonly use their index finger, middle, or pollex to go in on that eyelid action. It can range either from a gentle, split-2d bear on, to more obvious rubbing, to a very obvious, angry, it's-raw type of face/eye rubbing:

What it Ways: Rubbing the eyelids actually helps people calm down, as it acts like a "visual reset." Essentially, what you're saying when you rub your eyes is: "Wait, please go away. I wish everything in forepart of me simply "vanished." You'll typically come across this gesture with high-stakes poker players as shortly every bit they lose a mitt, or during an argument between an angry and frustrated couple.

Of form, people naturally do this to become those nasty eye boogies out, too, so always accept into business relationship how tired someone is, before placing a negative label on them.

The Science: Rubbing the eyelids stimulates a special nerve in the eyelids chosen the vagus nerve, which helps slow down heart and breathing rates when it'southward massaged.

You lot can also run into people do this during conversations and interrogations when they are asked a difficult or stress-inducing question, and if they desire to cut off eye contact to reduce their own stress or anxiety.

You may often see this gesture more in men than women, as women might be conditioned to avoid rubbing their eyes, especially if they clothing eye makeup.

How to Use It: Having a hard 24-hour interval at work? Try closing your optics in a safe space and gently rubbing your eyelids while taking a breath. I've found just 30 seconds of this helps immensely and gives a sense of calm during a stressful day.

FIDGETING WITH OBJECTS

Description: Fidgeting involves playing with nearby objects, such equally keys, coins, a pen, a band, or a necklace.

What it Means: Fidgeting typically signals boredom. Bored of talking, bored of sitting down, and yep—fifty-fifty bored of you (ouch!).

People who fidget may be subconsciously desiring sensory reassurance, similar to how babies concord onto their favorite toy. Other times, it may hateful that people are anxious or short on time—and in some cases, even disappointed (Robert Herzegovina definitely knows about that):

Yes, people even fidget with their fingers!

The Science: Observations at railway stations and airports revealed that there are 10x as many displacement activities in flying situations. In other words, people fidget a lot when they're nearly to fly. These behaviors include:

• checking tickets
• taking out passports and putting them abroad
• rearranging mitt baggage
• making sure their wallet is in place
• dropping things and picking them upwards

In contrast, only 8% of people boarding a railroad train showed signs of fidgeting, compared to 80% of people at a check-in desk of a jumbo-jet flight across the Atlantic⁴.

How to Employ it: If you want an like shooting fish in a barrel out to a chat, just kickoff jangling your keys or coins in your pocket or easily. It might be a bit rude, simply if you've really gotta go, this is a groovy way to cease a conversation.

Historic Example: In 1969, when Elvis Presley made his first public phase appearance in ix years, he displayed signs of fidgeting. What practise you think he was feeling, judging past this picture?

TOUCHING EARS

Description: The ear is rubbed, pulled, scratched, touched, picked at… or rubbed vigorously.

What it Means: OK, you might have noticed a trend by now—touching yourself basically means anxiety. Not in all cases, but unless y'all've just got an itch that won't go away, repetitive cocky-touch in all forms is a fashion to ease tension throughout your body.

People mostly scratch backside their ears, says Dutch biologist Nikolaas Tinbergen, as a way to ease tension during stressful situations. Such as when y'all've made a public speaking blunder in front of thousands of people.

Effectively, people who do this may be trying to "block" information that they've just heard—whether information technology'southward a prodding question, or even if they've been accused.

Instance: You may be familiar with the American actress Carol Burnett, who was famous for tugging on her left ear. She did this at the finish of each testify to let her grandmother know she was doing well and loved her. After her grandmother's passing, she continued tugging her ear as a tradition and in memory of her.

Run into No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil

Have yous heard of the old Japanese maxim of the Iii Wise Monkeys? You lot know, the moving picture of the three monkeys roofing their eyes, ears, and mouth?

It turns out this picture show is a GREAT example for explaining many blocking behaviors. Generally, touching the eyes, ears, or rima oris are unconscious ways that people try to block out information… or forestall it from escaping—which is why yous'll often meet these cues during intense interrogation sessions!

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What Are the xi Types of Body Language?

Besides open and closed, body language can exist further broken down into 11 different channels, including facial expressions, body proxemics, and ornaments.

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Facial Expressions

Researcher Dr. Paul Ekman discovered seven universal microexpressions—or short facial gestures every human makes when they feel an intense emotion. We are very drawn to looking at and observing the face to understand someone's subconscious emotions.

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Body Proxemics

Proxemics is a term for how our body moves in space. We are constantly looking at how someone is moving—are they gesturing? Leaning? Moving toward or away from u.s.? Body movements tell us a lot about preferences and nervousness.

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Gestures

The most common gestures are paw gestures. Nosotros often use our hands to limited our emotions, tell a story, or comfort ourselves. My squad even did an experiment on TED talks and found the most popular speakers as well used the almost paw gestures.

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Ornaments

Dress, jewelry, sunglasses, and hairstyles are all extensions of our body language. Not just do sure colors and styles transport signals to others, how we interact with our ornaments is likewise telling. Is someone a fidgeter with their scout or ring?

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Interest

Interest cues can be signs of attraction or full general interest that usually don't involve touch. From obvious cues similar winking and grinning, to more subtle ones similar a flick of the hair or displaying the wrist, knowing which cues to requite and recognizing them is cardinal to building rapport.

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Eye Gaze

Center movements and changes tell us a lot about others' intentions. During an interaction, nosotros can often see changes such equally longer center gaze, sideways glances, and blocked eyes. These cues tin signal emotions similar attraction, skepticism, or stress.

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Pacifying

Pacifying behaviors consist of a wide range of self-soothing behaviors that serve to calm the states down afterward experiencing something unpleasant. This can be seen with fidgeting, bouncing anxiety, and arm rubbing. As a general rule of pollex, whatever repetitive behavior is likely pacifying.

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Haptics

Haptics refers to body language cues that involve touch. These include handshakes, touching some other's arm, hugs, a pat on the shoulder, and kissing. Since nosotros collaborate with the world through touch, we can observe how others touch us to get an insight on their preferences.

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Blocking

Blocking cues are performed to magically "vanish" the cause of people's stress or anxiety. Like the three wise monkeys—"see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil"—these cues consist of barriers like touching the oral cavity or crossing the artillery to block out the environment.

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Paralanguage

Paralanguage is the nonverbal communications of your vox, such as pitch, tone, and cadency. Ofttimes, we can hear how confident or anxious one feels past only listening to their voice. Past learning paralanguage, nosotros can fifty-fifty master our own voices and give ability to our words.

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Emblems

Emblems, or symbolic cues, represent messages that are consciously understood by others, and are often used in place of words. There are over 800 emblems, from your "OK" sign and "thumbs upwards," and they are heavily dependent on a person's civilisation and geographic location.

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Understanding & Interpreting torso language

Body language isn't just about seeing a trunk linguistic communication cue and

In the world of trunk linguistic communication, there are 2 camps:

Absolutists believe that whenever a trunk language cue appears, it 100% has the interpreted significant. For example, if a person crosses their arms, it means they are feeling blocked off in all cases.

Contextualists believe that body language depends on the situation. If a person crosses their arms, it could mean that they're common cold, or it'southward simply more comfortable for them.

The key to understanding torso language is to be a contextualist, not an absolutist. Learning nigh body language cues without knowing how to utilise them may skew your opinions well-nigh others for the worse, rather than improving them for the better.

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Body Linguistic communication Mini FAQ

Here are some other questions I've been asked about torso language, which I've compiled into a mini FAQ:

Is body linguistic communication a scientific discipline?

Yes! Body language cues and their consistency take been scientifically proven time and time again by researchers such as Paul Ekman, Joe Navarro, Barbara and Allan Pease, Desmond Morris, and Carol Kinsey Goman. Notwithstanding, it'southward important to note that everyone has their individual quirks that may be different from the norm.

Is torso language universal?

No. While many cues are universal, such as the eyebrow flash and vii facial microexpressions, many body linguistic communication cues are specific to a culture or geographic location. For case, many Western cultures adopt a handshake equally a greeting; however, some Spanish or Latin cultures may kiss, Thai culture often employs the "wai" greeting, and the Japanese may prefer to bow.

What is a nonverbal cue?

A nonverbal cue is anything that is done nonverbally during an interaction, such equally a hand gesture or bodily motility. Many trunk language cues can exist interpreted to reveal a person's intentions or feelings during a situation.

What do you practice when a person's body linguistic communication and words don't lucifer?

When there is a mismatch between a person'southward words and body language, it is by and large preferred to rely on their torso linguistic communication for an accurate estimation of their true feelings. Nigh people brand a conscious attempt to choose their words carefully; however, body language is much harder to consciously control and therefore more than reliable in most cases.

What is the deviation between body language and nonverbal communication?

Nonverbal advice is the broad term used to depict all types of communication without using words. Body language is a category of nonverbal advice that focuses on all parts of the body, such as facial expressions and gestures.

Can body language be misread?

Absolutely! Many people, particularly those who are new to reading body language, volition make the error of attempting to read torso linguistic communication simply get information technology wrong. They may read a certain body linguistic communication cue and forget to take into consideration the context or surroundings. They may also read a cue just miss out on other, more important cues that indicate the reverse of their interpretation.

What torso language indicates lying?

Mutual trunk language cues that point lying are touching the nose, increased centre contact, licking the lips, uncertain vocal tonality, and a frozen posture. There are many lying cues that may indicate deception. However, at that place is no single cue that definitively means a person is lying.

How long does it take to go good at reading body language?

Information technology depends. Some people are naturally gifted at reading body language and can pick upward on it readily. For others, it may take months in social club to get a basic grasp of body language. The amount of fourth dimension spent observing cues, a person'south perceptiveness, and the amount of preparation and research one does all impact a person's body-language-reading abilities.

I hope this article has been useful to you lot! To continue the guide, delight click on the next article link below. And if y'all have whatsoever other questions about body language, please leave a comment below so I tin can potentially add it to the mini FAQ!

To your success,

Vanessa

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Sources:

i Pease, A. (2017). The definitive book of body linguistic communication: How to read others' attitudes by their gestures. London: Orion. 2 Navarro, J., & Karlins, M. (2015). What every BODY is saying: An ex-FBI agent'south guide to speed-reading people. New York, NY: Harper Collins. 3 Knapp, Thou. 50., & Hall, J. A. (2014). Nonverbal communication in human being interaction. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. iv Morris, D. (2012). Peoplewatching: The Desmond Morris Guide to Body Language. London: Vintage Digital.

Side Note: As much as possible nosotros tried to employ academic research or practiced opinion for this master body language guide. Occasionally, when we could not find research we include anecdotes that are helpful. As more research comes out on nonverbal behavior we will be sure to add together it!

This article is part of our body language guide. Click here for more than.

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Source: https://www.scienceofpeople.com/body-language-examples/

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