Communication

You are telling your mom about your weekend plans. She seems to be blinking a lot more than usual. Would she look happy or worried?

• Lifting the chin, leaning the head backward, and looking down the nose are used throughout the world as nonverbal signs of superiority, arrogance, and disdain (Eibl-Eibesfeldt 1970, Hass 1970).

• Rotating the eyeballs in their sockets to a downward position, bowing or tilting the head forward so that the eyes face the ground or floor conveys a defeated attitude or one of guilt, shame, or submissiveness. It also indicates distortion of the truth. True statements are normally given with a confident, face-to-face or level gaze, which may be held longer than three seconds.

• This little boy told the little girl that he got a 97% on his spelling test today. Looking at her body language, is she telling him “I don’t care if you did better than I did!” OR is she telling him “I got a 99%!”

• The coach just told this quarterback player to sit on the bench for a minute. Is this player thinking “I know I can throw the next pass right on the target…I’ve just got to concentrate!” OR is he thinking “I can’t do anything right tonight; I might as well head to the locker room.”

• Hands-on-hips shows that the body is prepared to "take steps" to perform, take part in, or take charge of an event, activity, or work assignment. This posture is indicative of a person poised to step forward to carry out a superior’s order, to carry out discipline, to threaten a subordinate, or to defend against others.

• The head-side-tilt may be used to show friendliness, to show coyness such as in a courtship, and to strike a submissive pose. She’s going to let him spend the night. She may also use this pose to respond to “cute” things, such as kittens and babies.

• This man works for an advertising agency. His boss just gave him the assignment to create an ad campaign for a major client. Judging by his posture, does this man have more questions to ask OR is he ready to carry out the assignment?

• This woman’s boyfriend just suggested that he spend the night at her house. Judging by this head tilt, is she thinking “I think that would be alright” OR is she thinking “not tonight sweetie; I want the marriage license first.”

• While your client is testifying on the witness stand, you are watching this man on the jury. Suddenly, he presses his lips together firmly. Judging from this expression, does he think your client is telling the truth or lying?

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