70 Amazing and Interesting Facts about Body Language | Amazing Facts 4U
- Body language is the means by which humans convey information through conscious or subconscious body movements or facial expressions. The official name for body language is kinesics.
- Body language serves three purposes 1) as a conscious replacement for speech, 2) a means to reinforce speech, and 3) as a mirror of mood.
- The first modern book on body language appeared more than 350 years ago by John Bulwer. Named Chirologia: Or the Natural Language of the Hand (1644), it was a pioneering work on hand movements.
- An early landmark in the study of non-verbal communication was the naturalist Charles Darwin’s The Expression of the Emotions of Man and Animals(1872). It was the first to claim that humans and apes expressed similar facial expressions inherited from a common ancestor.
- Amazingly woman has a wider-ranging peripheral vision, which allows her to check out a man’s body from head to toe without getting caught. A male’s peripheral vision is poorer, which is why a man has to move his gaze up and down a woman’s body in a very obvious way. Men’s tunnel vision means they just get caught more easily.
- A normal, relaxed blinking rate is 6 to 8 blinks per minute, and the eyes are closed for about 1/10th of a second. People under pressure when they are lying dramatically increase their blinking rate.
- The “Crotch Display” is predominately a male gesture shown by a person planting both feet firmly on the ground with legs apart. It is used as a dominant masculine signal by men.
- A woman is instinctively four times more likely to mirror another woman than a man is to mirror another man. Additionally, while women also mirror men’s body language, men are generally reluctant to mirror a woman’s gestures or posture.
- These are eight universal facial expressions 1) anger, 2) disgust, 3) fear, 4) happiness, 5) sadness, and 6) surprise 7) Contempt 8) embarrassment
- Britain, along with most of Northern Europe and the Far East, is classed as a “non-contact” culture where there is very little physical contact in daily interactions. In contrast, the Middle East, Latin America, and Southern Europe are considered “high contact cultures” where physical touch is a part of socializing.
- The “face platter” or when a person places one hand on top of the other and rests his or her face on top of the hands is often used in courtship. It’s used mainly by women and by gay men who want to attract a man’s attention.
- Studies show that women laugh at men they’re attracted to and men are attracted to women who laugh at them. From a man’s perspective, saying a woman has a good sense of humor doesn’t mean she makes jokes; it means she laughs at his jokes.
- In the Middle East, same-gender eye contact tends to be more intense and sustained than in the West. However, in many Asian, African, and Latin American countries, unbroken eye contact is considered aggressive.
- The “flight response” is an instinctual response to a threat. Body language wise subconscious “evasive” actions include closing the eyes, rubbing the eyes, placing objects on a lap, turning feet to the exit, and leaning away from a person.
- Eye blocking i.e. covering the eyes, delaying opening the eyes, lowering the eyes for a prolonged period are all powerful messages portraying consternation, disbelief, or disagreement.
- Subconsciously pacifying behaviors result in various forms like massaging/stroking our necks or playing with our hair or rubbing the cheeks or lips from inside with their tongues etc which release calming endorphins to soothe the brain. Exhaling with puffed-out cheeks is a great way to release stress and to pacify.
- It has been observed that when feeling discomfort, men typically prefer to touch their faces. Women, on the other hand, prefer to touch their necks, clothing, jewelry, arms, and hair.
- Neck touching or massaging is a powerful and universal stress reliever and a pacifier in response to stress. When women subconsciously touch or cover their suprasternal notch (the neck dimple), she typically feels distressed, threatened, uncomfortable, or insecure.
- “Leg cleansing” is one of several pacification behaviors. In this calming behavior, a person places the hand or hands palm down on the leg or legs and slides them down the thighs toward the knee. While it often occurs in people who are being deceptive, innocent people who are merely nervous also use it.
- People under stress will often exhibit “ventilation action,” which relieves stress and emotional discomfort. A man often will put his fingers between his shirt collar and neck and pull the fabric away from his skin. Women may do it more subtlety by tossing the back of her hair to ventilate her neck.
- In stressful situations, some individuals will pacify themselves by crossing their arms and rubbing their hands against their shoulders, in a self-administered body hug.
- When two people talk to each other, they normally speak toe to toe. If one person turns his feet slightly away or repeatedly moves one foot in an outward direction, this is a strong sign of disagreement. When you find a person crossing both legs and arms, he has emotionally withdrawn from the conversation.
- Even when a person is standing still, a person’s body is telling a story.
- When people find themselves in confrontational situations, their feet and legs will splay out, not only for greater balance but also to claim more territory looking more self-assured and more confident. They typically will not cross their legs while standing because it puts them slightly off balance.
- During social interactions, our feet and legs will mirror those of the person with whom we are talking. When people sit side to side, if they are on good terms, the top leg crossed over will point toward the other person. If a person is uncomfortable, he will switch the position of the legs so that the thigh becomes a barrier.
- Custom officers observe that passengers who point their feet toward the exit while turning to the officer to make their custom’s declaration are more likely to be concealing something they should have declared.
- When a foot suddenly begins to kick, it is usually a good indicator of discomfort. This is seen in people being interviewed as soon as a question is asked that they don’t like.
- A sudden crossing of the arms during a conversation often indicates discomfort. Or a businessperson may suddenly decide to button his or her jacket when talking to someone disagreeable, only to undo the jacket once the conversation is over.
- Splaying out on a couch or a chair is normally a sign of comfort. However, when serious issues are being discussed, splaying can indicate territorial or dominance display.
- A partial shoulder shrug indicates that the speaker is not committed to what he is saying. An honest and true response causes both shoulders to rise fully, sharply, and equally. When only one side rises, the message is dubious.
- Called the “regal stance,” arms behind the back response means “don’t come near.”
- “Arms akimbo” (a standing person whose extended arms are out in a V pattern with the hands placed on the hips, thumbs backward) is a powerful territorial display that is used to establish dominance or indicate that there are “issues.” Women tend to use arms akimbo less often.
- “Arms akimbo” with thumbs forward represents a more inquisitive, less authoritarian position than arms akimbo with thumbs backward.
- The “hooding effect” is a powerful territorial display among humans done by interlaced hands behind the head which is indicative of comfort and dominance. Usually, the senior person at a meeting will pose or “hood” this way.
- Fingertips planted and spread apart on a surface are a significant territorial display of confidence and authority.
- One of the best ways to establish rapport with someone is to touch that person on the arm somewhere between the elbow and shoulder.
- Hand-steepling may be the most powerful high confident hand gesture. It involves touching the spread fingertips of both hands in a gesture similar to praying hands, but the fingers are not interlocked and the palms may not be touching. It is observed that Women tend to steeple low at the waist, while men tend to steeple at chest level.
- Hand wringing is a universal way of showing distress or concern. A person can go from steepling (high confidence) to fingers interlaced (low confidence) and back to steepling (high confidence), reflecting the ebb and flow of confidence and doubt.
- Often seen with high-status individuals, the thumb sticking out of the pocket is a high-confidence display. When individuals carry their thumbs high, it is a sign they think highly of themselves or are confident.
- Thumbs in the pocket indicate low status and confidence. People in authority should avoid this display because it indicates weakness.
- Genital framing, or when someone hooks their thumbs inside their waistbands on either side of the zipper, is a powerful dominance display, especially for males.
- A limp or exposed wrist is a sign of submission. Both women and homosexual men tend to do this subconsciously in a room with others that they want to attract.
- It has been found that those who lie tend to gesture less, touchless, and move their arms and legs less than honest people.
- Research shows that whatever we’re feeling first shows up in our body and only microseconds later enter our conscious minds.
- When we are truly relaxed and comfortable, facial muscles relax and the head will tilt to one side, exposing our neck. This is a high comfort display that is impossible to mimic when we feel threatened.
- Squinting can be very brief, just a fraction of a second, but in real-time may reflect negative thoughts or emotions. We squint when we are angry or even when we hear voices, sounds, or music we don’t like.
- When we like something we see, our pupils dilate. When we don’t, they constrict. The more favorable the attitude, the more dilated the pupils.
- Abused children often manifest a “freezing” response. In the presence of an abusive parent or adult, their arms will lie dormant at their sides and they avoid eye contact.
- It has been noted that thieves will try to hide their physical presence by restricting their motions and by limiting their head exposure by raising the shoulders and lowering the head, as in a “turtle effect.” In contrast, most people walk around the store with their arms quite active and their posture upright.
- People born blind can perform the same body language expression as people who can see, which suggests that body language is more innate than language or even facial expressions.
- Both males and females find people with “available” body language the most attractive. Available body language includes smiling, uncrossed arms, uncrossed legs, and not looking down at shoes.
- If a woman is feeling uncomfortable or not attracted to someone, she will either clutch her bag tightly or place it in front of her to cover her body. When she is attracted to a man, she will move it aside indicating that she does not want anything in her way.
- Folding your arms during an interview makes you seem unfriendly and closed off from the interviewer.
- The “thumbs-up” sign means “good” to Westerners, “one” to Italians, “five” to Japanese, and “up yours” in Greece. Amazingly in Iran, it means male genitals.
- The very negative offensive gesture is finger-pointing. It has negative connotations all around the globe.
- One researcher notes that the average person actually speaks words for a total of about 10–11 minutes a day. The average sentence takes 2.5 seconds to say. However amazingly we make and recognize about 25,000 facial expressions daily.
- It has been estimated that the total impact of a message is about 7% verbal, 38% vocal, and 55% non-verbal.
- Just as a dog will expose its throat to show submission or surrender to a victor, humans use their palms to show that they are unarmed and, therefore, not a threat.
- Men are poorer in recognizing body gestures. When asked to decode a silent movie, 87% of women in a study were able to guess what was happening, but men could guess correctly just 42% of the time. Research shows when reading body language, 14–16 areas of a woman’s brain are active. Men show just 4–6 active areas.
- Nodding the head means “yes” in most societies, but means “no” in some parts of Greece, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Turkey.
- An ear grasp means “I’m sorry” in parts of India. Cupping the ear means “I can’t hear you” in all societies.
- In Asia, kissing is considered an intimate act and not permissible in public, even as a social greeting.
- Spitting in public is considered rude in most Western cultures. However, in many Asian countries, spitting in public is ridding the body of waste and is acceptable.
- Some cultures, such as the Italians, use more dramatic arm and hand gestures when conversing. Other cultures, such as the Japanese are more reserved and see gesticulating with broad movements as rude.
- The “hang loose” sign (thumb and little finger extended) means, “stay cool, relax” in Hawaii, “six” in Japan, and “would you like a drink?” in Mexico.
- Eight of the most common lying gestures include 1) the mouth cover, 2) the nose touch, 3) incongruous nodding, 4) the eye rub, 5) the ear grab, 6) the neck scratch, 7) the collar pull, and 8) fingers in the mouth.
- People who are lying often will not move their feet in an interview or will interlock their feet to restrict movement. People tend to restrict both arm and leg movement when lying.
- People become more serious as they get older. An adult laughs on average 15 times per day. A preschooler laughs on average of 400 times.
- Lowering the eyelids while simultaneously looking up, and slightly parting the lips is a body language cluster that indicates sexual submissiveness in women.
- Someone suffering from autism may not exhibit typical body language and maybe incongruous with what they are saying. Additionally, they may not have the skills to decode other people’s body language.
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