what your body language reveals

7/29/2019 What Your Body Language Reveals

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What Your Body Language Reveals

By Lisa Collier Cool

Jan 18, 2013

While most people think the face best conveys emotions, actually body language is more accurate indication

of how someone really feels, according to a new Princeton study. The researchers asked volunteers to guess

from photographs if the person pictured was feeling the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat, or other intenseemotions.

Although 80 percent of the volunteers said they would rely solely on the face to tell the difference between

pain, pleasure, victory, defeat, joy and grief, in fact those who based their guess on the facial expression

only had a 50/50 chance of being right, while those who looked at both the face and the body had muchhigher accuracy.

Nonverbal Clues that Influence Success in Life and Love

In a TED talk thats had more than 3 million views, Harvard researcher and professor Ann Cuddy reports

that our posture and other nonverbals influence our decisions and successes.

"We make sweeping judgments based on body languagewho we hire or promote, who we ask on a date,she says. It doesnt just describe you, it gives you a presence, helps shape you. And there are major

gender differences in the signals our bodies send, whether were in the classroom, the boardroom or on a

sports team.

The good news is, we can change our body languageand, perhaps, change our destiny.

Is Your Body Language Powerful or Passive?

The basic difference between expressing control or seeming wimpy is projecting a physically open

demeanor or a closed, frightened (or bored) appearance. For example, in a classroom, when the instructorasks a question, some students arm shoots up into the air, while others hold their elbow close to your body,

only slightly raise their hand.

Its the first group of studentsthe eager, confident oneswho are chosen to speak and often get the better

grades. Girls typically fall into the latter category. They chronically feel less powerful than men, Cuddysays.

The Testosterone Connection

The behaviors are linked to our hormones: confidence and feeling empowered are associated with

testosterone, the predominant male hormone, while "closed, contractive postures" connect to cortisol, thestress hormone.
http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S35/82/65G58/index.xml?section=topstorieshttp://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S35/82/65G58/index.xml?section=topstorieshttp://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are.htmlhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=carney%20d%2C%20cuddy%2C%20a%2C%20yap%2C%20ahttp://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S35/82/65G58/index.xml?section=topstorieshttp://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are.htmlhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=carney%20d%2C%20cuddy%2C%20a%2C%20yap%2C%20a


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A dominant posture actually boosts testosterone, giving a person the feelings of power and adaptability that

open us up to taking risks and assuming leadership positions. As I recently reported, assertive posture even

helps you feel less pain: more testosterone helps to increase pain tolerance, while a lower testosterone level,coupled with elevated cortisol, is linked to lower confidence and reduced pain tolerance.

In a recent study, standing tall was associated with greater tolerance of pain than a submissive posture(hunched shoulders and an inwardly curved torso).

How to Change Your Body Language

Cuddy suggests everyone perform an audit of how they express themselves physically: Whats your

body language communicating to me? What does mine communicate to you? Lifting our arms high in a

V and raising our chins, for instance, shows prideits how we behave when we win a competitionwhile slumping and folding our arms in front of us, in effect making ourselves smaller, shows a lack of

confidence.

Interestingly, when we encounter someone who shows assertive body language such as standing with theirhands on their hips, we tend to do the opposite, perhaps clutching papers in front of us or looking elsewhere.Likewise, when were with a person who doesnt exude confidence, we often assume the dominant position

in the conversation without consciously planning it, keeping eye contact, sitting up a little straighter and

keeping our hands on the table.

Try these tactics to exhibit an empowered (but not aggressive) body language:

Pay attention to your posture when youre talking with friends and colleagues. Professor Cuddy presents

several high-power positions, including sitting in a relaxed pose with your hands behind your head and legs

or ankles crossed, with no protection. This sends the message that youre out there and dont need props to

carry on an effective conversation. (Obviously this position might not be appropriate for job interviews or

some business meetings!)

Standing with both hands flat on the table, or with feet apart and hands open on your hips are also high-power

positions.

The high-power kicker: hold your power pose for two minutes. Thats how long it takes to boost your

testosterone (and power) levels. And the longer you can remain in a power position, the more your message of

confidence will sink in.

Avoid low-power posturesslumping in your chair, touching your neck, folding your arms in front of you.

Using "engagement behaviors" such as laughing, eye contact and nodding your head creates the image of a

higher socioeconomic status, while disengagement behaviorsdoodling, fidgeting with gadgetsgives the

impression of a lower-income background, researchers from the University of California, Berkeley found in a

2009 study. When strangers viewed 60-second clips of the study, they correctly guessed participants rich-

man-poor-man status.

Take a tip from successful athletes. A study published in theJournal of Sport & Exercise Psychology inFebruary, 2012 showed that players with dominant body language were perceived more positively by

soccer goalkeepers and were expected to perform better than players with a submissive body language.

You cant practice your power positions during a job interview or formal meetingbut, Cuddy says, youcan practice them beforehand. Just before the stressful situation, go into the bathroom and practice holding

your high-power poses and eye contact for two minutes, and emerge feeling up to the challenge. Leave the

situation saying, I really got to show who I am. Confident body language will enable you to do just that.
http://health.yahoo.net/experts/dayinhealth/surprising-ways-fight-pain-without-drugshttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090204121515.htmhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22356883http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22356883http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22356883http://health.yahoo.net/experts/dayinhealth/surprising-ways-fight-pain-without-drugshttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090204121515.htmhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22356883


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Psychol Sci.2010 Oct;21(10):1363-8. doi: 10.1177/0956797610383437. Epub 2010 Sep 20.

Power posing: brief nonverbal displays affect neuroendocrine levels and risk tolerance.

Carney DR,Cuddy AJ, Yap AJ.

Source

Columbia University, Graduate School of Business, New York, NY 10027-6902, [email protected]

Abstract

Humans and other animals express power through open, expansive postures, and they express powerlessness

through closed, contractive postures. But can these postures actually cause power? The results of this studyconfirmed our prediction that posing in high-power nonverbal displays (as opposed to low-power nonverbal

displays) would cause neuroendocrine and behavioral changes for both male and female participants: High-power posers experienced elevations in testosterone, decreases in cortisol, and increased feelings of power

and tolerance for risk; low-power posers exhibited the opposite pattern. In short, posing in displays of powercaused advantaged and adaptive psychological, physiological, and behavioral changes, and these findings

suggest that embodiment extends beyond mere thinking and feeling, to physiology and subsequent

behavioral choices. That a person can, by assuming two simple 1-min poses, embody power and instantlybecome more powerful has real-world, actionable implications.

PMID: 20855902 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Dev Sci. 2012 May;15(3):417-25. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2012.01143.x. Epub 2012 Mar 7.

Best friends: children use mutual gaze to identify friendships in others.

Nurmsoo E,Einav S,Hood BM.

Source

Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, UK. [email protected]

Abstract

This study examined children's ability to use mutual eye gaze as a cue to friendships in others. InExperiment 1, following a discussion about friendship, 4-, 5-, and 6-year-olds were shown animations in

which three cartoon children looked at one another, and were told that one target character had a best friend.

Although all age groups accurately detected the mutual gaze between the target and another character, only5- and 6-year-olds used this cue to infer friendship. Experiment 2 replicated the effect with 5- and 6-year-

olds when the target character was not explicitly identified. Finally, in Experiment 3, where the attribution

of friendship could only be based on synchronized mutual gaze, 6-year-olds made this attribution, while 4-and 5-year-olds did not. Children occasionally referred to mutual eye gaze when asked to justify their

responses in Experiments 2 and 3, but it was only by the age of 6 that reference to these cues correlated with
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=carney%20d%2C%20cuddy%2C%20a%2C%20yap%2C%20ahttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=carney%20d%2C%20cuddy%2C%20a%2C%20yap%2C%20ahttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Carney%20DR%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=20855902http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Cuddy%20AJ%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=20855902http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Cuddy%20AJ%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=20855902http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Yap%20AJ%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=20855902http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Yap%20AJ%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=20855902http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22490181http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Nurmsoo%20E%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=22490181http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Nurmsoo%20E%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=22490181http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Einav%20S%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=22490181http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Einav%20S%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=22490181http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Hood%20BM%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=22490181http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Hood%20BM%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=22490181http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=carney%20d%2C%20cuddy%2C%20a%2C%20yap%2C%20ahttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Carney%20DR%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=20855902http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Cuddy%20AJ%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=20855902http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Yap%20AJ%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=20855902http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22490181http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Nurmsoo%20E%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=22490181http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Einav%20S%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=22490181http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Hood%20BM%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=22490181


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the use of mutual gaze in judgements of affiliation. Although younger children detected mutual gaze, it was

not until 6 years of age that children reliably detected and justified mutual gaze as a cue to friendship.

2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.


Dev Psychol. 1998 May;34(3):525-39.

Children's use of triadic eye gaze information for "mind reading".

Lee K,Eskritt M, Symons LA,Muir D.

Source

Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. [email protected]

Abstract

Five experiments examined children's use of eye gaze information for "mind-reading" purposes,

specifically, for inferring another person's desire. When presented with static displays in the first 3experiments, only by 4 years of age did children use another person's eye direction to infer desires, although

younger children could identify the person's focus of attention. Further, 3-year-olds were capable of

inferring desire from other nonverbal cues, such as pointing (Experiment 3). When eye gaze was presented

dynamically with several other scaffolding cues (Experiment 4), 2- and 3-year-olds successfully used eyegaze for desire inference. Scaffolding cues were removed in Experiment 5, and 2- and 3-year-olds still

performed above chance in using eye gaze. Results suggest that 2-year-olds are capable of using eye gaze

alone to infer about another's desire. The authors propose that the acquisition of the ability to use attentional

cues to infer another's mental state may involve both an association process and a differentiation process.


Dev Psychol. 2006 Jan;42(1):142-52.

Children's use of the temporal dimension of gaze for inferring preference.

Einav S, Hood BM.

Source

Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom.

Abstract

This study examined 4- and 5-year-olds' ability to spontaneously use the relative duration and frequency of

another's object-directed gaze for inferring that person's preference. In Experiment 1, analysis revealed astrong age effect for judgment accuracy, which could not be accounted for by cue-monitoring proficiency.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9597362http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Lee%20K%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=9597362http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Lee%20K%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=9597362http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Eskritt%20M%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=9597362http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Symons%20LA%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=9597362http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Muir%20D%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=9597362http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Muir%20D%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=9597362http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Muir%20D%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=9597362http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16420124http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Einav%20S%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=16420124http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Hood%20BM%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=16420124http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Hood%20BM%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=16420124http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9597362http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Lee%20K%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=9597362http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Eskritt%20M%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=9597362http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Symons%20LA%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=9597362http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Muir%20D%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=9597362http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16420124http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Einav%20S%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=16420124http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Hood%20BM%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=16420124


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Reducing the saliency of the objects in Experiment 2 yielded significant improvement in the younger

children's performance. Thus, at 4 years, children already show signs of attending to the temporal dimension

of gaze for making mentalistic inferences of preferential liking, but their competence may be undermined bythe object choices themselves. By 5 years, they appear to overcome this competition. The obtained

developmental difference is discussed in terms of concurrent transitions in attention regulation.

Copyright 2006 APA, all rights reserved.


J Exp Child Psychol.2009 Jun;103(2):117-34. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2008.06.005. Epub 2008 Aug 3.

Children's knowledge of deceptive gaze cues and its relation to their actual lying

behavior.

McCarthy A,Lee K.

Source

Institute of Child Study, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5R 2X2, Canada.

[email protected]

Abstract

Eye gaze plays a pivotal role during communication. When interacting deceptively, it is commonly believed

that the deceiver will break eye contact and look downward. We examined whether children's gaze behavior

when lying is consistent with this belief. In our study, 7- to 15-year-olds and adults answered questions

truthfully (Truth questions) or untruthfully (Lie questions) or answered questions that required thinking(Think questions). Younger participants (7- and 9-year-olds) broke eye contact significantly more when

lying compared with other conditions. Also, their averted gaze when lying differed significantly from their

gaze display in other conditions. In contrast, older participants did not differ in their durations of eye contactor averted gaze across conditions. Participants' knowledge about eye gaze and deception increased with age.

This knowledge significantly predicted their actual gaze behavior when lying. These findings suggest that

with increased age, participants became increasingly sophisticated in their use of display rule knowledge toconceal their deception.


PMCID: PMC3462484

Free PMC Article

Results: 3

1.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18678376http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18678376http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=McCarthy%20A%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=18678376http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=McCarthy%20A%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=18678376http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Lee%20K%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=18678376http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3462484/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18678376http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=McCarthy%20A%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=18678376http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Lee%20K%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=18678376http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3462484/


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Fig. 3. From: Childrens knowledge of deceptive gaze cues and its relation to their actual lying behavior.

Participant responses to where the story character should look in the Truth, Lie, and Think vignettes.

Note. Error bars are standard errors of the mean.

Anjanie McCarthy, et al. J Exp Child Psychol. 2009 June;103(2):117-134.

CitationFull text

2.


Average durations of eye contact when answering Truth, Think, and Lie questions.

Note. *p < .001, indicates significantly more eye contact when truth-telling and thinking compared to lying for 7-and

9-year-olds. Error bars are standard errors of the mean.


CitationFull text

3.


Average durations of averted gaze in the up and down directions when answering Truth, Think, and Lie questions.

Note. *p < .001, indicates significantly more gaze in the upward direction when lying compared to truth-telling orthinking for 7- and 9-year-olds. Error bars are standard errors of the mean.


CitationFull text
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3462484/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18678376http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3462484/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3462484/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18678376http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3462484/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3462484/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18678376http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3462484/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3462484/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3462484/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3462484/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3462484/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18678376http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3462484/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3462484/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18678376http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3462484/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3462484/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18678376http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3462484/

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