If there is anything that is hidden away from you, never break your back in an attempt to find out what such a thing is. The most reliable weapon you have at your disposal is their body language. How a person behaves per time reveals their innermost intents. Hence, the tripartite of thoughts, intentions and emotions can be known with the aid of body language cues.
The body language of people in relation to the event at hand can be used to guess their thoughts, intents and emotions. Professor Albert Mehrabian in a UCLA research maintains that 55% of what you convey comes from body language, 38% from the tone of your voice, and only 7% from the words you say. That shows in depicting meaning, your actual words only plays a paltry 7%. More importantly, you must always read in between the lines (Baer &Nisen, 2014).
When a person smiles genuinely, there must wrinkles around the eyes. Making a genuine smile — also known as a Duchenne smile — is nearly impossible to do on command. It’s why family photos tend to look so awkward—there must be a real reason that must warrant a genuine smile other than just trying to feign it. Nobody tells you to smile and will genuinely feel it on you. The smile, it turns out, is all about the crow’s-feet around your eyes. When you’re smiling joyfully, they crinkle. When you are faking it, they don’t. If someone is trying to look happy but really isn’t, you won’t see the wrinkles. This is meant to tell you that they are only trying to deceive you with that fake smile.
Furthermore, when you see a person’s eyebrows raised, it means they are not feeling comfortable. In the same way that real smiles shape the wrinkles around your eyes, University of Massachusetts Professor Susan Krauss Whitbourne says worry, surprise, or fear can cause people to raise their eyebrows in discomfort. So if someone compliments your new hairstyle or outfit with their eyebrows raised, it may not be sincere. It means they are keeping their real comments under their cheeks.
If the tone of their voice changes, it means they are likely interested in you. Whether you know it or not, your vocal range shows your interest, according to Baer and Nisen. “Once a conversation begins, besotted women slip into sing-songy voices,” Psychology Today reports on its’ website, “while men drop theirs an octave.” So, the changes differ in gender (Baer &Nisen, 2014).
Mirroring is another unconscious body language gesture that reveals the intents of people. If a co-interlocutor mirrors you, it means they are into the conversation. When two people are getting along, their postures and movements mirror each other’s. When your best friend crosses her legs, you will, too. If you’re on a date that’s going well, you’ll both be making the same goofy hand gestures. This is because we mirror each other when we’re feeling a connection, says positive psychologist Barbara Fredrickson (Baer &Nisen, 2014).
Eye contact shows both positive and negative interest depending on its usage. According to Baer and Nisen, “When you look at someone in the eyes, it sets an arousal state in the body.” “How that arousal is interpreted, however, depends on the parties involved and the circumstances,” writes Claremont McKenna College organizational psychologist Ronald E. Riggio. “Being stared at by a stranger who appears large or ominous can be seen as a threat and elicit a fear response … However, the gaze of a potential sexual partner causes arousal that can be interpreted positively — as a sexual invitation.”
Someone who looks into your eyes for too long is probably lying. In an attempt to avoid looking shifty-eyed, some liars will purposefully hold their gaze a touch too long, so that it’s slightly uncomfortable. They may also stand very still without blinking. In the same vein, an expansive pose is used to signal power and a sense of achievement. How people hold themselves is a big clue as to how they’re feeling. Harvard professor, Amy Cuddy finds that expansive poses increase testosterone and confidence. If they’re leaning back and relaxed, they feel powerful and in control. Similarly, research shows that even people born blind raise their arms in a V shape and lift their chins slightly when they win a physical competition. On the other hand, a low-power pose — seen when someone closes up and wraps their arms around themselves —increases cortisol, a stress hormone (Baer &Nisen, 2014).
Mouth expressions and movements can also be essential in reading body language. For example, chewing on the bottom lip may indicate that the individual is experiencing feelings of worry, fear, or insecurity. Covering the mouth may be an effort to be polite if the person is yawning or coughing, but it may also be an attempt to cover up a frown of disapproval. Smiling is perhaps one of the greatest body language signals, but smiles can also be interpreted in many ways. A smile may be genuine, or it may be used to express false happiness, sarcasm, or even cynicism. Slight changes in the mouth can also be subtle indicators of what a person is feeling. When the mouth is slightly turned up, it might mean that the person is feeling happy or optimistic. On the other hand, a slightly down-turned mouth can be an indicator of sadness, disapproval, or even an outright grimace (Cherry, 2018).
The arms and legs can also be useful in conveying nonverbal information. Crossing the arms can indicate defensiveness. Crossing legs away from another person may indicate dislike or discomfort with that individual. Other subtle signals such as expanding the arms widely may be an attempt to seem larger or more commanding while keeping the arms close to the body may be an effort to minimize oneself or withdraw from attention (Cherry, 2018).
In conclusion, a clenched jaw, tightened neck or furrowed brow shows stress. All these are “limbic responses” associated with the limbic system in the brain. “Emotion, spotting and reacting to threats, as well as assuring our survival, are all heavy responsibilities of the limbic system,” says former FBI counterintelligence agent Joe Navarro. “The bus leaves without us, and we are clenching our jaws, rubbing our necks. We are asked to work another weekend, and the orbits of our eyes narrow as our chin lowers” (Baer &Nisen, 2014).
References
Baer, D &Nisen, M (2014).14 Tactics for Reading People’s Body Language. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-read-body-language-2014-5?IR=T
Cherry, K (2018).Understanding Body Language and Facial Expressions. Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/understand-body-language-and-facial-expressions-4147228
Talent Smart (2018). 8 Great Tricks for Reading People’s Body Language. Retrieved from http://www.talentsmart.com/articles/8-Great-Tricks-For-Reading-People%E2%80%99s-Body-Language-2147446644-p-1.html
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