Sitting and standing with legs crossed, like crossing the arms, indicates a fundamentally defensive attitude. While arm-crossing is a subconscious attempt by a person to protect his vital organs- the heart and the lungs, crossing the legs is an attempt to protect the genitals. Of course, crossing the legs seems like a silly and ineffective way to …
When it comes to attraction, males and females use different signals to display their attractive qualities. Female courtship signals primarily involve displaying beauty and submissiveness. On the other hand, male courtship signals involve a display of wealth, status, and dominance. One way in which men display dominance is by displaying their crotch. I know it sounds weird …
The hands on hips pose is one of the most common body language gestures that we encounter. I’m pretty sure that most people, at least intuitively, know what it means. Still, the certainty of conscious knowledge is better than intuition. The former makes it less likely for you to ignore a gesture the next time you …
Why do people engage in nail-biting? What does the nail-biting gesture show? Is it simply because they’ve grown too long? What’s the nail-cutter for then? While nail-biting may have several causes, this article will look at what causes nail-biting gesture in people from the perspective of body language. We’ll also look at some other similar behaviors that …
We’re used to seeing babies sucking their thumbs as it’s their typical behaviour but what makes adults do the same thing? What’s behind adult thumb sucking and why do they put things in their mouths? Laila, an accountant working in a sales company, was auditing accounts when suddenly she put a finger in her mouth, …
I first came to know about the ‘three wise monkeys’ in some random book that I read when I was a kid. The first monkey is covering eyes, the second covers its ears while the third covers its mouth. The wisdom that these monkeys are supposed to convey is that you should ‘see no evil’, ‘hear no …
Positive evaluation gestures When we see or hear something positive, or at least perceive it to be as positive, we might do what are known as the positive evaluation gestures. I won’t be discussing the obvious positive evaluation gestures such as smiling, excessive eye contact, clapping, etc. but my focus will be on the lesser-known gestures that you’re likely …
In body language, the various gestures involving touching one’s chin signify the evaluation of the situation. To understand the different evaluation gestures, let’s consider a hypothetical scenario where you are taking part in a study and you have to listen to a presentation. Since the context has already been provided, you’ll understand the meaning of …
‘Hands touching the neck’ body language gesture is one of the most common gestures that we observe in our day-to-day lives. This article explores the different ways in which people touch their necks and what those gestures signify. Rubbing the back of the neck Ever seen two furry animals, like dogs, in a fight? If …
This article will discuss the meaning of head-related body language gestures such as scratching the head, scratching or rubbing the forehead, and clasping hands behind the head. Let’s start with scratching the head or hair. When we scratch our head using one or more fingers anywhere on the top, back or the side of our …