If you want to know how to read body language of others people, you’ll love this article.
Whether we’re on a date, in an interview or about to enter a meeting with a superior, we spend a large part of our daily lives wondering what the person sitting opposite us is thinking. Wonder no longer though, because there are some sneaky ways you can interpret other people’s body language.
Here are a few examples of how their body language might be giving the game away.
How To Read Body Language And Facial Expressions:
1. The power pose
This is one that works not just in social situations but outside of them too. According to research conducted by Harvard University, adopting a power pose where you stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your hands on your hips stimulates testosterone and makes you feel more confident as well as look it is apparently what animals do to psych themselves up before a fight as well .
2. Fuller lips
If you’re sitting opposite someone and wondering if now is finally the time to lean in for that kiss, well, the clue is in his or her lips. When someone wants to be kissed blood will flow to their lips making them fuller. Fuller lips and mimic body language is also a sign that someone is in love with you.
3. The handshake
You’ve probably been told all your life that a strong handshake is important when making a first impression. And there is some truth to that. Studies have consistently shown that people with weak handshakes are deemed to be weak people. Rotating your wrists so that your hand is on top of the other persons is a subtle sign of dominance .
The yank and pull another thing is when one hand shaker pulls the other one towards them. It is considered a power play – you’re pulling the person closer to you so you invade their personal space. This might be because someone is feeling insecure or simply because they want to take control of the conversation and get you a little off balance.
4. The jutted chin
The jutted chin or sticking your chin out is a sign of men with a little bit more testosterone than normal. According to behavioral psychologist dr. Peter Colette it is a feature of people who believe they should be in charge. He claims the president often displays this sort of body language, so it must be true
5. Eyebrow movement
We often have no idea what we’re doing with our eyebrows. Most of us aren’t aware when we raise or lower them too our feeling and yet eyebrows say a lot. As Dane Archer, psychologist, points out eyebrows are more authentic than the lower face which we used to perform polite smiling and other things. The eyebrow flash is when someone lifts a brow and seeing someone they find attractive. This is actually to show off our eyes better.
Dr. Paul Ekman has done extensive research into uncovering the meaning of facial expressions and offers these thoughts on eyebrows. „If people are surprised they’ll often curve their eyebrows, anger on the other hand, is indicated by lower brows while if someone is sad they will contract the inner side of their eyebrow and raise them”. It may sound rather obvious but now you know that eyebrows are the most revealing facial feature.
6. Sucked in lips
Occasionally we’ll see a politician or famous figure have to acknowledge their wrong doing. In these situations it is not uncommon to find them with lips pursed or even sucked in entirely. This sucked in response to a tricky situation evolved, according to body language expert Joe Navarro, as a result of tasting spoiled food in the ensuing centuries, this response has been adapted to help us deal with negative situations or emotions.
7. Shrinking
A lot of the time people will try and hide the fact that they are uncomfortable in a social situation. Particularly if this discomfort is caused by shyness. However, there are a few things that signal stone is less comfortable in a social setting than they are letting on. One is if they cross their legs and hook one foot around their angle, subconsciously making themselves smaller. A second one is if they stand cross and or with their drink close to their body. Once again occupying as little space as possible.
8. Steepled fingers
How do you know that someone is interesting, intelligent and supremely confident? Simple. All you have to do is check for steepled hands as in when the tips of a person’s fingers touch together. It’s a popular one with politicians although make sure to use it wisely. Simply throwing it in mid conversation can be a sign that you suddenly lost confidence of what you’re saying.
The more confident we are the more our thumbs rise when we speak and the more likely we are to steeple our fingers. So if you’re not feeling confident just fake it with a conscious steeple.
9. Showing your palms
If you really want people to remember a speech you’re about to give make sure to get your hands and even your palms out. Your palm and fingers are trust indicators. Studies have shown that the more of them you show the more people will believe what you are saying. Similarly, if you hide your hands while speaking people will be less inclined to leave you’re speaking the truth.
10. Follow your gaze
If you sense a conversation about politics is on the horizon you’ll want to know just what way your companion butters that are bred. You can find out whether they’re a conservative or a liberal by what they do with their eyes. A conservative is more likely to remain looking at you while you’re talking whereas a liberal will follow your gaze
The study suggesting that conservatives place more value on personal anatomy making them less likely to be influenced by the wandering gaze of others. On the other hand the research suggested liberals are more likely to be responsive to others and thus follow their friend cite line.
11. Looking left or right
We often assume someone looking away from us as a sign of shiftiness that they’re avoiding our gaze because they might be lying. Well the truth is a little more complicated than that. Psychologists suggest that when someone looks left they are remembering something.
While if they look right when you’re talking to them they are thinking of something more creative, probably a witty comeback or scathing remark. To make things a little more confusing if you are left-handed the eye direction tail can be reversed. So make sure you know what hand the person writes with before jumping to any conclusions.
12. Covering your mouth
Whether we’re playing a game of poker or the more complicated game of life, we all like a surefire way to know whether the person you’re talking to is lying or not. Well, there are a few tails to watch out for. One is if the person covers their mouth – this is often a sign they’re telling a fib. Mouth covering is considered a fairly literal piece of body language indicating that someone doesn’t want to answer a certain question or talk about a particular subject.
Similarly if they tilt their head as they speak or stare at you intensely without blinking they might not be telling the whole truth. Studies have shown people are less likely to blink and actually maintain eye contact with a blank expression when lying as their subconscious be aware that the expectation is that they will look or blink when they are not telling the truth.
13. Blinking
Another example of how to tell if someone is really attracted to you is once again focused on their eyes. In this case though it’s to do with blinking. The average person blinks between six to ten times a minute. When someone is emotionally excited they blink more, thus if someone is blinking significantly more than usual in your presence then they are probably into you.
14. Baby cradling
Whether you’re aware of it or not most of us will cradle a baby in our right arm. So when you notice someone is holding a baby with their left arm it might mean something is wrong. According to research by Durham University women who cradled their babies in their left arm were much more likely to be suffering from increased stress levels or depression.
15. Hidden hands
Insecure people will often do what they can to hide the fact that they might be a little bit insecure. Of course, like with everything else their bodies will give them away. People who are insecure will sometimes tighten their fingers, hide their thumbs or hide their hands altogether while people who are much more sure of themselves will spread their fingers wide apart and put their hands on display.
This is because our brains are hard-wired to use our hands to accurately communicate how we’re feeling. People gesticulate angry or rub their hands together when irritated. And so in feeling insecure we often try and hide our hands completely.
16. Feet
Most of us are aware that our body language can give us away so we will do what we can to hide how we’re feeling. However, there is one part of our body we often ignore and that’s our feet. If a woman moves her feet from her body while giggling she is probably attracted to you. If her legs are crossed or tucked under her body then is probably a little less positive. Oddly these rules don’t seem to apply to men.
17. Dilating pupils
If you’re with an introvert who just plain refuses to express how they’re feeling then take a look at their eyes. When someone is excited or happy their pupils will often dilate. This is probably where the term bedroom eyes comes from. On the other hand when they are angry a person’s pupils will become smaller.
Psychologists conducted numerous tests to find out how people’s pupils reacted when shown things such as pictures of pinups, pleasant food and listening to music. As well as pictures of war victims and disabled children to back up his dilatory findings. According to other studies the dilation of our pupils can be automatically decoded by other people to recognize when a person might be scared angry or just plain aroused.
18. Mirroring the other person
Have you ever noticed someone copying your body language? For instance when you cross your legs they cross their legs, when you fold your arms they fold their arms. Don’t worry – they’re not consciously mocking you but subconsciously letting you know that they think you’re getting along wonderfully.
Numerous studies suggest we mirror the body language of people we think we bonded with. It is generally a subconscious act often unnoticed by both parties and can begin as early as infancy as babies learn by mimicking those around them as a way to encourage a sense of empathy and understand the other person’s emotions.
19. Fidgeting
There might be some obvious ways to tell how rich so it is. Such as how expensive their watches or how much of a suit they’re wearing. If these signs aren’t there then you can look for other things. Rich people are more likely to fidget or doodle during conversations while poor people will retain laser-like focus on what you are saying.
The psychologist theorized that people with wealthier backgrounds are less dependent on others and thus less likely to pay attention to normal social behaviors like maintaining eye contact and laughing at the appropriate places in conversations.
20. Legs spreading
One of the more annoying aspects of commuting to work is sitting beside a male leg spreader. Researchers suggests manspreading is a sign of dominance or sexual attractiveness, that legs spreading is deemed to be more attractive if a man does it.
In fact, according to findings, many who adopted expansive poses on dates tended to appear more attractive to their potential mate than those who didn’t.
The same did not hold true for women though suggested they might be more willing to share their resources or wealth. Thereby confirming that women are indeed gold diggers if only subconsciously.
Thank you for reading this article about how to read body language and I really hope that you take action my advice. By now you should essentially be able to read minds usually this gift wisely. I wish you good luck and I hope its contents have been a good help to you. (no)
