The
first look at tension and pressure, I use these terms to mean the degree of
force or intensity behind movements, speech or gestures. For instance, a person
erasing a paper is nothing to note but, a person erasing with such force it is
amazing the paper hasn’t ripped, may be something to take note of.
Firstly, let us take a look at the many misinterpretations and true
meanings of crossing limbs. If you observe someone crossing their legs it may
not just be a social adaptation. Most often it is an act of comfort, a need to
relieve anxiety and the subconscious attempting to make you feel relaxed. It
could even indicate the uncomforatblility of the individual in the situation as
well; the degree of this need to feel comfort can be noted by the force put
behind the action. If a business woman in the tube harshly crosses her legs,
she is most likely afraid of being, or is, late. Moving upwards let us now draw
our attention to crossing our arms, most deductions from this movement can be
noted from the position of the hands. Are the person’s hands facing different
angles? Or are they aimed back at the person? With this gesture as some others
we will encounter it is important to note the surroundings as well.
If the temperature is rather cold, person
most likely crosses their arms to stay or get warm the tightness and pressure
holding their arms to each other and against the body indicating how cold they
feel. In most cases when the hands face opposite directions it indicate the
person is ‘done’ with a situation, meaning they are attempting to put up a
physical barrier to show they are closed for argument, it is also a clear
indication that the person does not want to further conversation, it is much
like a rattlesnakes rattle. They are raising their shields and quite frankly
most likely tuning you out. However the ‘self-hug’ or hands facing inwards can
indicate social anxiety, vulnerability or insecurity about a situation.
While
on the subject of anxiety I find it apropos to move to the next gesture, facial
touching. Touching the face is almost always the bodies’ subconscious response
to anxiety and stress. This can often be useful when questioning someone, when
you touch your face a small quickly vanishing mark is created, the deeper red
and longer lasting this mark is indicates the force of the touch. Someone who
finds the question uncomfortable may anxiously touch their face making a red
impression. Let’s look specifically at which location they are touching now.
While speaking if a person touches their nose, mouth or eyes they are under
high stress while talking. This is often a huge clue that the person is
deceiving you, AKA LYING.
Police Investigators
often look for this when conducting interviews; it is often a dead giveaway.
When lying a person may also grab or play with their earlobe, this is often
referred to as the ‘hear no evil’ gesture. Another indication of a possible lie
is the ‘Hot under the collar’ gesture which is when you tug at your collar in
an attempt to get air to the neck. This usually occurs as a response to hearing
something that made them uncomfortable, if you pick up on someone doing this
you may want to reword or narrow down your question to force them to clarify
because they are most likely lying.-T.H.
{To Be Continued}
