Nonverbal Dictionary | Page 6

PM Pacific Daylight Time)
E-Commentary II: "I am a Registered Nurse, male, and have recently noticed a frequently\
repeated body motion in
women that I and other male nurses work with. It occurs when a taller ma\
le gets close (within three feet) of a woman. She
may or may not be the one who starts the conversation, but it is usually\
about a work related item, and is non-threatening
in its content. Many women lean backward a little, pull the vest fronts \
of their uniform jackets with both hands in a
forward and centering motion and then lean into the motion a little. It \
looks more like a defensive than an offensive
gesture, but we are not sure. Can you shed some light on this?" (5/27/0\
1 11:32:15 AM Pacific Daylight Time)
E-Commentary III: "I have noticed a behavior that has my attention. At a bar I noticed a\
young women with her spouse
who was giving very little attention to her spouse. She continued to loo\
k away but would constantly twist her hair. At
school during class, I watched a young 14 year old girl with approximate\
ly the same uninterested behavior doing the same
thing to her hair. I would be interested your response to this behavior \
the hair twisting problem." (3/12/02 6:31:41 PM
Pacific Standard Time) [Thanks very much for your e-mail. Yes, the hair\
-twisting you describe often occurs in absent-
minded disengagement from partners or in self-absorbed thought. It is a \
form of self-touching. Both men and women use
the hair-twist to space out from those around them. I hope this helps. -\
-David Givens]
Neuro-notes. Apparently trivial self-touch gestures help us calm our nerves. Physic\
al contact with a body
part stimulates tactile nerve endings and refocuses our orienting attention inward, i.e., away from
stressful events "out there." Self-touch works on the physiological prin\
ciple of acupressure massage or
shiatsu. Massaging the right hand, e.g., takes attention from the left, and vic\
e-versa. Catching the thumb
in a drawer, e.g., we may vigorously rub its nerve endings to compete wi\
th the brain's awareness of pain.
Because the forebrain's thalamus cannot process all incoming signals at once, self-touch reduces anxiety\

much as it blocks pain.
See also
AFFERENT CUE, YAWN.
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selftouc
Copyright © 1998 - 2002 (David B. Givens/Center for Nonverbal Studies)
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face
FACE
Body part. 1. At the front of the head, our face includes 23 surface landmarks: a. skin, b. ears, c.
earlobes, d. forehead, e.
eyebrows, f. eyes, g. eyelids, h. eyelashes, i. nose, j. nostrils, k. nostril bulbs, l.
cheekbones, m. cheeks, n. philtrum, o.
lips, p. jowls, q. hair, r. wrinkles, s. moles, t. eccrine glands, u.
sebacious glands, v.
apocrine glands, and w. jaws. 2. Nonverbally, the most emotionally expressive (i.e.,
the moodiest) part of the body (see
FACIAL EXPRESSION).
Usage: Our face a. defines our identity (see
FACIAL I.D.); b. expresses our attitudes, opinions, and
moods; and c. shows how we relate to others. A face is every human's visual trademark\
, and is, therefore,
the most photographed part of the human body.
Anthropology. For 99.99% of our existence as Homo we watched other faces, and rarely saw our own
except as glimpsed in ponds or pools. The phantom of facial personality \
is a dangerous and mystical
experience in many cultures. (Capturing a face in pictures or mirrors, \
e.g., is akin to capturing the soul.)
That in so many societies a face reflects the soul bespeaks the nonverba\
l power of its landmarks. (N.B.:
Perhaps this is why the ancient Egyptian word for hand mirror [ankh] bears a resemblance to the word
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face
for life ['nh].)
Facial dominance. "What do dominant faces look like? Everyone knows because anyone can s\
ort
portraits on this basis, but facial dominance seems to be a gestalt conc\
ept, difficult to describe in simple
terms. Faces identified as dominant are more likely to be handsome--with\
striking exceptions, to be
muscular, to have prominent as opposed to weak chins, and to have heavy \
brow ridges with deep set
eyes. Submissive faces are often round or narrow, with ears 'sticking ou\
t,' while dominant faces are oval
or rectangular with close-set ears (Mazur, et al. 1984)" (Mazur and M\
ueller 1996). (N.B.: The authors
found that facial dominance correlated with a higher achieved rank in th\
e U.S. military.)
Media. "My face is my livelihood." --Kramer (Seinfeld, March 26, 1999)
Mobility. Our face is exquisitely expressive. Its features are incredibly mobile\
, more so than any other
primate's. Because our face "speaks for itself" with muscular eloquence \
and candor,
speech has
comparatively few words (such as, e.g., "
smile," "pout," or "frown") for its diverse gestures (see, e.g.,
TENSE-MOUTH and TONGUE-SHOW, which lack dictionary entries). Emotionally, the face is
mightier than the
word.
RESEARCH REPORTS: 1. Each of the 28 bones of the human face and skull "has been inherited