Social interaction: gestures and expressions are not always what they seem

Confused or what emotion ?

Understanding and reading people's body language and expressions has underpinned a range of professions and marketing/human resource functions for many years. An increasing cohort of research studies however is starting to completely debunk much of these assumptions and indicate many 'rules' of body language are arbitrary instead. A number of examples place the contrast between implied meaning and actual sentiment in context: it is often commonly believed that crossed arms is a sign of defensiveness yet researchers at the University of Chicago found that the same arm-cross can also mean 'invulernability' if linked to a super-erect torso; a well known and popular notion that women show interest in a man through flipping their hair, making eye contact or adjusting their clothes should only be interpreted as a time based activity - they only use this body language to keep the man interested long enough to judge whether it's worth knowing him or not - the University of Vienna estimated that this measurement takes only 4 minutes or so.

Researchers at the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom, found that fidgeting and avoiding eye contact which is often  associated with dishonesty was found in equal measure in people who were otherwise honest but simply showing signs of emotional discomfort. If there is one primary message to draw from this data its simply that gut-instinct is just as effective as any other measure.

Posture	What people think it means....	Actual science finding....
Arms crossed:	Defensive	Perhaps but it can also mean invulnerable, self-comforting or being cold.
Hands on hips, wide stance:	Power and/or confidence	True
Scratching nose:	Deceit or misleading	No more common for liars than truth-tellers.
Looking up and to the right:	Deceit or misleading	No evidence to support this view.
Swaggering walk:	Confidence	Not necessarily – can be faked.
Averting gaze:	Deceptive	False, A misconception in many cultures: could be embarrassment.
Fidgeting:	Embarrassed	True
Raised arms, chin up:	Triumph, pride	True in all cultures.
Palms up when talking:	Trustworthy	No evidence to support this view.