The Definitive Book of Body Language

The Definitive Book of Body Language

Wrist-and-arm-gripping behind the back can often be

observed outside a courtroom when warring parties are face to

face, in salespeople standing in a customer's reception area

and in patients waiting for a doctor. It's an attempt to disguise

nervousness or self-restraint and, if you catch yourself doing

it, change to the Palm-in-Palm behind the back and you will

begin to feel more confident and in control.

Thumb Displays

As mentioned earlier, thumbs denote superiority. In palmistry,

the thumbs represent strength of character and the ego, and

body language signals involving the thumbs also show self-

important attitudes. Thumbs are used to display dominance,

assertiveness or sometimes aggressive attitudes; thumb ges-

tures are secondary gestures and are usually part of a cluster.

Thumb displays are positive signals, often used in the typical

pose of the 'cool' individual who uses them to show superior-

ity. A man will use Protruding Thumbs around women to

whom he is attracted and people who wear high-status or pres-

tige clothing also display their thumbs. You will rarely see a

low-status individual, such as a vagrant, doing it.

The Waistcoat Thruster

Thumb displayers also often rock on the balls of their feet to
give the impression of extra height.