Ownership, Territory and Height Signals
The doorway intimidator
Some people are habitual doorway leaners and go through life
intimidating everyone from first introduction. These people
are well advised to practise an upright stance with palms
visible to create a favourable impression on others. Others
form up to 90% of their opinion about us in the first four
minutes and you never get a second chance to make a first
impression.
Michael Jackson's purpose in his infamous
'baby dangling' incident was to close the
distance between the baby and the fans so
that they could experience temporary 'own-
ership' of the baby. He just overlooked the
distance between the baby and the ground.
If the boss's chair has no arms —
which is unlikely as this is usually
a feature of the visitor's chair - he
may be seen with one or both feet
on the desk. If his superior enters
the office, it is unlikely that the
boss — who is now the subordinate
- would continue to use such an
obvious territorial/ownership ges-
ture, but instead would resort to more subtle versions such as
putting his foot on the bottom drawer of his desk, or, if there
