The Definitive Book of Body Language

The Definitive Book of Body Language

The Competitive/Defensive Position (B3)

In this arrangement, competitors face each other, just like

Western gunslingers. Sitting across the table from a person can

create a defensive, competitive atmosphere and can lead to

each party taking a firm stand on his point of view because the

table becomes a solid barrier between both parties.

Competitive/Defensive

position

In business scenarios, 56% of respondents saw this as a com-
petitive position but in social situations, such as a restaurant,
35% saw it as conversational. It's the most commonly observed
restaurant sitting position on the dating scene, but this is
mainly because waiters seat people at tables this way. It works
with a couple in a restaurant because it allows good eye contact
while subtly highlighting gender differences by being 'oppo-
site'. In a work environment, however, this position is taken by
people who are either competing with each other or if one is
reprimanding the other. It can also be used by A to establish a
superior/subordinate role when it's used on A's territory.

Why Some Bosses Are Disliked
We found that, in business scenarios, people speak in shorter
sentences from the Competitive/Defensive Position, can recall
less of what was said and are more likely to argue.
A. G. White conducted an experiment in doctors' offices
that showed that the presence or absence of a desk had a sig-
nificant effect on whether a patient was at ease or not. Only
10% of patients were perceived to be at ease when the doctor's
desk was present and the doctor sat behind it. This figure
increased to 55% when the desk was absent. We conducted an
experiment (Pease & Pease, 1990) where we asked 244 senior