The subtle body language cues that show somebody doesn’t like you, according to an expert
The position of your feet says a lot
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Your support makes all the difference.The next time you get the feeling that someone doesn’t like you, but don’t know how to confirm your inkling, analyse their body language - which often speaks louder than words.
There are specific body language behaviours that we cannot control - and they reveal what we like and dislike, if you know how to interpret them.
According to Joe Navarro, a former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent, body language expert and author of The Dictionary of Body Language, there are a simple clues to look for if you want to confirm that a co-worker isn’t fond of you.
The first sign occurs upon eye contact and happens subconsciously.
Navarro told The Independent: “Our pupils constrict when we see things we don’t like and they dilate when we see someone that is beautiful.
“We have no control over that, even babies do that.”
Our eyes aren’t the only giveaway - although it is the only behaviour completely out of our control - as our feet can also express our feelings of dislike.
“Our feet we rarely control, when we see someone we have had issues with, we may look at them politely, but our feet will orient away from them instinctively,” Navarro told us.
This position, when someone looks you in the face but turns their feet and torso away from you, is defined as “ventral denial,” and it indicates discomfort.
If someone’s feet or eyes aren’t telling enough, there are other clues that may indicate there is an issue between you and another person, according to Navarro, who said that “lip compression, jaw shifting, tongue in cheek, and neck touching, especially at the base of the front of the neck,” are all signs that something may be wrong.
Interestingly, the sign that is most commonly thought to indicate a closed-off attitude, arms folded across your chest, is actually just “a self-comforting behaviour,” and shouldn’t be interpreted as a negative.
When it comes to interpreting a person’s thoughts and feelings, identifying and analysing nonverbal body language behaviours can be much more indicative of the truth.
[This article was originally published in September 2018]
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