(Bk Business) Carol Kinsey Goman Ph.D.-The Nonverbal Advantage_ Secrets and Science of Body Language at Work -Berrett-Koehler Publishers (2008)

Chapter 2: Reading the Whole Body
31
When He Has All the Answers
Someone feeling confident or superior will often sit, leaning
back with his hands behind his head and his fingers interlocked
(this is a mostly masculine gesture).
Because it can be irritating to deal with someone with
this “I have all the answers” posture, there are a couple of
ways to counteract it. You can mirror the gesture, which will
show agreement (“We think alike”) and hopefully put the
person at ease. Or, if the person using the hands-behind-thehead
gesture is trying to intimidate you, your matching posture
will be seen as a nonverbal challenge to his know-it-all
attitude. You can also encourage him to change position by
handing him something so that he has to move his hands
from behind his head and lean forward to accept the item.
Confidence or
superiority