The Ultimate Body Language Book

The neck is an area that becomes particularly sensitive under pressure and like the cheeks, it becomes
red and engorged with blood when we become nervous. Women are particularly prone to bringing their
hand up to the “suprasternal notch” which is the dimple just below the neck between the Adam’s apple
and the breast bone when nervous, distressed, threatened, insecure, fearful or uncomfortable. Covering
the suprasternal notch is one of the nonverbal signals that is unmistakable and also reliable in
predicting emotional distress, one that shouldn’t be ignored.
While touching the neck and nose can be the result of fear or nervousness they can also be meant as
pacifying behaviours. Pacifying behaviours happen automatically, our brains send a message to our
bodies that we need to be pacified and out go our hands to serve the purpose. As always, it is important
to decide what kind of emotion has demanded the body language, be it nervousness as a result of
sweating (discussed below), or because there is an underlying threat causing fear that requires soothing.
Stress causes an increase in temperature which we try to relieve by “venting.”
Motioning toward our neck, scratching it, or pulling at a collar indicates we are “getting hot under the
collar.” Humans sweat in response to external temperature increases but also due to emotional stress. In
the case of emotional sweating, it is mostly restricted to the palms, soles of the feet and forehead.
However, when we become emotionally aroused our metabolic rate revs-up and we burn more calories.
This creates not just local sweating, but sweating throughout the body. Those under pressure can be
seen sweating voraciously under the armpits and down their backs even leaving visible stains.
Scratching the palms, in particular, has been shows to be a reliable indicator of stress but so too is
scratching the neck. Scratching is in response to the tingling sensation we feel on our necks as the
sweat increases and uncomfortable chaffing begins between tight collars and the skin. While some
experts purport that sweating can indicate lying, it’s actually a signal of frustration and heightened
emotion in response to pressure, and that this pressure can stem from anything, including simply being
“put on the spot.”