The Book of Tells (Peter Collett)[unlocked]

THE BOOK OF TELLS
Head Tells
Charles Darwin noticed that when people feel submissive
they have a natural tendency to lower their head, making
themselves look smaller and less threatening. Darwin also
suggested that the habit of nodding to signal 'yes' was
linked to submissive lowering of the head. Unfortunately
for this theory, not every society signals affirmation by
nodding or dipping the head. In India, for example,
people roll their head from side to side to signal 'yes' or to
show agreement. This movement is quite different from the
headshake, because in the head-roll the head is rocked
from side to side in the same plane as the front of the body.
The head can either be rocked repeatedly from side to side
or the head-roll can be performed with a short, sharp
movement of the head towards one of the shoulders.
Although there are cultural differences in the head movements
that people use to signal 'yes' and 'no', the habit of
lowering the head as a sign of submission appears to be
universal. 5 In fact, the head is used to signal submission in
several ways:
• HEAD-DIP TELLS. When individuals walk between
people who are having a conversation, you'll notice that
they frequently 'duck' their head down in order to make
sure that they don't get in the way and to apologize for
any inconvenience they may have caused. Some people
produce an involuntary dip of the head when they
approach someone who's important, especially when
that person is unfamiliar to them or is involved in a conversation
with someone else. By watching people's heads
when they approach high-status individuals, it's possible
80