Body Language Body Language 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A 'power pose'—standing with hands on hips and feet wide apart—is associated with:
- Submissiveness and low confidence
- Projected authority and confidence (Correct answer)
- Passive listening and openness
- Romantic interest and attraction
Correct answer: Projected authority and confidence
Expansive postures that take up more space are associated with high-status behavior and project dominance and confidence to observers.
Question 2: During a conversation, someone who repeatedly glances at their watch or phone is signaling:
- Deep interest in the topic being discussed
- A desire to end the interaction or competing priorities (Correct answer)
- Nervousness about being judged
- Skepticism about what is being said
Correct answer: A desire to end the interaction or competing priorities
Checking a watch or phone is a strong signal of disengagement, impatience, or a desire to be somewhere else.
Question 3: What does the 'fig leaf position'—hands clasped in front of the groin—typically communicate?
- Confidence and readiness to engage
- Vulnerability, discomfort, or a need for protection (Correct answer)
- Romantic attraction
- Dominance over others in the group
Correct answer: Vulnerability, discomfort, or a need for protection
The fig leaf position is a protective self-comfort gesture used when a person feels exposed, uncomfortable, or vulnerable.
Question 4: Touching or rubbing the forehead when answering a question often signals:
- Enthusiasm and excitement about the topic
- Cognitive load, stress, or uncertainty (Correct answer)
- Confidence in the information being shared
- Boredom with the current conversation
Correct answer: Cognitive load, stress, or uncertainty
Forehead touching is a stress-relief gesture that often appears when someone is working hard to recall information or is uncertain.
Question 5: When two people in a conversation synchronize their breathing patterns, this typically indicates:
- Unspoken conflict between them
- Deep rapport and emotional attunement (Correct answer)
- One person attempting to dominate the other
- A shared state of anxiety
Correct answer: Deep rapport and emotional attunement
Synchronized breathing is a deep indicator of rapport and emotional attunement, often occurring between close friends, partners, or highly engaged conversationalists.
Question 6: In a business meeting, a manager who leans back with hands behind their head is most likely communicating:
- Anxiety and fear of criticism
- Confidence, dominance, and a sense of territorial ownership (Correct answer)
- Submission to a higher authority in the room
- Boredom with the meeting agenda
Correct answer: Confidence, dominance, and a sense of territorial ownership
The hands-behind-head, leaned-back posture is a high-status territorial display associated with confidence and feelings of dominance.
Question 7: Which of the following best explains why body language is considered more reliable than spoken words?
- Words are processed in a different part of the brain than emotions
- Body language is largely controlled by the unconscious limbic system and harder to fake (Correct answer)
- People always deliberately choose their gestures to send messages
- Spoken words change in meaning based on cultural context
Correct answer: Body language is largely controlled by the unconscious limbic system and harder to fake
The limbic system drives most nonverbal behavior automatically, making body language harder to consciously control and therefore more revealing of true feelings.
Body Language Body Language 5
A 'power pose'—standing with hands on hips and feet wide apart—is associated with: