Saturday, February 4, 2012

Negotiation Nonverbal Communication Secret # 1060:
Belichick's Anger






















Bill Belichick is pictured here at a recent press conference. The New England Patriots' Head Coach is exemplifying several classic body language signals - four just with his mouth. First note that his lips and mouth opening are stretched and thinned in a horizontal line - which is a strong indicator of anger. In addition, the Coach's lips are rolled inwards (2). This Inward Lip Roll (ILR) is seen when there is anxiety and an attempt to control it. Commonly there is another negative emotion with which it is coupled - often anger, fear, sadness, etc. .... Belichick's psyche is attempting to squelch an outward expression of his emotions. The ILR is also coincident with a clenched and closed jaw (3). This tight jaw configuration along with a jaw jut (see Secret # 273: Anger and Disgust in Azerbaijan and Secret # 757: Asma's Mild Jaw Jut) (4) are nonverbals which also correlate strongly with anger. Often with the ILR, the jaw is not clenched completely closed - because there is less, little or no anger component. In such cases, the lips roll inwards between the teeth and thus give the mouth a different appearance (see: Secret # 531: Sarkozy's Mouth Tells Us What He's Feeling).

Will Billy be displaying any of these nonverbals at tomorrow's post game press conference?

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