Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Nonverbal Communication Secret # 1423:
Head First Affection &
Head Surrogate Hugs
























When true affection is present during a hug, there should always be mutual touching of the heads. If such contact is lacking between these areas during an embrace - there is either a concurrent mental distraction or absence/waning affection. A partial exception applies when a child or person short in stature hugs an adult or another who is significantly taller. In such scenarios, the taller person's sincerity &/or mental focus should be (silently) called into question if they do not pick up a child or bend down in order to touch heads. Hugs and physical contact are rare enough - and certainly important enough, that great effort should be taken at such times for mental and emotional focus. This is body language tell is highly reliable and is virtually always accompanied by a bending/flexing of the neck - particularly in the taller participant of the hug.

Very intriguingly, when there is an outpouring of emotion - but when a person is momentarily "alone" and there is no other head to touch (or not possible) - we will nonverbally (and unconsciously) substitute - and use a "head surrogate" (see below).

The image above was taken shortly after the killing of three children and one Rabbi at the Jewish Secondary School, Ozar Hatorah, in Toulouse, France. Below, a woman mourns with her head against a hearse. The perpetrator of these horrific crimes is currently unknown, as the biggest manhunt in modern French history is underway. It is strongly believed that the same gunman has antisemitic, anti-Muslim, and racial motives and is also responsible for the recent killing of three French soldiers of North African heritage, two of whom were Muslim as well as seriously wounding another of French-Caribbean ancestry.

See also: Secret # 2: Hugs as a Measure of Affection and Impending Break-up

See also: Secret # 921: Gabrielle Giffords' and Barack Obama's Hug 

See also: Secret # 771: Ann's and Mitt's Affectionate Hug
















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