Thursday, April 24, 2014

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2796: Olivia Wilde, Butter, Jon Stewart and the Tongue in Cheek - Body Language (VIDEO, PHOTOS)




Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis became the proud parents of a baby boy yesterday - Otis Alexander Sudeikis.

In this video from late 2012 during her promotion of the film, Butter Ms. Wilde appeared on Jon Stewart's, "The Daily Show". There's a multitude of great body language in this interview, however what follows is an example and analysis of an oft misunderstood nonverbal signal.



At the 4:13 mark Ms. Wilde can be seen displaying a classic "Tongue in Cheek" nonverbal.









The tongue in cheek (isolated in this close up image) may indicate several different emotional-thoughts depending on the other nonverbals with which it is clustered - e.g. "I just won", sadness/grief, anger, "I gotcha" (you were caught), projecting sexuality, or even deception.

Becoming astutely observant of the other nonverbal signals simultaneously displayed (or nearly so) is extremely important - for these will give the tongue in cheek an entirely different meaning.

Intriguingly, tongue in cheek displays tend to be biased (idiosyncratic to the individual) to one side an alpha/positive context (e.g. I gotcha/I just won/you were caught, sexual context, an outright alpha display) - but they appear on the opposite side in a negative or beta scenario (e.g. anger, sadness, lying).

This tongue in cheek display is an "I just won/alpha" display as Olivia tries to suppress her joy at her upcoming joke - the pitch for which she is winding up for in this moment.

Congratulations Olivia and Jason. Savor every moment.

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2665: Nick Saban's "Tongue in Cheek" Body Language - What Does It Mean?

Nonverbal Communication Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2434:  Brad Pitt's Tongue-in-Cheek regarding  Reasons for Choosing to Work on "World War Z"

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2352:  Mila Kunis' Tongue in Cheek  Graham Norton Part II

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2554: Harry Reid's Body Language Lets Us Know What He's Thinking - Short Term Debt Limit Hike

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2436:  Vladimir Putin next to Barack Obama -  G8 Body Language

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2601: "Governor Christie, Are You a Tea Party Republican?" Why His Answer Tells Us Whether or Not He Will Run for President in 2016 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2794: Lupita Nyong'o's Speech on Black Beauty Essence, Body Language and Anxiety

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