Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2767: Barack Obama Meets Pope Francis - The Body Language "Being Beta" (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

President Obama visited with Pope Francis today. It was the first time the leaders met.

The two men share some historic firsts. Francis is the first Latin-American Pope and also the first one from either the Western or Southern Hemispheres.

Barack Obama was of course the first U.S. President with African ancestry.

The following is a partial body language analysis from the Pope's and President's meeting.

Note how President Obama bows slightly. In some settings, bowing to a shorter man calls attention to his short stature and often is interpreted as patronizing. In the presence of a major religious leader however - it is in deference to their superior stature - and is a nonverbal of high respect.

Bowing is very culture specific. Great care should be taken to learn all customs when visiting realms foreign to you - nonverbal and otherwise.

Interestingly Barack's hand is mildly rotated so that it is approximately 20 degrees on top of Francis's hand - a dominance tell. This is subconsciously driven whereas Barack's bowing is conscious - thus displaying his real view of the proper political pecking order.

One of the few places where a head-of-state should allow themselves to configure in the beta body language of a "Fig-Leaf" (aka genital guarding) is when showing respect and deference to a major religious leader.

What are the other exceptions to this guideline?

On his way to sit down at Pope Francis's desk, the President rubs the area above his upper lip and below his nose (the two vertical elevated ridges with the central excavation is the called the "Philtrum"). Barack feels significant anxiety in this moment and is very probably thinking of - or felt he was just told - a lie.

As a sign of respect, Obama lets Francis sit a second before he does. 

Normally one would want to have one's hands visible (as it sends signals of trustworthiness and confidence) - yet also out of respect, Mr. Obama refrains from putting his hands or arms on the Pope's desk.

Pope Francis momentarily lets his alpha show while configuring his hands in a low, recumbent, conventional steeple. His instinct and humility however prevents him of maintaining this body language for very long - lest it backfires and transmits signals of hyper-alpha, arrogance and condescension.

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2603: Sarah Palin's Body Language - She Feels Disgust toward Pope Francis and ... She Tells a Fib

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2575: The "Bishop of Bling" - German Catholic Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst's Body Language

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2321:  Cardinal Timothy Dolan on "Face the Nation"  Problems in Catholic Church & Electing a New Pope  Clergy are Not Exempt from Body Language Tells ...

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2379:  Bill Clinton's Speech at the  George W. Bush Presidential Library Opening  Body Language of Former and Current 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 1770:  White House Correspondents' Dinner  Lindsay Lohan's Body Language

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2633: Abigail Hernandez, Missing N.H. 15 year old, Body Language Clues

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2765: Obama, Romney, Russia and Facial Asymmetry - Contempt at The Hague

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Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2635: Raúl Castro and Barack Obama Shake Hands at Nelson Mandela's Memorial - Body Language Tells (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

The big news from Nelson Mandela's Memorial Service today was Barack Obama's and Raúl Castro's handshake. It is being viewed as hints of a possible thaw between Washington and Havana, but what does the body language of the two leaders say?

At 0:02 seconds into the video, President Obama is jaunting up stairs, sees who is the top of the stairs and turns his head away to his right.

In this instant we see three distinct signals:
1. A Jaw Jut
2. A Bulge just below his Lower Lip (signaling his jaw is clenched)
3. Thinned and horizontally oriented lips


All of these are body language signals of anger - particularly when clustered.

At the 0:06 mark as they shake hands they bow towards each other.

In this wider angle handshake view (still at 0:06), take a few tenths of a second later, we can see that President Obama's hand is slightly more dominant oriented with approximately a 10 to 15 degree rotation.

In this image (0:09), Raúl Castro gestures with pats on his stomach. This MAP (Manipulator, Adaptor, Pacifier) has a low sincerity quotient as it is a pat (vs. prolonged contact), it's his non-dominant hand and it is over his abdomen (vs. over his heart).

Note Obama maintains a partial bow.

Here Obama bows again - further (0:10 mark). It is unusual in the Western Hemisphere for extended or more pronounced bowing to occur during handshakes. Particularly with tall men (e.g. Obama) - when shaking shorter men's hands (Castro) it can be very often be interpreted by the shorter man as patronizing, condescending and arrogant - even though it may not be the intended message of the taller individual (who may indeed be vainly trying to signal respect) and may often signal weakness (of the more prominent bower) to others.

The Cuban President's lips are thinned in a brief anger (near-microexpression) display (above).

At 0:11 Castro's mouth takes on a brief "Bitter Smile" configuration.


Obama continues to bend forward - and he may very well be trying to speak candidly to Fidel's younger brother - yet the prolonged bowing (or bending) is negatively received. It painfully reminds shorter men of this weakness/perceived weakness.

Raúl Castro then looks away - as often is done during prolonged eye contact. His asymmetrical (mouth) smile is insincere.











See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 1874:  Bad Handshake and Mitt Romney - a Political Prevalence

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2511:  Barack Obama & Vladimir Putin  Handshake at 2013 G20 Meeting

Negotiation Secret # 703: Bad Handshake?  Let me count the ways! (Sarah Palin)

Negotiation Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 1510:  Handshakes, Statesmanship and Dominance -  Manmohan Singh & Asif Ali Zardari

Negotiation Nonverbal Communication Secret # 1131:  Romney's Handshake, Santorums Bicep's, and Dominance

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2523:  Hillary Clinton, Body Language and the 2016 Presidency -  Rapport Builder vs. Rapport Destroyer 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2616: John Kennedy and Richard Nixon Handshake at Kennedy Inaugural Address, One Body Language Maneuver to Counter a Dominance Display

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