Body Language Analysis No. 4095: Celtics' Gordon Hayward Breaks His Leg in Dramatic Fashion During Game with Cavaliers - Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Gordon Hayward fractured his tibia and dislocated his ankle in dramatic fashion Tuesday night as the Boston Celtics lost their first game of the season in a 102-99 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

This image was taken seven seconds after the fracture. Notice the position of Hayward's hands. His palms are centered on his temples.

Multiple players and audience members also are touching/grabbing parts of their heads' and faces'.

Jaylen Brown puts his hands on back/sides of his head. In addition, his mouth is open in a classic surprise configuration. Note how there are no teeth visible (indicating sincere surprise).

Dwayne Wade kneels as he touches his eyebrows/lower central forehead. In this context, his closed eyelids are empathy amplifiers.

Here, fans for both teams can be seen covering the tops of their heads. Their elbows are directed laterally with their armpits exposed. This configuration of Head Touching after a dramatic event is more common with the event is negative (note how similar this is to a surrender pose during an arrest or in war) - and it's also more common in men than women.

LeBron James adopts a similar posture as Dwayne Wade.

In this photo we see onlookers adopt three variations of this same phenomenon.

Multiple fans and players even use clothing or towels as surrogates to aid in covering their faces'/mouths'.

A rapid covering of the head and/or face is a commonly seen body language reaction immediately after witnessing, hearing of, or even reading about an extreme and unexpected event. This is true whether it's very good or bad news - although this nonverbal behavior is certainly not exhibited by everyone.

Rapid covering of the head and/or face is a manifestation of "Emotional Processing" - when the intellect knows what has happened, but the emotional brain is still grappling with what's occurred. The emotional brain has disbelief for what the logical brain knows to be real.

Fascinatingly, those individuals who cover their faces'/heads' after such events have higher over-all empathy levels - as well as higher sincerity quotients. Those who don't display this behavior have lower empathy and low sincerity quotients. Such observations allow a careful observer to predict how a person will behave to later and completely unrelated events/scenarios.


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See also:

Body Language Analysis No. 4094: Donald Trump, Barack Obama, and Calling the Families of Fallen Soldiers

Body Language Analysis No. 4092: Rex Tillerson responds to Bob Corker's "Castration" Comment

Body Language Analysis No. 4090: Harvey Weinstein, Sexual Assault, and Impulse Control Disorder

Body Language Analysis No. 4083: President Trump, Puerto Rico, and Meeting San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz

Body Language Analysis No. 4077: A Facial Expression Common to Both Bad Actors and Sociopaths

Body Language Analysis No. 4052: Hitler's Cryptorchidism and Emotional Dissonance

Body Language Analysis No. 4047: Joel Osteen, Houston, and Hurricane Harvey 

Body Language Analysis No. 4012: Anthony Scaramucci's and Reince Priebus' First (and Last) Photo in the Oval Office 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3911: Simone Biles gets Pranked on "Ellen"


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Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3059: Kiss Cam - Benny the Bull to the Rescue - Distancing Behavior and Tongue-in-Cheek (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Last night the Mascot "Benny the Bull" of the Chicago Bulls came to the rescue of a Boston Celtics fan whose partner was busy on his cell phone and refused to acknowledge the camera, crowd and his girlfriend/wife and needless to say no kissing ensued. She certainly could use a little bit more finesse in her negotiation tactics - and many men would have behaved similarly. Of course we don't know the back story here or relative importance of the phone call.

After being hit and scolded, the man on his mobile phone switches hands and turns away from his partner. In retrospect and with the benefit of a video, most all can see the obviousness of this distancing and disrespectful behavior - the proverbial "Cold Shoulder".

Although it's at the limits of this low resolution image, three seconds later after she turns forward and rotates her head a bit to her left (away from her partner more directly at the camera), she appears to display a "Tongue-in-Cheek" nonverbal with her tongue pushing to her left cheek (also better viewed within the dynamic context of the video). The tongue-in-cheek maneuver may indicate several different emotions depending on the other nonverbals which accompanies it. In this cluster-context it indicates "I just caught you" or "I just won" (Do you know the other meanings?).

Note the man sitting immediately in back of her puts his hand on his mouth/face as he is trying to emotionally process what is going on in front of him (one of many signals of a high empathy quotient).

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3058: Stuart Scott's ESPY Award Speech - a Common Yet Very Under-appreciated Signal of Sadness/Grief Suppression

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2796: Olivia Wilde, Butter, Jon Stewart and the Tongue in Cheek

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2434:  Brad Pitt's Tongue-in-Cheek regarding  Reasons for Choosing to Work on "World War Z"

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2352:  Mila Kunis' Tongue in Cheek  Graham Norton Part II

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2748: Tatia Pilieva's Brilliant Video "First Kiss" - Body Language of Romance and Affection

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2987: Tristan Thompson Kisses Sideline Reporter Allie Clifton

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2678: French President François Hollande, Valerie Trierweiler and Julie Gayet - Of Affairs, Affection and Body Language Tells

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2649: How a Kiss can Change the World - Body Language of Affection

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