Body Language Analysis No. 4276: Waffle House Hero James Shaw Jr. Meets His NBA Idol Dwyane Wade - Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

On Wednesday, the hero of the Waffle House mass-shooting, James Shaw Jr. was a guest on Ellen. As she often does, Ellen DeGeneres surprised her guest with one of their idols. James Shaw's idol is Dwyane Wade. When Ellen asked why Mr. Shaw looked up to Mr. Wade, James said, "I like the way he carries himself off the court."

What follows is a partial nonverbal analysis of their meeting.

Several times during this video, James Shaw Jr. can be seen with his hand covering his mouth - here with partially contracted fingers.

The rapid covering of a portion of one's face - usually the mouth or cheeks/temples - upon hearing/seeing of good news/event - or very bad news/event - is a signal of what is known as Emotional Processing. The emotional brain is trying to come to terms with what the intellect already knows.

Intriguingly, not all individuals will have this body language response when they rapidly discover/witness either good or bad news. However, those people who frequently behave in this manner will also manifest both Empathy and Sincerity levels which are significantly higher than average. Thus, this nonverbal display not only tells us what a person is thinking-feeling IN THAT MOMENT - but it also gives us overall personality characteristics which allow us to more accurately predict future behaviors.

It's not surprising that a hero has high empathy and elevated sincerity.

Here Mr. Shaw is in a similar configuration - this time, however, his hand is open - and he's touching his face.

Notice too, that on both of these mouth-covering occasions, James Shaw Jr. turns his head and his eyes away from Dwyane Wade. This dynamic adds an additional layer of emphasis - acting as an amplifier of his (temporary) cognitive-emotional dissonance.

James Shaw Jr. also displayed an Inward Lip Roll (ILR) multiple times. An inward lip roll is one signal of the psyche's attempt to suppress strong emotions from growing - both outwardly on the face - but also inwardly.

Intriguingly, this is nonverbal display is quite common - and is manifested with both good emotions, but also with unpleasant emotions. Yet this facial expression is very rarely used by actors - even those actors who are considered very skilled and experienced.

Mr. Shaw also displays multiple false tie adjustments - which in a general sense are signals of anxiety. However, more specifically, this anxiety can be nuanced to the sub-type associated with recognizing the need to "step up to the plate". This is but one nonverbal signal of an attempt at Alpha Up-regulation (How many others can you name?).

SUMMARY: The nonverbal behavior displayed in this video demonstrates that the Waffle House Hero James Shaw Jr. has empathy and sincerity levels which are both significantly higher than average.

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See also:

Body Language Analysis No. 4180 (REPOSTING): White House Press Briefing Re: President Trump's Physical - Dr. Ronny Jackson

Body Language Analysis No. 4274: Ariana Grande, Jimmy Fallon, and Recalling the Manchester Bombing

Body Language Analysis No. 4272: Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in Holding Hands - Alpha and Beta

Body Language Analysis No. 4270: Donald Trump Brushes Dandruff off Emmanuel Macron

Body Language Analysis No. 4262: Wendy Vitter, the U.S. District Court, and Brown v. Board of Education

Body Language Analysis No. 4190: Serial Killer Bruce McArthur - and a Common Nonverbal Pattern of Sociopaths

Body Language Analysis No. 4073: Prince Harry and Melania Trump Meet in Canada for Invictus Games - Harry's Hand Signal

Body Language Analysis No. 3978: Keanu Reeves, Chuck Spadina, Sincerity, and Empathy

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3843: 84 Lumber Super Bowl Ad - "The Entire Journey"

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Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2232: Vicki Soto, a Hero, Body Language and a Mother's Love & Affection - Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting Interview (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

There are oodles of body language examples in this video (original video is no longer able to be embeded - however link to video is here and the image captured as well as the body language are discussed are below). To delineate them all would take pages. Focusing on one example, near the end of this segment, illustrates a very telling and poignant nonverbal.

In this very emotional recounting of the events of last Friday morning at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Diane Licata describes the actions and motives of her son's teacher, Vicki Soto (4:13 - 4:36): "I know she would have done anything to protect those kids . I know she would have and I know she did everything she could at that moment. In the chaos and, and ascertaining what was happening, um, you know, ssssheeee is truly a hero .... and ah, it's very likely that because of her - our son is alive today."

Ms. Licata's prolonged eyelid closure (during 4:26 - 4:29), as the thankful parent says, "Sssssheee is" indicates a true and deeply sincere affection for her son's teacher-hero, Vicki Soto. Forty percent of the mass of our brain is dedicated to the visual system. And of the five senses, vision makes up ninety percent of a human's sensory input. Thus the visual portion of the brain also uses a huge portion of its blood supply.  When we close our eyes though, it changes the dynamics of the blood flow just a bit. It's not just the blind who have increased sensitivity of their other non-visual senses. All we have to do is close our eyes, and our brain's blood flow is shunted slightly more to the brain areas which control hearing, taste, touch, and smell - as well as the cognitive and emotional centers. We close our eyes when we feel affection. For this same reason we also close our eyes when we kiss, hug and make love. We want to amp up the emotion. We want to feel every last bit. We need to. We are human. So was Vicki Soto.

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2231: A Common Facial Expression of Mass Killers - Using Body Language as a Threat Assessment Tool

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2229:  President Obama and a Body Language Signal of  Holding Back Grief, Tears & other Negative Emotions

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 1855:  Sincere Kisses & Closed Eyes

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2: Body Language of Blake Lively and Penn Badgley  Strongly Suggests an Impending Break-up in Near Future

Romance, Marriage and Dating - Body Language Secret # 771: Ann's and Mitt's Affectionate Hug

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 1898:  Heat, Hugs & Head Surrogates

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2183: Barack & Michelle Obama's Tweet - The Palmar Touch, Body Language and an Affectionate Hug

Nonverbal Communication Secret # 1423:  Head First Affection & Head Surrogate Hug- Shootings in France

 

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