Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3295: Jim Harbaugh, Michigan Football and Predicting Violent Behavior (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

The University of Michigan made a mistake in hiring Jim Harbaugh. However this judgement is not based on his ability to coach football.

It's not surprising that during his first Michigan Media day as a head coach, Harbaugh would be a bit nervous (an excerpt included in the above video). Yet he's been in such spotlights before many times. Harbaugh was of course a starting quarterback for Michigan as well as the Chicago bears. Later he became head coach for the University of San Diego and then Stanford. In the NFL he coached the San Francisco 49ers all the way to Super Bowl XLVII.

And it's no secret that some of Harbaugh's previous players have complained about his temper - while other's have come to his defense. From a strictly nonverbal perspective, Harbaugh displays several warning signals of poor impulse control - one of which is discussed here.

When a person chronically displays widely open eyelids (barring a medical condition such as thyroid eye disease [Graves' disease], injury, botched surgery, side effects from Botox injections, etc.) - there will virtually always be accompanying behavioral problems. Jim Harbaugh's eyelids are indeed chronically opened very widely - and very significantly, in settings of where they are emotionally out of context. This disparity is a huge red flag. Although there are other associated disorders, very often this chronic "white and wide" expression indicates an impulse control disorder. There is a very high likelihood Jim Harbaugh will lose his temper in a highly significant manner. It could be tomorrow, it may be next month or five years from now. Most likely this will occur in preparation for a big game or in the midst of Michigan having a particularly bad losing season.

Jim Harbaugh was not well vetted psychologically/behaviorally. Michigan's desire to recapture the glory of their past will come back to bite them. 

Note: This is not the only nonverbal signal of impulse control disorder and there are people with this condition who do not exhibit this body language sign. Also, as stated above, this chronic widely open eyelid configuration can also be indicative of other behavioral disorders.


See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3294: Ana Ivanovic, Lip Biting, the U.S. Open and Body Language

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3041: Jim Harbaugh Body Language Tutorial

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2290:  Jim Harbaugh is Enraged  Super Bowl XLVII Body Language - 2013 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3051: Jim Harbaugh & 49ers Part Ways - Onwards to Michigan 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2231:  A Common Facial Expression of Mass Killers - Using Body Language as a Threat Assessment Tool

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3172: Jameis Winston, the NFL Draft, Body Language and Predicting Violent Behavior 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3249: Chattanooga Military Mass Shooting - Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez and a very Telling Facial Expression 

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Body Language Analysis # 1502: Tiger Woods' Meltdown at the Masters - "I Want to Wipe it from My Mind!"

Earlier today, in round three of the 2012 Masters Tournament, Tiger had a major meltdown. His tee shot on 16 went into a bunker and Woods then kicked his golf club. He then gave us a great example of a body language cluster. 

At the 0:29 mark of the video, he reaches up with his right hand and rubs both eyes. The "Double Eye Rub" is a classic nonverbal wherein the person's psyche is attempting to "wipe from their mind" what they just witnessed. At this point, Woods is primarily trying to erase the memory the loss of his temper rather than the just bad shot. Whenever both eyes are rubbed simultaneously - there is intense emotional processing taking place - the emotional mind is attempting to regroup (please note: "the single eye rub" means something completely different).

See also: Secret # 199: When a Lie is Told, Heard or Visualized by .... Vladimir's Eye

As the right hand completes the rubbing of his eyes, about a second later, it also rubs his nose heavily on the way down. No doubt Tiger's entire face was "itching". It is an extremely common and even expected for the face to "itch" during such times of stress. In fact, the number one reason people touch their faces' - is anxiety related. 

Woods' mouth also takes on an expression that most would call a "wince" or "grimace" (0:29 - 0:31, and microexpression recurrence at the 0:32 mark). In this context, his lips-teeth-jaw configuration is one of emotional pain (primarily) coupled with an element of fear (secondarily). Although we cannot see his forehead, we would highly expect its central portion to be contracted (furrowed) with the lateral (outside) portions to be relaxed (smooth).

Few of us live under the microscope of media that Tiger Woods does. Like most professionals who are very good at what they do, Woods' emotions are not nearly as well in check as he desires or even believes them to be. One benefit of becoming a student of body language, is becoming much more aware of one emotions, retrospectively, in real-time - and sometimes even as emotions are in crescendo.

See also: Secret # 291: Obama and Biden, Visual-Emotional Blocking

See also: Secret # 29: Eye Rub When Someone Else is Speaking - Angela Doubts Vladimir

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