Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3107: Erich Milton Nowsch Jr. - Las Vegas Road Rage Suspect - Body Language of Predicting Violence (PHOTO)

The suspect for the 13 February 2015 Las Vegas, Nevada Road Rage shooting is now in custody. Erich Milton Nowsch Jr, 19, - pictured above - was arrested earlier today for the alleged shooting of Tammy Meyers. Meyers passed away on Valentine's Day.

In the light of the escalation of both foreign and domestic terrorism and other malicious acts, much has been made recently of the ability to predict violent behavior. There is, of course, nothing absolute here - no one has a crystal ball. Yet there are significant body language behaviors which are profoundly valuable where threat assessment is concerned. Two of these are discussed below.

Everyone will feel and display the emotions of contempt and disgust from time to time. We're human - we're supposed to experience these - we're allowed. Yet those who CHRONICALLY display either disgust and/or contempt have a significantly increased predilection towards impulse control problems, narcissistic personality disorder and violence. In addition and of profound importance - those who post images and/or videos with nonverbal signals consistent with contempt or disgust on social media are, in a very real way, projecting an even longer-term or hyper-chronic emotion onto the World. It's a big red flag.

There are, of course, other predictors of narcissism, short tempers and violence- yet too often people overlook, minimize or even dismiss others' body language entirely. These are but two nonverbals, yet when displayed for longer durations or especially in the context of social media - they should never be overlooked.

In the image above, displayed on his Facebook page, the suspect of this crime - Erich Milton Nowsch Jr. is projecting a facial expression with nonverbal elements of both disgust and contempt.

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2656: Threat Assessment during Robbery - Body Language of Perpetrator

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2658: Misidentifying Emotional Expressions - Greece's Golden Dawn Party Arrests - Body Language and Threat Assessment

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2500:  Ft. Hood Shooter Nidal Malik Hasan and Contempt  The Body Language of Threat Assessment

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

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

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3021: Barack Obama's Executive Action on Immigration - What the President's Body Language Said Before He Even Spoke 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2322:  Jeb Bush & Matt Lauer - Which one is the Narcissist?  Body Language Red Flags

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2597: Chris Christie's Body Language Tell Regarding Obamacare

 

_________________________________________________________________________________

Body Language Secret # 309: Road Rage and Self-Awareness

When we drive our vehicles become extensions of our bodies. We become very territorial and protective in a manner that later surprises us. Rarely are we aware or even remotely objective of these emotion when they are happening. The next time another driver cuts you off, resist the temptation to look over as you pass him/her. In times past when you have done so, even for a split-second, this simple physical act dialed-up your blood pressure, your pulse, your adrenaline and your tendency to rationalize. Not doing so adjusts all these important emotional modifiers in a healthy and opposite direction. Being fully mindful of these physiologic propensities we all have, will allow us to control them in real-time, or even as these negative emotions are in crescendo. A tremendous, but rarely mentioned benefit of body language is this heightened emotional awareness and thus less anger and its many negative consequences.

________________________________________________________________________________________