We can accurately predict in a first impression that
someone is wealthy from their body language. New research:
How
we unknowingly reveal our socioeconomic status using nonverbal behaviors
Later,
the authors coded the get-acquainted interaction for signs of engagement cues
(e.g., head nods, eyebrow raises, laughter and gazes at the partner) and
disengagement cues (e.g., self-grooming, fidgeting with objects and doodling).
As predicted, higher SES significantly predicted disengagement cues. The
students from wealthier backgrounds were more likely than their poorer cohorts
to exhibit these “rude” displays of relative indifference. (Indeed, this SES
effect occurred even after controlling for participants’ gender, since women
are generally more engaged listeners than men.)
What’s more, the authors asked a group of other undergraduate students to watch
the tape and to make their best guess about the SES of the people shown on the
video. Based only on the participants’ nonverbal behaviors in these brief
videotaped exchanges, the observers were able to make better-than-chance
estimates of the participants’ family income and even their mother’s level of
education, an indirect measure of SES (though they were not as accurate in
judging paternal education). Kraus and Keltner conclude their report by stating
that, “SES imbues the briefest interactions, influencing both what people
signal nonverbally and how they are perceived.”
As for me, I think I may have inherited that same mildly disingenuous
blue-collar smile as my father. Having said that, unlike my dad I’m also a
pecuniary numbskull, and I have a hunch these types of engagement cues might
flare up in my social behaviors every time I burn a new hole in my pocket.
In
this new column presented by Scientific American Mind magazine, research psychologist Jesse Bering of Queen's
University Belfast ponders some of the more obscure aspects of everyday human
behavior. Ever wonder why yawning is contagious, why we point with our index
fingers instead of our thumbs or whether being breastfed as an infant
influences your sexual preferences as an adult? Get a closer look at the latest
data as “Bering in Mind” tackles these and other quirky questions about human
nature. Sign up for the RSS feed and or friend Dr. Bering on Facebook and
never miss an installment again.
Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at
http://PattiWood.net.
Also check out the body language quiz on her YouTube Channel at
http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.
