Table what does this gesture mean. What do hand gestures say?

A person's hands and fingers can tell a lot about his emotional state. Here's what some of them mean.

1. Hidden fingers

When a person hides his hands while talking (putting them, for example, in his pockets), it is possible that he is hiding important information or does not want to talk about something important to him personally. One day I saw my friend Marty at a social event and asked how his wife Ginny was doing. In response, he put his hand in his pocket, saying that she was doing great, and immediately changed the subject. A few days later, I found out that Marty’s family life had cracked and he and Ginny were on the verge of divorce.

2. Angry fingers

Clenched fists usually mean that a person is not expressing his true feelings in words. And if you see someone talking with their fists clenched, then know that they are actually angry or upset. And if a person's thumb is hidden inside his fist, then this means that he feels threatened, scared or worried. When the thumb of one hand is wrapped around all the fingers of the other hand, this is the same protective gesture as crossing your arms over your chest. If people, while talking, raise a finger threateningly or make impulsive, sharp movements with their hands, this also indicates irritation.

3. Lying fingers

A person who is not being honest with you will usually not move their fingers as much, which may be clenched, balled into fists, or tucked into their pockets. Look how hard a person squeezes something when talking: the harder he does this, the greater the internal tension he experiences.

When a person squeezes, for example, the back of a chair, it is as if he is trying to find support for himself in something tangible. People who wrap their arms around themselves experience internal tension, worry and literally try to pull themselves together. If they make such movements, it means that they are not telling the truth or are trying to cope with strong feelings.

4. Honest fingers

If a person is telling the truth, then his palms are open and his fingers are usually straightened. By this he shows his openness and interest in others. This position of the fingers indicates goodwill, that the person is friendly towards you and your ideas. At the same time, showing an open palm indicates a person’s vulnerability in front of other people. If a person shows you the back of his hand, then he is not so benevolent and open; on the contrary, he is closed and inaccessible.

5. Fingers full of expression

When people believe strongly in something and feel strong emotions about it, they show their passion by vigorously waving their arms. If they don’t believe something, they move their arms, including their hands, less actively.

6. Stubborn fingers

When you see that a person has his thumb stuck out and the rest straightened or clenched into a fist, this means that he firmly stands his ground and will never change his position. It will be very, very difficult to convince a person who has made such a gesture.

7. Impatient fingers

Fingers drumming on the table usually indicate that the person is impatient or nervous. Likewise, if a person is fiddling with something, such as a bead or bracelet, or twisting his hair, this indicates that he is worried, tense and nervous. This indicates that he is excited and wants to touch something to calm down.

8. Stress fingers

If a person bites his nails or bites the skin around them, wrings his hands or nervously fidgets with something, this also indicates his anxiety. People make these unconscious movements when they are stressed, even if their conversation does not indicate the internal discomfort they are experiencing. Such movements are also a sign of anger or frustration.

9. Fingers that speak of boredom

Anyone who is upset or tired of everything twirls his thumbs while clasping his thumbs together to have a little fun and get rid of boredom.

10. Calm fingers

When a person is calm, this can be seen in his hands. He moves them confidently and slowly, and at the same time smoothly and not mechanically. A person who clasps his fingers together and clasps his head from behind shows that he feels completely safe and is at ease and comfortable.

11. Confident fingers

A self-confident person often makes a number of movements with his fingers that reflect this trait of his character. One of them is folding the fingers into a house (when the fingertips of one hand touch the tips of the corresponding fingers of the other hand and the palms form a house). This gesture is often seen among teachers, ministers, politicians, lawyers and people responsible for disseminating information. It is also done by people who often negotiate.

Scientists have carried out enormous work on studying the language of gestures and body movements, and the fruits of it can actually sometimes be used in practice. We can often find confirmation of the theory of nonverbalists in our practical observations.
Nonverbalism states: if a person starts drumming his fingers on the table, this means in the language of gestures and body movements that he is restless, something is making him nervous, and he wants to end the conversation.

And we are seeing this in reality. It’s only through the prism of system-vector psychology that we can take a much broader look at this gesture. Thus, we know that the habit of making rhythmic movements is inherent in people with the skin vector. They can relieve some stress with these movements. Stress in the skin vector appears when such a person loses some material values ​​or time. Therefore, if in a conversation with us the leather worker suddenly began drumming his fingers on the table, this could really mean that he wants to end the conversation, because it seems to him a waste of time. But this is only one of the possible reasons for his gesture. The reason could also be waiting for some news, a call - skin workers don’t like to wait, this is also a waste of time, also stress. Or at that moment he saw on the monitor screen a sharp jump in the exchange rate, which could result in small losses for him - this is also stress for our skin interlocutor, also a signal to begin making rhythmic movements to relieve it.

Or let's take another movement - rubbing the corners of the lips. Nonverbalists consider this gesture a sign of lying on the part of the interlocutor, and their opinion is often justified by observations. But, again, the system-vector psychology of Yuri Burlan allows us to see more and deeper. Rubbing the corners of the lips is a movement inherent in a person with an oral vector. With this movement he activates his erogenous zone. At the same time, we know that oral speakers in poor condition are liars, and pathological ones at that, and such an oral speaker with this movement can activate his erogenous zone in order to figure out how to lie more skillfully. Perhaps it was this category of people that was observed by non-verbal researchers while studying the lie gesture. Now let’s think, if non-verbalists don’t know how to differentiate people by vectors, and even more so by their states, then they simply lump everyone with the same brush, accusing all oralists of trying to lie to us at the moment they activate the erogenous zone. But this could be a fully developed and realized oral speaker - a professor, giving a lecture to a huge audience and revealing to them some incredible, very important things.

How to read thoughts in body language and body language? On the imperfection of nonverbalism

Nonverbalists themselves admit the imperfection of their theory, but indirectly. They say that one cannot draw a conclusion about a person’s thoughts and intentions from one gesture, that it is necessary to analyze all the gestures together, made by him at a given specific second. Perhaps this allows us to slightly reduce the percentage of erroneous judgments, but even with phenomenal abilities to observe and instantly analyze several dozen gestures, microgestures and facial movements at once, we will not be able to protect ourselves 100% from errors, because where there is no differentiated approach, it will always creep in.

The same gesture made by two different people, for one may be a consequence of the expression of his mental, for another - only an introduced element, an acquired habit, in no way connected with his type of thinking and, even more so, with those thoughts that are currently moment dominate his mind.

Gestures really reflect our thoughts, because our body is inextricably linked with the mental, and any process in the mental is reflected in the physical, including through gestures. But even if we learn how to read a person’s facial expressions and gestures, but we don’t know the characteristics of his psyche, this will not give us anything. We will make one mistake after another, and who knows: maybe it would be safer not to know the meaning of body language and body movements than to misinterpret them...

After all, we can groundlessly accuse a person of lying, we can not trust a potentially good partner and refuse a successful deal, we can interpret the gesture of a decent person as a desire to take advantage of us unscrupulously and miss out on possible happiness.

But, despite all the “maybes,” we prefer to play it safe, because we sorely lack the right guidelines. We are already so confused even in our own desires that we are ready to grasp at any straw just to get even a ghostly chance to learn how to take the right steps.

But the only true guide to our own mentality and the mentality of the people around us is system-vector psychology. It gives the deepest understanding of people at the emotional level. Understanding the mental characteristics of the person standing next to us through the system-vector psychology of Yuri Burlan, we know exactly how safe it is for us to be around him. What awaits us with this man? How does he really treat us and what does he want from us, and how will our relationship with him develop - personal or business? All these questions are answered by this new field of knowledge.

The article was written using materials

And their significance has been studied for a long time, and researchers are doing truly colossal work.

There is a huge number of different works and developments in this area, but human movements are so diverse that it is sometimes simply impossible to catch them all exactly. In general, body movements can be divided into intentional and unintentional, that is, reflexive, which we carry out without noticing it ourselves. It is precisely such hand gestures that can tell a lot about a person, as well as how he feels about what he says or sees at the moment of communication and gesticulation.

When a person cheats

If a person is lying, he will probably give himself away by touching his face. The manifestation of such gestures is especially noticeable in children who seem to be trying to cover their mouths in order to stop telling lies. With age, facial and hand gestures become less noticeable, but they certainly indicate that the speaker is lying. If someone covers their mouth while another is speaking, this means that he doubts the veracity of the interlocutor’s words. At the same time, some researchers are confident that such hand gestures and their meaning should be considered together with other movements and subsequent analysis of what the person said: sometimes touching the face may not mean anything. A disguised version of the described gesture is touching the nose.

Interestingly, lying can cause itching in the muscle tissues of the neck, so pulling the collar back can also indicate deception. You need to be careful here; perhaps the shirt is just too tight, or the person

Boredom

If the listener is bored (for example, at a lecture or business meeting), he will probably put his hand up to rest his head on it. These hand gestures and their meaning are obvious: this is a sure sign that he is propping up his head so that it does not “fall” if he suddenly falls asleep. Moreover, the degree of support shows how bored the listener is: if he rests completely on his hand, he is very bored, if he just lightly touches his head or cheek, the degree of boredom is low. Tapping your feet on the floor or your fingers on the table is also a signal of impatience. If a lecturer sees that half of the audience is leaning on their hand, and the other half is tapping their fingers on the table, it is better for him to finish his speech.

Estimates and their meaning

If a person props up his cheek with his fist while pressing into his temple, we are dealing with an evaluative pose. If the index finger is pointed towards the temple and the thumb rests on the chin, most likely the listener does not like the lecturer or the subject of the lecture. Also, any type of hand resting on your face is associated with boredom or a negative attitude, so if you want to show someone that you are interested in listening to them or what they have to say, watch yourself and avoid using such movements.

Gestures associated with decision making

Evaluative movements for decision making are associated with the fact that a person wants to put something in his mouth. For example, someone who wears glasses will place the frame of the glasses in their mouth. This could be a pen or other items. In this position, a person makes decisions, and if he continues to do this, even when he already needs to speak out, this indicates that he wants to think more and delay announcing a decision.

In fact, gestures and their meaning are very difficult to understand. This article very briefly and superficially describes just a few of them. There are many more signals about human benevolence, mistrust, interest, lies and more. He described in great detail “Body Language” - his famous book, which will help those interested in opening their eyes to the rich variety of gestures and what is hidden behind them.

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Their language is one of the most ancient languages ​​in history

Two thousand years ago, Marcus Tullius Cicero taught orators to gesture correctly. The most ancient dictionary of gestures, apparently, belonged to the Roman rhetorician Quintilion, who lived in the 1st century BC. e.

National highlights

The close connection between gestures and speech has left many racial, social and individual imprints on them. The national character of many gestures is confirmed by eloquent facts. So, the British, Italians and Russians wave goodbye in different ways. Eastern peoples, unlike Europeans, fold their palms in front of their chests when greeting, and Congolese generally blow on their palms.

The cultural norms of society also determine the strength and frequency of gestures. The English psychologist Michael Archil, who studied sign language during a trip around the world, found: during an hour-long conversation, a Finn resorts to gestures on average once, an Italian - 80, a Frenchman - 120, and a Mexican -180 times!.. Russians are distinguished by relative restraint - they use approximately 40 gestures per hour. The language of the French and Latin Americans is the most expressive, and they “honk” with both hands.

The same expressive movement means different things among different peoples. For example, the gesture with which a Russian demonstrates loss or failure, among Croats means a sign of pleasure and success. When the Slavs twirl their index finger at their temples, they mean stupidity, but in Holland it means a witty phrase. In Bulgaria, nodding your head down means “no,” in our country it means “yes.”

In America, a “donut” formed by the thumb and forefinger says: “Everything is in order” (okay), and in Japan it means a request to borrow a coin.

Gestures of insincerity are often associated with the left hand. In the East, if you hold out food, money or a gift in it, you can insult your interlocutor: the left hand of those who profess Islam is considered “unclean.”

Ritual gestures

Gestures are divided into ritual and emotional. Ritual gestures, in turn, can be divided into two sociocultural groups: gestures of the Middle Ages and Modern times.

We still reproduce many gestures born in those eras, without knowing where they came from. These gestures are produced by our genetic memory. These are a kiss, a handshake, giving gifts...

Gestures that arose in feudal times reflected the personal devotion of the vassal to the lord. The servant was supposed to be faithful and selfless to the patron or a beautiful lady. The following gestures belong to the period of chivalry:

When a lord lightly hits a vassal’s shoulder with his hand or touches the shoulder of a warrior being knighted with a sword, this means accepting the person under his protection. When meeting and parting, the vassal puts both hands in the hands of the patron, and he hugs and kisses him;

The subject gives the lord his glove as a symbol of devotion, and the lord puts on a ring as a sign of close friendship. On the contrary, the break in relations was symbolized by the fact that rivals and enemies threw gloves and rings to each other.

And today, during official and public communication, many political figures, emphasizing close contacts, exchange handshakes, hugs and kisses. Brezhnev's famous kisses with his comrades are a typical sign of absolute trust. As for the modern business world, such outpourings are not always appropriate.

Ritual gestures between a man and a woman, adopted in the era of serving beautiful ladies, have also been preserved. He offers his hand to her as a sign of admiration for her beauty, kisses her hand and kneels... Gestures of gallantry, invented by men, to this day reflect personal devotion and desire to serve a woman.

The second cultural stage is associated with the era of the development of entrepreneurship, when the independence of the individual was declared the main value. The “top to bottom” gestures have almost disappeared. When communicating, partners no longer hug each other or pat each other on the shoulder, but rather touch their arm, elbow, and pat each other on the side, which signifies a certain balance in communication. Brushes work not vertically, but horizontally. If the gestures of the Middle Ages symbolized a certain cohesion, contact of bodies and hands, then new times began to demonstrate partnerships, emphasizing the autonomy of the interlocutors.

Gestures arise that do not require physical contact:

A man presses his hand to his heart - an oath of fidelity and respect. The gesture comes from the inauguration of the American President and expresses devotion to one's people and the desire to serve them;

Both hands are pressed to the chest - this more emotional gesture is an expression of sincerity;

Kneeling on one knee means serving a person of great merit. In contrast to the pose in Russian culture - to stand on both knees: the figure of a defeated person, the presence of some discomfort;

Meeting and farewell are sealed with a simple handshake, which means fruitful cooperation in a common cause, and not just personal sympathies;

A hand bent at the elbow and clenched into a fist expresses unity and firmness in defending one’s positions (a traditional gesture of various leaders calling for struggle).

When a modern athlete bows to the public, he nods his head and spreads his arms to the side - a gesture preserved from gladiator fights. In a very similar way, the actors blow a kiss and bow deeply to the applauding audience, showing love and appreciation.

Emotional Gestures

Emotional gestures, also called expressive or modal, enhance the meaning of what is said and reflect our emotional intensity. The famous Russian statesman of the early 19th century, M. M. Speransky, said: “A hand can move only when the heart hits it.”

However, the speaker must correlate the manifestation of his own feelings and the emotional coloring of the presentation of the material with the manner of gestural and expressive demonstration. Control will allow you to avoid a discrepancy between the emotional intensity and the topic being presented. So that it doesn’t turn out like what happened with Gogol’s history teacher in the comedy “The Inspector General.” He spoke about the Assyrians and Babylonians evenly, but when he got to Alexander the Great, “he ran away from the pulpit and had the strength to slam his chair on the floor!” This is how the ardent provincial teacher expressed his admiration for the heroism of Macedonian...

Some theatrical and pathetic gestures are emotional. For example, a standing position, one or both arms at shoulder level, slightly bent at the elbows, means that the speaker is presenting himself to the world and declaring his love for others. It is usually used at the moment when the degree of passion reaches its climax and, as planned, mobilizes all those gathered.

Lenin's famous gesture: from above, from the podium, his hand turns slightly above his head and points to infinity, also addressed to many.

Other types of gestures

People have in their arsenal both positive and negative gestures, hesitant gestures, and some other gestures.

Positive ones express delight, admiration, joy, attention, approval, agreement, gratitude. These include hug arms, a thumbs up, two clasped hands, and many others.

Negative ones symbolize confusion, confusion, annoyance, dissatisfaction, indignation, fear, fear, disagreement, mistrust, negative assessment, insult, threat. Hands clenched into fists and elbows bent, chin raised up indicate revenge. Hands spread to the sides and clenched into fists below are a figure of powerlessness, saying that a person wants, but is not able to, take revenge for the insult.

The farewell gesture - the arm is bent at the elbow and raised up, reproducing the horizontal movement of the pendulum - is dividing. It began to be widely used by government members standing on the Mausoleum to greet “comrades” passing by. In this way, functionaries separated themselves from people, subconsciously showing that they would go in different directions with them in this life.

The closed gesture is expressed by mechanically covering the mouth with one's hand. This is how Prime Minister E.M. Primakov sat at meetings with his elbows on the table and covering his mouth with two fists, and sometimes with intertwined fingers.

The usual fig, the “three-finger combination” is essentially a defensive gesture that reflects an energetic, existing or probable attack.

To improve your communicative competence, you need to consciously master sign language. Especially - some groups of gestures that express a person’s position in the process of communication, as well as various internal states of speakers.

Among them are touching gestures: kissing, stroking, shaking hands, hugging, rubbing the tip of the nose and others. The choice of such gestures is influenced by the partner’s status, age, gender, degree of acquaintance, and cultural affiliation. For example, Germans and Russians use a handshake more often when communicating with men at the moment of greeting than the British and Americans. And patting on the back and shoulder is possible only if the partners are socially equal.

A few words about ethics

In order to look perfect in society every day, you need to learn to behave correctly, monitor your posture and posture.

Hands can tell a lot about a person. With our hand we scratch the back of our heads and rub our chin, we can hold our hands behind our backs or cross them on our chests. These are the most typical movements characteristic of any of us. We often commit them unconsciously, but they say a lot about our personal qualities, character traits and desires. Here is an analysis of some of them.

Outstretched hand. In many countries, the typical form of greeting someone you know is a handshake. In Western culture, this gesture is also used in negotiations, when an agreement is finally reached or a contract is signed. But nevertheless, Europeans tend to keep their distance in relationships with each other, therefore, even when shaking hands with another person, they keep some distance from him. In countries where hugging or kissing is not customary between male family members, you can often see brothers or father and son greeting each other with a handshake. The participation of hands in the greeting ritual is a custom that comes from ancient times, since since time immemorial people have shown open palms as a sign that they are not armed, as well as showing friendly and honest intentions. The Romans, for example, put their hand to their chest, and the North American Indians raised their hands up. Nowadays, Berbers, for example, when saying goodbye, offer their hand and then put it to their chest, as if saying that the departing person remains in their heart.
The handshake itself carries a lot of information. If a person has a strong handshake, then this indicates his firm intentions or strong character, while a limp or weak handshake indicates the opposite. However, keep in mind that people who use their hands as tools, such as musicians or surgeons, may shake your hand with care and caution. Therefore, you should never make hasty conclusions.

Hands clasped behind back. Many people walk with their hands behind their backs. This pose is very typical for politicians and, in general, for people holding responsible positions. If a person puts his hands behind his back, intercepting one with the other, this indicates that he apparently feels some superiority over others, and also that he is confident in himself, his position in life and his special position in society. This gesture expresses high trust in the interlocutor: it is obvious that the body of a person with his arms behind him is open and vulnerable, and therefore, he feels safe and does not expect any attack. As a rule, in such a case, he stands or walks with his head raised, his chest slightly puffed out. However, if with one of the hands placed behind the back a person holds the other hand not by the fingers, but by the wrist or even higher, closer to the elbow, then this is already a sign of frustration, indicates a lack of control over the situation or an attempt to somehow cheer himself up . The stronger one hand squeezes the hand or elbow of the other hand, the higher the person’s internal tension and the greater the degree of his self-doubt; The more timid a person feels, the further his hands are placed behind his back. But in a normal situation, he takes this position when he stands or walks, while he often scratches the back of his head, and every now and then straightens his tie or shirt collar. We are talking here, as a rule, about a person’s bad mood. By removing his hands from the field of view of his interlocutor, a person is trying to hide a state of concern, stress, emotional excitement or frustration.

Arms crossed on chest. Folded arms usually indicate that the individual is worried about something or is lost in his own thoughts. Hands in this position can also be a kind of protective barrier that we unconsciously put up so that no one and nothing can penetrate our heart. Research in the field of human behavior shows that if a woman sits with her arms crossed over her chest, this means that the person next to her is not at all attractive to her.

Arms hanging along the body. If a standing or sitting person keeps his back straight with his arms down along his body, this indicates that he is calm and confident. However, when he not only has drooping arms but also drooping shoulders, it could be a sign of frustration, boredom or depression.

Raised hands. This is a typical gesture of winning athletes. However, depending on the circumstances, it can have other meanings. For example, the victim will raise his hands in the air as if to say “I surrender!” if he is threatened with a gun or some other weapon. Hands raised up, but at the same time spread to the sides, can also be interpreted as an open embrace and perceived as a sign of greeting or goodwill towards the interlocutor. A man waving his arms is better seen from a distance. So if we want to get someone's attention, ask someone for help or just say hello, we will also raise one or both hands.

Hands squeezing each other. This gesture, made by the interlocutor during a conversation, may mean his hidden tension or rage. He is probably in a state of extreme irritation and is making an effort not to explode. If a person is sitting at the same time, then perhaps he will also cross his legs under the chair.

Hands clenched into fists. This gesture expresses rage or threat. In such a situation, it is very appropriate to take a closer look to see if the interlocutor’s knuckles have turned white. It is also important to pay attention to where exactly he holds his hands clenched into fists: if a person is sitting, then perhaps he will put them on the table; if it stands, it will most likely lower it quite low. According to the results of recent studies, the height at which a person holds his clenched hands has a direct connection with the degree of his frustration: the higher the fist is, the sharper the hostility towards the interlocutor.
The researchers came to other unexpected conclusions regarding clenched fists. For example, they found that women very rarely resort to this gesture during conversation, which suggests that, at least as an unconscious action, it is more common among men. In addition, it turned out that people who sit at business meetings with their hands clenched rarely close profitable deals, because their potential partners are not always willing to do business with those who do not keep their hands open: on a subconscious level, this is perceived as a lack of integrity or dishonesty.

Hand wringing. The interpretation of this bodily sign is similar to that given to hands clenched into fists. Wringing of hands usually indicates that a person is in a state of tension and anxiety, restlessly waiting for something and sensing impending danger. Tapping your fingers or knuckles on the table.
This gesture is also usually a sign of stress, frustration or anxiety. It can also indicate boredom or suspicion of the other person's words. Often this gesture expresses the impatience of a person who wants to change the topic of conversation, or even end the conversation as quickly as possible.

Hands folded as if in prayer. The person who uses this gesture is trying with all his might to convince his interlocutor of something or wants to especially emphasize something very important in his speech.

Rub the palms of your hands. This gesture is an obvious sign of satisfaction with what has already happened or is about to happen. The intensity with which the action itself is performed is important here, because the interpretation of the intentions of the person rubbing his hands depends on this. For example, when a salesperson truly cares about customer satisfaction, he will rub his hands quickly and vigorously while talking to him; if he is simply trying to “sweeten the pill,” then his movements will be slower.

Support your cheek or chin with your hand. This movement indicates that the interlocutor is analyzing all the pros and cons and trying to formulate his own opinion on the issue under discussion. This is the classic pose in which "The Thinker" by the French sculptor Rodin sits.

Touch, rub or stroke your nose. Such actions of a person are a clear sign of his lack of self-confidence. He feels uncomfortable in the environment around him and, moreover, has a negative attitude towards what is happening. If this gesture is made by a person saying something, there is a possibility that he is trying to deceive the interlocutor, although confirmation of the guess must be sought in other bodily signs. It may also happen that a person simply has an itchy nose. As a rule, the one who tells a lie not only touches or rubs his nose, but also avoids making eye contact with the interlocutor, trying to distance himself from him or fearing being face to face with him.
If, in response to the overly energetic persuasion of a zealous salesman, a person rubs his nose, this most often means that he is skeptical about what he heard.

Rub your ear or touch your earlobe. A person performs such actions when the topic under discussion does not bother him too much and he either does not want to delve into it or wants to forget what he heard. But sometimes, in such a delicate manner, he hints that he has something to say and that he is just waiting for the right moment to join the conversation. It has been proven that a person can utter about seven hundred words in a minute, so when people have to wait a long time for their turn, they often resort to this gesture, and sometimes even raise their hand, thus expressing a desire to get their word in.

Scratch various parts of the body. It can be a sign that the person is lying or hiding something, and it can also indicate doubt or lack of self-confidence. Although, the possibility cannot be ruled out that he really did have an itch somewhere!
Scratch the side of your neck with one or two fingers. If such actions are performed by the speaker, there is no doubt that he is insincere or not too confident in the correctness of his words. This gesture is typical for a speaker who, at a public speech, delivers a speech written by someone else. In turn, if a listener scratches his neck, perhaps he suspects the other person of lying or has not yet formed a definite attitude towards what he heard. According to some studies, in such situations a person repeats this gesture on average five times.

Rub or lower your eyes and raise your eyebrows in disbelief. These are typical gestures indicating insincerity and possible deception. The person lowers his eyes to avoid eye contact and not give himself away. However, if your interlocutor simply rubs his eye without looking away, then this, as a rule, simply means doubt.

Loosen the shirt collar. This gesture indicates that the person is experiencing irritation and extreme frustration. It may also indicate that the speaker is telling a lie. Some people experience a kind of itching in the neck and face when they lie, and to get rid of this sensation they try to loosen the contact with the clothing by pulling back the collar. When observing such gestures in someone, you should take into account the temperature in the room and other factors of the same kind, because very often a person loosens the collar of his shirt simply because he is hot.

Place your hand on your chest. Many people resort to this gesture when they feel mistrust on the part of their interlocutor and the need to prove their own sincerity and decency. In such cases, they instinctively raise their hand to their heart to emphasize the sincerity of their words.

Point your index finger at a person or group of people. This is a command gesture, which is a manifestation of authoritarianism. According to the rules of good manners, it should not be used, except in cases where you need to indicate to your interlocutor the direction of movement and gaze. People quite often resort to this gesture in altercations, for example, during a traffic accident, when two drivers argue about who is right and who is wrong. They also poke a finger when scolding children. Perhaps this is why many of us feel uncomfortable when someone's finger points in our direction: subconsciously we feel like a guilty child, and for an adult this is quite humiliating.

Keep your hands in your pockets. This pose is more characteristic of men and often indicates a state of some nervousness in which the subject is, as well as the fact that he needs to somehow relieve himself.

Stand with your hands akimbo. They also say about this pose - “put your hands on your hips.” It reflects a person’s state of certain aggressiveness and conveys a certain threat to others. It shows that a person is ready to take action, especially in a situation in which he feels uncomfortable. Women tend to stand with their arms akimbo, thus emphasizing the shape of their own body: in such a case, the pose takes on a distinctly sensual character.

Also, there are nuances that often escape the attention of an unprepared person, which were nevertheless identified by researchers as a result of observing many people. So, when talking about the future, a person usually gestures with his right hand; and if in some cases he uses his left hand, then his movements are directed to the right side. Apparently, people associate the future with the direction of movement to the right or forward. And vice versa, When people talk about the past, it's easy to notice that they point to the left or back. At the same time, if we are talking about what is happening at the moment, a person’s gestures are focused on what is right in front of him. The speed of gestures does not matter here, but it can tell a lot about the degree of excitement, satisfaction or constraint of a person during a conversation.

The above list is far from exhaustive. There are many other common gestures, but it is impossible to take into account all hand movements and combinations involving them.

Every time a person consciously or instinctively accompanies his words with some kind of gesture, he thereby conveys a parallel message, which sometimes coincides in meaning with what he expressed in words, and sometimes not. When we are faced with the need to understand what is happening, make a judgment about someone, or successfully solve a certain problem, the ability to interpret the meaning of the most common body movements becomes extremely important.