Thread by @DrGJackBrown

1/ THREAD: Body Language Analysis No. 4421: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump at Alfred E. Smith Dinner — #Nonverbal #EmotionalIntelligence #BodyLanguage #BodyLanguageExpert #DonaldTrump #HillaryClinton #Laughing #Laughter #Sincerity #Beta #FigLeaf #LowConfidence #Protection

2/ This image of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump has been circulating recently on Twitter. It's from The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner on 20 October 2016.

3/ Hillary can clearly be seen to be laughing — but is her laughing sincere? The answer is an absolute, "Yes".

Note her eyelids are closed.

4/ With all sincere smiles, the eyelids are partially closed. Partial — and sometimes almost complete or even complete eyelid closure is a requirement for sincere smiles. The same is true for laughter, and in fact, complete eyelid closure is common during sincere laughter.

5/ In this lateral view of Secretary Clinton, we can also see another feature of sincere laughing (and sincere smiling) which is rarely discussed in the nonverbal literature — Jaw Retraction.

6/ The jaw (mandible) retracts during sincere smiling and it becomes even more prominent during laughter. Have you ever said, "I laughed so hard that my face (or jaw) hurt"?

7/ Of course, you have! Well, one of the reasons for this soreness is the prolonged contraction of the muscles which pull the jaw backward (mandibular retrusion).

8/ For you anatomy geeks, these are primarily the posterior portion (horizontal fibers) of the Temporalis muscles with minor contributions from the digastric muscles and the mylohyoid muscles.

9/ Body Language Secret: Whenever you want to really smile — or even precipitate laughter:

• Smile with your eyes first
• Close your eyelids
• Pull your jaw backward (retract aka retrusion)
• Think of a particularly comedian or funny memory

10/ Once you do this, you'll notice your cheek muscles elevating vertically and you'll begin to feel joyful.

11/ This then becomes a profound body language life-skill: for in the act of replicating a specific face or body configurations, we will secondarily precipitate their corresponding emotions.

12/ Thus, body language works in both directions:

• Specific Emotions will lead to specific Body Language
AND
• Specific Body Language will precipitate specific emotions.

13/ In the context of sincere laughter, the double-hander (aka hand-sandwich) handshake that the unnamed gentleman is giving Hillary Clinton, is a form of laughter affirmation and during laughter, it serves as a surrogate for a hug.

14/ If they were not on two different floor levels and a table was not between them, they almost certainly would have hugged instead.

15/ In the midst of their shared simultaneous laughter — hugging, touching, and/or double-hand grasping serves to amplify rapport and is a strong act of psycho-social bonding.

16/ Now look at Donald Trump's face. It's not neutral — rather it's an amalgam of contempt, disgust, and anger.

17/ Trump's partial eyelid closure acts as amplifiers of these three emotions (note this is a different type of eyelid closure versus that which is seen during sincere smiling with tense lower lids).

18/ Trump's left hand is pulling the end of his suit vest in a false-adjustment dynamic. This specific gesture (MAP — Manipulator/Adaptor/Pacifier) is an alpha-upregulator.

19/ It's commonly seen displayed by alpha personalities who are momentarily down-regulated to a beta status and are attempting to re-establish their alpha emotional tone.

20/ In addition, the position of Trump's left hand (almost a clenched fist) shows his anxiety, heightened adrenaline level, and hostility toward Secretary Clinton.

21/ Also, Trump's hand is positioned is just above and in front of his groin region. This is a fig-leaf variation configuration (aka genital guarding). It signals Trump's relative beta emotional tone and lowered confidence.

22/ It's important to note that Trump even feels beta despite the fact that he's standing while Clinton is sitting. Normally, simply standing will be enough for most individuals to alpha-upregulate, however, it's not enough in this circumstance.

23/ SUMMARY: In this image from the 2016 Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, Hillary Clinton is captured in a moment of classic and sincere laughter, while Donald Trump displays disgust, contempt, and anger toward Secretary Clinton.

continued ...

24/ Clinton is bonding further with her handshaker, while Trump is further mentally alienating (cementing his negativity) Clinton.

continued ...

25/ Moreover, Trump is experiencing a moment of hostility, an adrenaline surge, and lowered confidence. And although he's attempting to return to his alpha status, he's in the midst of a relatively beta emotional tone moment.

END