Thread by @DrGJackBrown

1/ THREAD: Body Language Analysis No. 4138: #MattLauer, Intimidation, and Aggression - Nonverbal and #EmotionalIntelligence (PHOTOS)

#BodyLanguage #BodyLanguageExpert

2/ Anyone who has even casually observed Matt Lauer's behavior over his career should in no way be surprised by some of his female colleague's allegations of "inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace".

Examine carefully each of the five photographs included in this thread.

3/ Anne Hathaway was on the Today Show in 2012 promoting her then-recent film, Les Miserables (for which she would go on to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress).

4/ Lauer initiated the interview bringing up the subject of an extremely embarrassing wardrobe malfunction. Moreover, he did so in an overtly sexual manner, saying, "seen a lot of you lately".

5/ But he didn't stop there, Lauer went on to say, "Let’s just get it out of the way. You had a little wardrobe malfunction the other night. What’s the lesson learned from something like that?" One has difficulty imagining how he could possibly be any more patronizing.

6/ Note the manner in which Lauer is sitting - w/ his legs crossed (European style). Sitting this close to any guest - regardless of their gender is out of context behavior for an interview. If space was limited - & he had to be this close - he should not have crossed his legs.

7/ And if he still felt the need to cross them in such close quarters, he should have pointed his leg/foot away from Anne Hathaway - yet he invades her space.

8/ He does the same with most of his guests - particularly the women. Included here are other examples of this same behavior with Jennifer Lopez ...

9/ ... and Katie Holmes.

10/ Lauer goes out of his way to encroach on each woman's personal space - more specifically, their intimate space.

11/ With the ample area available in a major television studio - and when this behavior is of a chronic nature - it strongly signals the presence of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (however this is only one of many narcissist behaviors).

12/ Narcissists routinely enter into other's personal/intimate space in order to intimidate, exert dominance — and even their warped sense of "ownership".

13/ Moreover, this and similar nonverbal signs can carry the additional significance of sexual displays and sexual intimidation.

14/ But note how Lauer sits when interviewing Donald Trump. He points his torso, legs, and feet away from the President (at an angle of about 80˚ - 90)˚- and in so doing affords his guest much more space.

15/ The fact that Trump is an even greater narcissist than Lauer is not lost on us, however. The President routinely sits (regardless of the gender of his interviewer) in an extreme example of a "Seated crotch display" (colloquially known as "Manspreading").

16/ He also, with high frequency, sits forward in his chair (with his butt away from the back of the chair) - in addition to leaning forward with his torso. This is an example of another hyper-alpha sitting posture.

17/ The Trump's status and his body language intimidates Lauer - making the hunter momentarily the hunted.

18/ In this last image of Lauer interviewing Pete Carroll, the Seattle Seahawk's coach is sitting with his legs essentially parallel. Lauer again returns to his narcissist default position.

19/ While Carroll is not, in an absolute sense, in any way beta in this moment - he becomes a relative beta because of Lauer's hyper-alpha, invasion of Carroll's personal space.

20/ SUMMARY: Chronic invasion of another person's personal/intimate space signals their poor emotional intelligence and is a routine behavior of narcissists.

continued ...

21/ Summary (continued): Depending on the other accompanying nonverbal, verbal, and paralanguage behavior - it can also be a type of sexual overture/display and a form of sexual intimidation and harassment.
...

22/ Summary (continued): These individuals will say, "I'm just comfortable this way" (or similar) - keep in mind this is only partially true...

23/ Summary (continued): Translated, this really means that they're more emotionally comfortable only when they're asserting dominance, behaving aggressively, sometimes sexually (out of context) - and intimidating others.

END