Behaviors
The results showed that the women in the present study used 17 behaviors to demonstrate disinterest in or rejection of potential male partners. These behaviors included facial expressions such as yawning, frowning, and sneering; gestures such as negative head shaking or pocketing hands; and posture patterns such as arm crossing or holding the trunk rigidly. Nonverbal rejection behaviors are listed in Table 1 according to category. These behaviors were highly visible and most appeared very similar in form in each woman. In other words, each behavior was discrete, or distinct from all other rejection displays.
Descriptions of nonverbal rejection behaviors
Facial and head patterns. A number of different facial and head patterns were seen in the women we observed. A number of these behaviors were signals involving the eyes, although the particular pattern used varied among individual women in duration or engagement. Gaze avoidance occurred when the woman did not make eye contact with the man, despite the fact that he was looking directly at her. She looked at other people, made eye contact with someone else at the table or directed her gaze to another point in the room. Other eye signals which functioned as rejection signals included upward gaze and hair gaze. In the former display, the woman looked at the ceiling, lifting her head approximately one quarter inch, whereas in the latter the woman drew her hair across her face and looked at the ends. In hair gaze, hair was typically pulled across the side of the eyebrow and the nose. All these behaviors consisted of prolonged (more than 10 seconds) inattention on the part of the woman.
Sometimes, rather than avoid eye contact, a woman would break eye contact, turn her head and look away from a man while he was speaking or engaging in some other behavior to draw her attention. Again this was a behavior of long duration (more than 10 seconds). Finally, some women would stare at a man for a long period of time (more than 10 seconds), often until he looked away. This behavior was often combined with one of two other facial patterns, a frown or a sneer. In the frown, the corners of the woman's mouth were turned downward with compressed lips and her brow was furrowed. In the sneer, the woman's mouth was twisted and her nose was wrinkled. The last two facial patterns which met the criteria for rejection signaling were the negative head shake and the yawn. When women flirt with men they engage in a great deal of affirmative head nodding. In contrast, the women here shook their heads negatively. Women moved their faces from side to side by rotating their heads on their necks. They also yawned. In this signal the mouth was opened wide and the now was wrinkled while the eyes were squinted or, in some cases, closed. Sometimes a woman covered her mouth with her hand.
Gestures. There were some nonverbal rejection patterns that involved movement of the hands and arms. Two of these rejection signals closed off the woman's body, whereas two others were self-grooming behaviors. When a woman is interested in a man she makes frequent use of open gestures, such as palming. The women in this study were found to pocket their hands or cross their arms over their chest. These behaviors were often followed by the man physically distancing himself from the woman. In pocket hands, women thrust one or both hands into the pockets of their pants or skirt. They did not remove an object, but left their hand(s) concealed. In cross arms women placed their arms and hands against the chest and inserted the hands through the gaps made near their armpits. Women also engaged in self-grooming behaviors. But, unlike those behaviors displayed by flirtatious women, these gestures were not exhibited to draw attention to the body as in primping or hair flipping, but to engage in self-care behaviors often more commonly done in private. In this regard, women sometimes cleaned their nails or picked their teeth.
Posture patterns Compared to the two categories just presented, there were some behaviors which involved more of the body in movement. These I called posture patterns. Again, two of them can be conceptualized as closed signals.
Not only did women engaged in rejecting a potential partner cross their arms across their chest or pocket their hands as described previously, they also kept their legs closed tightly together. In some cases, bath feet were planted on the ground, whereas in others the ankles were crossed but one leg rested next to the other. Sometimes the feet were then tucked under the chair. Similarly, the upper part of the body, the torso, was rigid and held upright and straight. Finally, the women observed here avoided body contact. If a man touched a woman, she withdrew or pulled away, if she was in control of her body's position in space, she moved away from the partner, leaning back, or positioning herself at a distance from the man.
The results showed that the women in the present study used 17 behaviors to demonstrate disinterest in or rejection of potential male partners. These behaviors included facial expressions such as yawning, frowning, and sneering; gestures such as negative head shaking or pocketing hands; and posture patterns such as arm crossing or holding the trunk rigidly. Nonverbal rejection behaviors are listed in Table 1 according to category. These behaviors were highly visible and most appeared very similar in form in each woman. In other words, each behavior was discrete, or distinct from all other rejection displays.
Descriptions of nonverbal rejection behaviors
Facial and head patterns. A number of different facial and head patterns were seen in the women we observed. A number of these behaviors were signals involving the eyes, although the particular pattern used varied among individual women in duration or engagement. Gaze avoidance occurred when the woman did not make eye contact with the man, despite the fact that he was looking directly at her. She looked at other people, made eye contact with someone else at the table or directed her gaze to another point in the room. Other eye signals which functioned as rejection signals included upward gaze and hair gaze. In the former display, the woman looked at the ceiling, lifting her head approximately one quarter inch, whereas in the latter the woman drew her hair across her face and looked at the ends. In hair gaze, hair was typically pulled across the side of the eyebrow and the nose. All these behaviors consisted of prolonged (more than 10 seconds) inattention on the part of the woman.
Sometimes, rather than avoid eye contact, a woman would break eye contact, turn her head and look away from a man while he was speaking or engaging in some other behavior to draw her attention. Again this was a behavior of long duration (more than 10 seconds). Finally, some women would stare at a man for a long period of time (more than 10 seconds), often until he looked away. This behavior was often combined with one of two other facial patterns, a frown or a sneer. In the frown, the corners of the woman's mouth were turned downward with compressed lips and her brow was furrowed. In the sneer, the woman's mouth was twisted and her nose was wrinkled. The last two facial patterns which met the criteria for rejection signaling were the negative head shake and the yawn. When women flirt with men they engage in a great deal of affirmative head nodding. In contrast, the women here shook their heads negatively. Women moved their faces from side to side by rotating their heads on their necks. They also yawned. In this signal the mouth was opened wide and the now was wrinkled while the eyes were squinted or, in some cases, closed. Sometimes a woman covered her mouth with her hand.
Gestures. There were some nonverbal rejection patterns that involved movement of the hands and arms. Two of these rejection signals closed off the woman's body, whereas two others were self-grooming behaviors. When a woman is interested in a man she makes frequent use of open gestures, such as palming. The women in this study were found to pocket their hands or cross their arms over their chest. These behaviors were often followed by the man physically distancing himself from the woman. In pocket hands, women thrust one or both hands into the pockets of their pants or skirt. They did not remove an object, but left their hand(s) concealed. In cross arms women placed their arms and hands against the chest and inserted the hands through the gaps made near their armpits. Women also engaged in self-grooming behaviors. But, unlike those behaviors displayed by flirtatious women, these gestures were not exhibited to draw attention to the body as in primping or hair flipping, but to engage in self-care behaviors often more commonly done in private. In this regard, women sometimes cleaned their nails or picked their teeth.
Posture patterns Compared to the two categories just presented, there were some behaviors which involved more of the body in movement. These I called posture patterns. Again, two of them can be conceptualized as closed signals.
Not only did women engaged in rejecting a potential partner cross their arms across their chest or pocket their hands as described previously, they also kept their legs closed tightly together. In some cases, bath feet were planted on the ground, whereas in others the ankles were crossed but one leg rested next to the other. Sometimes the feet were then tucked under the chair. Similarly, the upper part of the body, the torso, was rigid and held upright and straight. Finally, the women observed here avoided body contact. If a man touched a woman, she withdrew or pulled away, if she was in control of her body's position in space, she moved away from the partner, leaning back, or positioning herself at a distance from the man.
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