Nonverbal Cues People Use to Get a Date

The YouTube video is a clip taken from a UK documentary titled, “Body Talk Sex”. The host organizes a club-like environment to analyze the signals that women use to indicate their interest in a certain man.

One of the first moves a woman will typically make is, the “hair flip”. This is a subtle way of telling the men around her that she’s available and interested. Viewed at an evolutionary level, this move can also be interpreted as being youthful—the woman wants to show that her hair has elasticity and is soft to the touch, and not dry and dead.

In the heat of a conversation a woman has a tendency to expose a part of her neck by moving her hair to one side. The neck is a very intimate and vulnerable part of the body, exposing that area to the man is indicative of trust and comfort.

Another sign that indicates comfort is the crossing of the legs. During a conversation if the woman’s legs are crossed, it shows that she is comfortable where she is and does not intend to leave anytime soon; if the legs were uncrossed, it could be interpreted as being ready to run at first chance.

However, conversations do not always go as smoothly as intended and when a woman senses that the situation is turning against her favor, she will pull a few tricks in an attempt to gain the man’s attention once again. The first trick preening the hair the side opposite of where the man’s new found attention is. For example, if the man is constantly looking at someone else on the woman’s left, she will subtly brush her hair from her left and onto the right side; this causes the man’s eyes to be drawn away from that someone else and onto the hair that’s being brushed over. As a result, attention is back on the woman. Exaggerating emotions and reactions is another trick women use to get the man’s attention. If the man is telling a story, no matter how boring it is, the woman will pretend to be in awe just to boost his ego—consequently, this bring the man’s interest back into the conversation. As a last resort, the final trick that women use is called, the “eye pop”. In the middle of a sentence the woman will take an extended period of time to blink and just as she is about to finish the sentence, she will look up at the man with her big eyes and shoot a big smile—this exaggerates all her good features and can gain the man’s interest again. Of course this doesn’t always work (if it isn’t done right, you might come off as crazy), but you can’t blame a girl for trying!

Aside from the hair flip, the neck exposure, and the eye pop, men usually use the same moves as woman. For example, in the midst of a dying conversation, a man will pull all the same tricks as described above—but of course, in a more masculine way! A man may even be a little bit more aggressive and throw in an intimate hug, but if the woman just isn’t interested she will politely reject him by changing the intimate hug into a friendly one, i.e. patting him on the back before detaching.

During one of my recent girls’ night out events, I took all the information that was given to me in this video and analyzed the actions of my girlfriends. I hate to admit it, but the video does have truth to it and when the moves are done right, it works!

Do you think these moves work?

SOURCE:

DatingSoluions4Men. (2010). Body Language - Indicators of Interest (IOI's) [video]. Retrieved June 15, 2012 from <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBOtj1RmaUE>.