Body Language Group Formations and Pointers
At some occasion or the other we feel that the person we are talking to is least interested in the conversation. How do you ascertain if your observation is correct or not? Well just look around you’ll find that the other person is gazing at some other object or has quietly shifted his body to an angle such that he could easily escape the conversation.
As opposed to the above mentioned circumstance you’ll notice that if a person is interested in talking to or is interested in your conversation quietly moves his body towards you. The physical distance between people is directly related to their level of intimacy. Also the angle at which people face each other can also give many clues about their attitudes and relationships.
Open Group Conversations:
Also during most of the conversations we note that people stand such that in a
group of three they form a triangle so as to give equal importance to everyone. If the group becomes four they form a square and in larger groups they form a circle. This kind of group formation is referred to as open group formations. Here the signal is that ‘everyone is welcome to join in’.
Closed Group Conversations:
Sometimes we note that two people talking are standing
straight in front of each other and looking straight at each other. If this
happens to be between a male and a female the situation changes a little. If the
male starts moving close to the female and the female does not change her body’s
angle or moves a step behind or sideways then it means she has allowed the male
to enter her territory and thus shows an increased level of intimacy.
But I must caution you that two persons really
hostile to each other can also be found in the same situation only difference
being that no permissions is asked for and none are given for breaking into each
others territory.
Often we note that a conversation between three persons start
when they are standing in an open triangular formation such that there is equal
distance between all of them and thus allowing space for another person to join
in and form a square formation.
But in case two persons are having a closed group formation
and a third person joins in (or tries to join in) and the two persons keep on
talking amongst themselves means that he/she is not invited to join in. Also
another signal for showing this could be that the two persons talking may just
turn their heads towards the new entrant without turning their bodies towards
him/her.
Other pointers:
Other types of pointers could be the knee or foot pointing . Although knee pointing could be just a matter of chance but on certain occasions can give an indication of whether the person you are sitting with is interested in you or not. If two people are sitting with their knees
pointing towards each other then it could be a sign of that two of them are interested in talking or continuing their conversation with each other. A third person who wishes to find a place for himself in such a conversation must seat himself in a way such that he forms a triangle with the duo.
Although a very subtle indication but still it can be assumed that in a group the centre of attraction is the person towards whom everyone’s feet are
pointing
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