We focus a lot on reading people’s nonverbal behavior, but is there something to be read into about our hairstyles also? This is precisely what Humintell’s Drs. David Matsumoto and Hyisung Hwang argue in a recent paper. Essentially, while past research has argued that emotional expressions can reveal one’s culture, they argue that differing hairstyles,…
Read MoreEmbracing Nuances Across Cultures
It is very easy to fall into the trap of assuming that everyone from a given culture thinks similarly. Psychologists have been doing it for years! Last month, we blogged about Drs. Takano and Osaka’s research challenging the “common sense” idea that Japanese are invariably and typically collectivist in their thinking, while Americans are individualists.…
Read MoreSilent Political Power?
Many commentators are keen to read into the nonverbal behavior of political leaders, but is that even really possible? After Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin met in Helsinki last week, it’s safe to say that they completely dominated the news cycle. In a presumable effort for a fresh take, the Washington Post interviewed nonverbal…
Read MoreFailure at the World Cup
All triumphant athletes look alike, but do all distraught and disappointed ones? In past blogs, we have noted frequent observations of the universal “triumphant” pose amongst victors in sports competitions, but sports reveal other universal poses as well. For instance, as David Gendelman writes for The New York Times, this summer’s World Cup helps showcase…
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