Usually , we use nodding to signalise discernment or agreement , or , if you ’re like me , you might politely be dissemble to find out what someone ’s just said .
Non - verbal human action have always been important in communicating , probably more than most people call up . Now , anew studyhas shown that nodding can make you both more approachable and more likable .
Hopefully this discovery wo n’t have you wagging your head up and down incessantly , but if you do want to ameliorate people ’s perceptions of you , it might be worth incorporating nodding into your everyday pose .
The new inquiry was conducted by Jun - ichiro Kawahara from Hokkaido University and Takayuki Osugi from Yamagata University in Japan . They asked 49 Nipponese man and women above the age of 18 to rate dissimilar information processing system - generated figure that were either nod , stir their head , or continue motionless .
The individuals who participated were require to rate the build for attractiveness , likeability , and approachability on a scale of 0 to 100 .
The researchers chance that the nod figure were 30 percentage more likable and 40 percent more approachable than the figure that were shaking their head or simply doing nothing .
Kawahara remark that the study suggests that nodding makes someone more likable in footing of their personality , rather than their appearance .
“ Generalizing these results requires a arcdegree of caution because computer - generated distaff faces were used to manipulate head motions in our experiments , " Kawahara pronounce in astatement . " Further written report call for manful figures , tangible faces , and observer from dissimilar ethnic backgrounds is needed to go for these findings to veridical - world situations . "
But nodding does more than make you seem approachable , it can also work your own opinion . In 2003 , astudyfound that nod , in compare to straits - shaking , made mass more likely to agree with an editorial they were take heed to . Study author Richard Petty said in astatementthat nodding is a build of " ego - validation " that consolidate our feelings towards our thoughts .
" If we are nodding our head up and down , we pull ahead confidence in what we are believe . But when we shake our school principal from side to side , we lose trust in our own opinion , " he add .
Interesting .
