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Home / Lifestyle

Psychologist reveals three life-changing body language hacks

NZ Herald
4 Jan, 2023 08:25 PM3 mins to read

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The US-based psychologist showed the big difference between palm up and palm down movements. Photo / TikTok

The US-based psychologist showed the big difference between palm up and palm down movements. Photo / TikTok

Have you ever wondered why interactions with some people leave you feeling great and others leave you feeling bad?

A Romanian US-based psychologist has gone viral on TikTok after revealing three body language tricks that can help people take control of any situation.

Coach Francesca has built a massive following of 1.2 million people on TikTok for sharing psychology tips and tricks and now she has revealed how three small hand body language changes will help a person dominate the room they are in.

The psychologist who studied at City University in London started her video by telling users of the social media app, the first tip is on how to seem trustworthy.

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“If you want to seem trustworthy, use the steeple position.” She said while holding her hands out in front of her with her thumbs facing up and each finger tip touching one another.

The first tip showed her with her fingers all together and thumbs up. Photo / TiKTok
The first tip showed her with her fingers all together and thumbs up. Photo / TiKTok

“The thumbs up of this position indicates that everything is okay,” she explained.

The second tip she shared explained how someone can “assert dominance” in a group situation by simply placing one hand on top of the other and their thumbs facing upwards.

“This is how people will tell who the leader of the group is,” she said.

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The second tip she shared showed her with her hands together. Photo / TiKTok
The second tip she shared showed her with her hands together. Photo / TiKTok

Third, she said using the palms of your hands is how people will be able to tell if you are friendly or dominant.

Giving an example in the 34-second video, with her palms facing up the woman said, “this sends a subconscious signal that you’re friendly. While this [palms down] sends the signal that you’re dominant and that they need to listen to you.”

The US-based psychologist showed the big difference between palm up and palm down movements. Photo / TiKTok
The US-based psychologist showed the big difference between palm up and palm down movements. Photo / TiKTok

The video quickly earned hundreds of thousands of views and comments with many users commenting that they were already using the actions without realising it.

One said, “the third one, I always use every time I explain something. Wow.” While a second commented, “me using it without knowing this.”

The video was a follow up to one she posted earlier in 2022 where she shared five body language techniques that subconsciously show what you’re feeling without having to say anything.

@francescapsychology

#psychology #psychologytricks #bodylanguage #manipulation

♬ She Knows - J. Cole

One included pushing away from a table communicates you aren’t in agreeance with what is being discussed at the table. While something called “surrogate touching” where you stroke a cup or place a pen against your lips is a sign the psychologist claims means a person wants to be intimate with the person they’re with.

She added that this gesture is a form of transferring “their wishes” onto an object.

The original video gained 810,000 views and over 100 thousand comments with many people expressing their surprise at how they do the actions already and didn’t realise their meaning.

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