Examples of Defensive Body Language

"DR. MICHELLE COHEN: There is another type of body behavior which I call "defensive body behaviors." Now, these are really different from controlling or fearful or closed body behaviors because you're trying to defend yourself, not against someone who's going to attack you necessarily, but there might be a lot of internal dialogue going on that you feel you need to protect. So, you're defending that. Someone maybe a little or too aggressive with you, but in this case, you're going to be using subtle barriers to protect yourself, and you can really see this when people are doing this, so watch for some of these cues as actors Mark and Josh demonstrate. Josh and Mark are now going to demonstrate for you what I call "defensive body movements." And as you can see sometimes, the chin is held down. Josh is trying to defend himself against judgment; there's something going on internally, and he's kind of going into a little bit of a round position. Sometimes, people flick their eyes from side to side. It shows that the person is looking for a way out. That's the definition of defense sometimes. Also, as you can see, Josh is crossing his legs away from Mark. The body is going away. Arms may be held across the chest. Any physical object also may be placed in front of the person to act as a literal or figurative barrier. It can be as small as a pen. It can be as large as a table or as you can see Josh has a book in front of him. He's huddling into a smaller position, keeping his arms and legs in, he's tensing up, and he is rather rigid as well. So, these are all signs of defensive body movements."