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A tilt of the head facilitates social engagement
- vages 8y agoPerhaps I'm missing something, but the title seems to exaggerate the following paragraph: > Perhaps more importantly for people with autism, Davidenko found that the tilt leads people to look more at the eyes, perhaps because it makes them more approachable and less threatening. "Across species, direct eye contact can be threatening," he said. "When the head is tilted, we look at the upper eye more than either or both eyes when the head is upright. I think this finding could be used therapeutically." Hope it's correct. Would be interesting to know if the effect persists when the viewer tilts their head, not just the viewed.
- PavlovsCat 8y ago> Would be interesting to know if the effect persists when the viewer tilts their head, not just the viewed. I just had to think of the equivalent of two people trying to make way for each other on the street, and stepping to each side at the same time. Two people wanting to put each other at ease in the same instant, both wiggling their heads from one side to the other for a bit, then laughing politely and settling on tilting their heads to different sides from one another.
- bitwize 8y agoMaybe this is why dogs do it -- they figure out that it makes their human want to pet. feed, or play with them more. Animals are superb at reading cues from humans and adjusting their behavior accordingly.
- cma 8y ago> Canids tilt their heads to determine the vertical placement of a sound—how far up/down it is. Human ears are shaped to cause frequency cutoffs that let us do vertical spatialization more easily without tilting our heads.
- jasonszhao 8y agoSmarter Every Day explains this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oai7HUqncAA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oai7HUqncAA
- clairity 8y agoit's so cute when my dog does this (i immediately want to hug her to death), but i always saw it as just deeper interest and maybe a struggle to understand me, more than an invitation. when my cat does it on the other hand i wonder what kind of mischievous he's cooking up.
- iamdave 8y agowhen my cat does it on the other hand i wonder what kind of mischievous he's cooking up. Heh same, I've observed when my cat strains his neck to tilt and lean, he's laser focused on something that's partially obscured, and then bolts across the room. I've learned to let him go maul whatever ball of dust is tumbling across the floor in those moments.
- goldfeld 8y agoWhat science won't say because of the subjectivity, which works for both human and animal is that a tilt of the head is an open emotional signal for contemplation, and can mean the subject is comfortable and even enjoying what they're looking at. It's seen as cute because often the subject itself is finding something to be cute, adorable. It can really send a strong but sophisticated sexual or affectual signal to look at someone like that, while the eyes will be the distinguishing factor between those two meanings.
- matte_black 8y agoMaybe this is also why a straight stiff neck and a head with very little movement conveys unquestionable authority.
- personjerry 8y agoThe tilting of the head notably exposes the neck, which is the most vulnerable part of the body. As I recall from The Definitive Book of Body Language, this demonstrates trust and reduces tension for better social engagement (and is an especially attractive signal from a woman).
- rdlecler1 8y agoAlso the left side of the neck which exposes it to the right (usually dominant) hand of the counter party.
- Angostura 8y ago> exposes the neck, which is the most vulnerable part of the body. This sounds entirely made up. Especially for that portion of the population with external genitalia
- code_duck 8y agoYou have your genitalia covered up during social encounters, do you not?
- quickthrower2 8y agoNot with a cricket box
- safanycom 8y agoSound of crickets
- mirimir 8y agoSure, but hip angle is obvious.
- personjerry 8y agoYou can google "neck psychology" to verify.
- viburnum 8y agoUgh just be yourself, people are going to figure out the real you sooner or later.
- coldtea 8y agoYou'd be surprised. Besides "yourself" could be a jerk. What's good with people, as opposed to a lot of animals and inanimate matter, is that they can learn and adapt and change.
- hombre_fatal 8y agoYour real self can completely defeat your goals. Look how many people struggle with success in dating, for example. In such a position, you'll realize that you're the constant in all the failures and you owe it to yourself to evolve.
- george_morgan 8y ago“The real you” also doesn’t know math, science, how to read, operate a computer, how to cook... ...learning isn’t a bad idea.
- porjo 8y ago> The upper-eye bias is much weaker at a 90-degree rotation. "Ninety degrees is too weird," said Davidenko No kidding! I'm trying to imagine someone talking to me with their head tilted completely to one side.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- twic 8y agoHence the 'MacTilt' [1]: The lateral movement of the head to an angle of 45° to the vertical by a palliative care nurse specialist. It is intended to convey sympathy and understanding. (Mac from Macmillan nurse — a specialist palliative care nurse — and tilt.) [1] https://www.bmj.com/content/335/7633/1295#sec-12 https://www.bmj.com/content/335/7633/1295#sec-12