If they are holding one of their arms behind their back then it can suggest that they are holding back from saying something. These signals can include dilation of the pupils, pointing their feet towards the woman, speaking with a deeper voice, touching more frequently, mirroring her behaviors, leaning towards her, maintaining prolonged eye contact and giving genuine smiles. They are only superficially similar, because they give very different impressions. I’m in charge of the affairs here. It's an open position. So we can say that the person who needs to ‘get a good grip on himself’ does this gesture. This pose is commonly seen in children and young teens who are uncertain. It is believed that Niccolò Machiavelli, during his 1513 imprisonment after allegedly conspiring against the Medici family in Florence, was subjected to this form of strappado. That’s why this gesture happens behind the back. Arm tension is required to maintain both the wrist and arm clasp positions. If a man goes into this position when speaking to a woman then it can actually signal attraction. Think of a headmaster inspecting school premises, a policeman patrolling the beat, and superiors giving instructions to subordinates. You can also learn a lot from how high up the person is holding their arm as the more frustrated the person is, the higher up the arm their grip will be. If they are tight together then it would contradict having the arms behind the back slightly and may suggest that they are feeling uncertain but in this case, it would be important to consider what their normal body language looks like. [2][3] Weights may be added to the body to intensify the effect and increase the pain. This is a seated version of the Hands-on-Hips pose except the hands are behind the head with the elbows menacingly pointed out. Here's a recap of the most salient features of this gesture: This is a variation on the hands behind the back pose, and the differences are significant. He may be feeling confident because he is a confident person or because he believes he’s on top of matters in a current situation. Standard Hands Behind Back Pose. We're going to look at two commonly seen variations of the hands behind the back pose. I've seen the first stance being done almost every week day by a manager at the work place. The person exposes his full-frontal portion of the body, not feeling any need to protect the throat, vital organs and the crotch. This is another good reminder to always consider physical reasons for body language first. Definitions by the largest Idiom Dictionary. Authoritative figures display their authority using this gesture. This kind of torture would generally not last more than an hour without rest, as it would likely result in death.