Body Language for Pride and Shame is Just Natural

When a person tastes victory, such as Michael Phelps winning the gold at the Olympics, he will raise his hands and puff out his chest. Apes and monkeys do this, too. And you don't even have to learn how to do it!

Scientists from the University of British Columbia and San Francisco State University looked at thousands of photographs of judo matches taken during the 2004 Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games in Athens, for such classic in-your-face victory moves as clenched fists, thrown-back heads and outstretched arms.

The images of the 140 blind and sighted athletes from 37 countries revealed that Paralympic athletes blind from birth struck the same triumphant stance as sighted Olympic athletes. Since the blind athletes could not have learned the victory dance by watching others, the scientists concluded that the behavior was innate.

They found that the dance was the same for all, regardless of what culture or country they came from.

The converse gestures of slumping shoulders and downcast face when experiencing a defeat is also innate.

Blind athletes across all cultures slumped their shoulders and narrowed their chests, a posture that signals shame in humans and submission in other primates. Sighted athletes from most parts of the world did the same.

However, athletes from some countries tend to hide their feelings of shame in defeat by putting on a brave or nonchalant front. Researchers speculate this is a learned response. Link -Thanks, Geekazoid!

(image credit: Mark J. Rebilas/U.S. Presswire)