Body language is a form of nonverbal communication. It includes posture, gestures, facial expressions, and eye contact. Body language is used to convey feelings and thoughts.
When we communicate with others, we use both verbal and nonverbal cues. Nonverbal cues include our body language, and this can be either positive or negative. One form of negative body language is digital flexion, which is when we close our hands into a fist.
This can convey hostility, anger, or frustration. If we see someone with their fists clenched, we might interpret this as a sign that they’re feeling aggressive.
Flexing our fingers can also be a form of digital flexion, and this is often done when we’re feeling anxious or stressed. While digital flexion can
Define Digital Flexion.
Digital flexion is when the hand and fingers come together and the fingers curl inward. This behavior is not uncommon, occurring gradually and with most often just a small finger movement. Digital flexion is a nonverbal body language cue for displaying disagreement, doubt, anger, stress, or fear. This is a subconscious body language cue. Digital flexion is the opposite of digital extension and is seen as a negative body language cue.
How Can We Use Digital Flexion When We Spot It?
In a conversation with your boss, you propose a business solution. Everything seems to be going well until you mention the cost of a part of your project. You see your boss’ fingers move inward. This is a negative point, you can address it by asking a question about the cost or bringing it up at the end of the conversation.
Another scenario is when you’re out with friends and the conversation turns to partners/husbands and you see digital flexion, you know there’s something up with them or it’s a pain point that they may or may not want to talk about.
In everyday conversation, pay attention to what the hands and fingers are doing. This nonverbal cue tells you a lot about what a person is really thinking.
What Can You Do When You Spot Digital Flexion?
When spotting digital flexion in a person, think back to where you saw the hand move, what was said, who entered the room, and what was the topic of conversation.
If you’re selling something, this may be the sticking point. If you’re out on a social occasion, then it may be a topic to avoid.
What are some of the most common mistakes people make when using digital flexion body language?
The most common mistake people make when using digital flexion body language is not reading the context of the situation. There are no absolutes when it comes to body language, we need to read in clusters of information and have a baseline to get a real understanding.
You can’t just take digital flexion on its own to mean something is negative, there has to be a couple of nonverbal cues around the topic to get a real good understanding. To learn more about reading body language, check out this blog post.
The most common mistake people make when using digital flexion body language is not maintaining eye contact. You can avoid this by paying attention to detail, being organised and taking your time and subtly looking at your hands and fingers.
Summary
Digital flexion in body language is a great nonverbal cue to spot negative feelings in another person during a conversation or in a room with them. You can use this to your advantage by paying attention and steering the conversation around topics or addressing any negatives to change another person’s thought process.
We hope you enjoyed reading the article about digital flexion and body language. Check out our other post here for more interesting topics on nonverbal communication.
