Everyone sends nonverbal signals at work, often without a second thought. A nurse at the end of a long shift may cross their arms, and a new manager may frown in concentration during a tense meeting.
Colleagues and customers notice these cues and attach meaning to them, sometimes accurately and sometimes not. Learning to recognize negative body language in yourself and others can help you check your assumptions, respond calmly, and spot signs that tension is rising.
What Is Negative Body Language?
Negative body language refers to non-verbal cues that convey discomfort, disinterest, or negativity, often without the person even realizing it. Common examples include crossed arms, avoided eye contact, eye-rolling, and checking a phone while someone is talking.
These cues are often unconscious and may reflect stress, fatigue, or physical discomfort instead of hostility. Treat them as clues to the emotions and needs beneath the surface. For a broader overview, see this guide to reading body language at work.
You may have heard of the 7-38-55 rule, a popular reading of psychologist Albert Mehrabian’s research that says words carry only 7% of a message. In Mehrabian’s own explanation, he limits the formula to messages about feelings and attitudes. As he puts it, “Unless a communicator is talking about their feelings or attitudes, these equations are not applicable.”
In practice, when words and body language disagree about how someone feels, people tend to believe the body language and tone. Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Libraries’ textbook on nonverbal cues seen as authentic says a clashing cue “is likely to be perceived as the authentic message.” When nonverbal communication clashes with what you’re verbally expressing, it sends the wrong message to colleagues.
10 Negative Body Language Examples at Work
The examples below are cues people often read as defensive or dismissive. Each one can also have an innocent explanation.
Crossed Arms and Closed Posture
Crossed arms are often read as defensive. The person may simply be cold, tired, or comfortable in that position. Leaning back in your chair may be read the same way, especially with folded arms.
Lee and colleagues’ 2013 crossed arms and trust study in Frontiers in Psychology took place in a lab. It linked a set of cues, including crossed arms, leaning back, and face or hand touching, to lower trust.
Avoiding Eye Contact (or Staring)
Failing to make direct eye contact can be read as disinterest or rudeness in many U.S. settings. Those readings can be wrong, since the VCU textbook notes that eye-contact norms differ across cultures and among groups within the U.S. At the other extreme, a prolonged, fixed stare can feel challenging or intimidating, especially when it’s paired with a tense face.
Eye-Rolling, Frowning, and Contempt Expressions
Facial expressions like frowning, grimacing, or rolling your eyes can instantly sour an interaction.
In their research on contempt expressions, psychologists David Matsumoto and Paul Ekman describe a one-sided lip raise and tighten as the face of contempt. Their 2004 paper calls it a proposed seventh expression, added to six that are broadly recognized across cultures, and reports lower agreement on it.
Research from the Gottman Institute on couples links eye-rolling and sneering to contempt, as described by the Gottman Institute on contempt. At work, an eye-roll may be read as disrespect, even if the person’s frustration is about something else.
Overly Animated Gestures and Finger Pointing
Hand gestures can send mixed signals. Overly animated movements may come off as aggressive or nervous. Pointing a finger at someone may feel threatening, and the VCU textbook notes that pointing at people is considered rude in some cultures.
Other Common Examples
These four smaller habits are worth watching in yourself.
- Checking your phone or the clock while someone talks may suggest that your attention is somewhere else.
- Foot tapping and fidgeting are usually unintentional, and the Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries textbook says most such “adaptor” movements aren’t meant to send a message.
- If you need to end a conversation, say so before you turn away.
- If you disagree, say so calmly instead of nodding along.
In correlational boss phubbing research published in Personality and Individual Differences, a boss checking their phone during interactions was linked to lower employee job performance. Many of these cues show up when attention drifts, so learning the difference between passive versus active listening can help you catch them in yourself.
Aggressive Body Language: Warning Signs to Take Seriously
Aggressive body language can signal rising anger or a possible threat. That sets it apart from negative body language, which more often reflects discomfort, boredom, or stress.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) offers general security guidance on spotting escalation. CISA’s guide to warning signs lists observable behaviors such as a clenched jaw or balled fists, pacing, trembling, and violating others’ personal space. The same CISA guide cautions that people have bad days, and a bad day doesn’t mean someone intends to cause harm.
CISA also stresses that judging a threat requires context and a fuller picture of the person’s circumstances.
Coworkers and frontline staff often notice other cues, such as a raised voice paired with moving into your personal space, a fixed stare, or finger pointing. The University of Arizona’s open nursing textbook, which offers guidance for patient care settings, lists “staring with a fixed look” in its nursing guidance on warning cues. The same textbook cautions that violent behavior may erupt without warning.
Finger pointing appears as a threatening gesture to avoid in 2020 CDC workplace violence training guidance for retail and service workplaces. One cue alone rarely tells you much, but several together, or a sudden change from how someone usually acts, may be worth taking seriously.
Understanding the stages of the escalation cycle can help you recognize when tension is building. In BLS’s 2021–22 workplace violence fact sheet, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 57,610 nonfatal private-industry injury cases, a two-year total.
BLS counts only cases that required days away from work, job restriction, or transfer, at an annualized rate of 2.9 per 10,000 full-time workers. The rate was 14.2 in health care and social assistance, BLS reports. These figures count injuries and don’t measure body language.
If there’s an immediate threat of violence or serious harm, step away and follow your organization’s emergency procedures. Involve security, HR, or emergency services as needed. De-escalation can support safety, and it never replaces your workplace’s safety protocols.
Why Body Language Is a Clue, Not a Verdict
A single gesture rarely tells the whole story, and clusters of cues and changes from someone’s usual baseline are more worth taking seriously. CISA’s guide describes baseline behavior as a person’s normal mood and typical responses to everyday activities. A coworker who always crosses their arms is probably just comfortable, while one who suddenly goes quiet and turns away may be dealing with something.
Culture also shapes what feels normal, including expectations about eye contact and personal space. UC Santa Barbara’s CSISS summary of Edward Hall’s proxemics says Hall described typical U.S. conversation distance as roughly 4 to 7 feet, versus roughly half that in many parts of Europe. Someone who stands farther away or looks down while listening may be following familiar norms.
A Stanford University report on Jeremy Bailenson’s research explains how video calls change nonverbal cues. The Stanford report notes that “in video chats, we have to work harder to send and receive signals.” For example, a colleague who looks away from the camera may be reading notes or glancing at another window.
Instead of taking a defensive posture at face value, consider asking open-ended questions to engage your colleague in a more constructive dialogue. A short question can reveal the stress, need, or emotion behind a cue.
How Negative Body Language Affects Working Relationships
Negative body language can shape how people feel about working together. When someone’s posture contradicts their words, colleagues may start guessing. Nonverbal communication like this sends mixed signals, leaving others to question intentions and feelings.
A person may be unaware that their body language is making colleagues feel undervalued or ignored. A leader’s emotional cues may carry extra weight.
A 2022 survey-based study in Frontiers in Psychology examined leader emotions and employee silence among employees in Taiwan. It found that leaders’ negative emotional expression was linked to employee silence through lower psychological safety.
How to Check Your Own Body Language
If you frequently find yourself with crossed arms during conversations, ask yourself why. Are you feeling defensive, or is it just a habit that’s sending the wrong message?
A quick self-check before meetings, assessing whether your posture is relaxed or if you’re avoiding eye contact, can go a long way. Stress can show up as self-touch, often without awareness.
A 2022 self-touch and anxiety study in the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior linked higher anxiety to more self-touch during conversations, a correlational finding. Before a difficult conversation, take a slow breath, drop your shoulders, and unclench your jaw.
During the conversation, keep your words, tone, and posture in agreement by facing the person and keeping your voice even. You might say, “I want to understand what happened.”
How to Respond When You Notice Negative Body Language
A calm, curious response often helps when you notice negative body language in someone else. Keep your own posture open, give the person some physical space, and avoid mirroring tension with a sharp tone.
If the cue seems tied to a conversation, check in privately with an open-ended question like these.
- You might say, “I noticed you had your arms crossed during the meeting. Is there anything on your mind?”
- You could ask, “You seemed quiet when we talked about the schedule. How are you feeling about it?”
- You might try, “It sounds like this has been frustrating. What would help right now?”
Respond to the feeling behind the gesture. Pointing out crossed arms can feel like criticism, while acknowledging frustration can help someone feel heard. These steps to de-escalate a situation go into more detail.
If the cues look aggressive, slow down, lower your voice, and keep a comfortable distance. Short, calm sentences such as “I can see you’re upset, and I want to help” may lower the temperature. This guide to verbal de-escalation techniques offers more phrases.
Build Your De-Escalation Skills
The Peaceful Leaders Academy De-Escalation Training for Customer Service course is self-paced and takes about 90 minutes. It covers a basic sequence for de-escalating, emotional self-management tools, and reflective listening techniques. Explore the online de-escalation course to build calm, confident responses.
