Name: Clement Chen Kit Seong

ID Number: 0319574

Course Code: PSYC 30203

Title: Journal 1

To appear bigger for fighting or courting rituals, birds will fluff their feathers, fish can expand

their body size by sucking in water, and cats or dogs make their fur stand on the end. The

hairless human, however, no longer has thick pelt to expand to make himself look more

imposing when he is fearful or angry. When we describe a scary movie we often say, “it made

my hair stand on end”; if we become angry with someone, “He made the hackles on my neck

rise”; and when we are smitten with someone, they can give us “goose bumps”. All these are the

body’s mechanical reactions to circumstances in which we attempt to make ourselves appear

larger in social situations. Modern humans have generated a gesture to help achieve a bigger

physical presence, this is called the hands on hips. It is most commonly use when a child is

arguing with its parent, the athlete waiting for his event to begin, and males who want to issue a

nonverbal challenge to other males who enter their territory. In each instance, this is a universal

gesture used to communicate that a person is ready for assertive action. It takes up more space

and has the threat value of the pointed elbows that acts as weapons, preventing others from

approaching or passing. Thus, it carries the even stronger message of anger or outrage. Besides

that, it can also be called the “achiever” stance, related to goal-directed person who is ready to

tackle their objectives or is ready to take action on something.