No.04
And what are nonverbal expressions of power and dominance? Well, this is what they are. So in the animal kingdom, they are about expanding. So you make yourself big, you stretch out, you take up space, you’re basically opening up. It’s about opening up. And this is true across the animal kingdom. It’s not just limited to primates. And humans do the same thing. So they do this both when they have power sort of chronically, and also when they’re feeling powerful in the moment. And this one is especially interesting because it really shows us how universal and old these expressions of power are. This expression, which is known as pride, Jessica Tracy has studied. She shows that people who are born with sight and people who are congenitally blind do this when they win at a physical competition. So when they cross the finish line and they’ve won, it doesn’t matter if they’ve never seen anyone do it. They do this. So the arms up in the V, the chin is slightly lifted.
What do we do when we feel powerless? We do exactly the opposite. We close up. We wrap ourselves up. We make ourselves small. We don’t want to bump into the person next to us. So again, both animals and humans do the same thing.
And this is what happens when you put together high and low power. So what we tend to do when it comes to power is that we complement the other’s nonverbals. So if someone is being really powerful with us, we tend to make ourselves smaller. We don’t mirror them. We do the opposite of them.
ボキャブラリー
And what are nonverbal expressions of power and dominance? Well, this is what they are. So in the animal kingdom, they are about expanding. So you make yourself big, you stretch out, you take up space, you’re basically opening up. It’s about opening up. And this is true across the animal kingdom. It’s not just limited to primates. And humans do the same thing. So they do this both when they have power sort of chronically, and also when they’re feeling powerful in the moment. And this one is especially interesting because it really shows us how universal and old these expressions of power are. This expression, which is known as pride, Jessica Tracy has studied. She shows that people who are born with sight and people who are congenitally blind do this when they win at a physical competition. So when they cross the finish line and they’ve won, it doesn’t matter if they’ve never seen anyone do it. They do this. So the arms up in the V, the chin is slightly lifted.
What do we do when we feel powerless? We do exactly the opposite. We close up. We wrap ourselves up. We make ourselves small. We don’t want to bump into the person next to us. So again, both animals and humans do the same thing.
And this is what happens when you put together high and low power. So what we tend to do when it comes to power is that we complement the other’s nonverbals. So if someone is being really powerful with us, we tend to make ourselves smaller. We don’t mirror them. We do the opposite of them.
the animal kingdom：動物界
expand：n. 広がる、ふくらむ、拡大する、拡張する、発展する（ ここでは「力と支配の非言語表現とは何か」ということなので、「広がること」つまり、「自分を大きく見せること」だと言っている。）
stretch out：手の伸ばす、背伸びをする、羽を伸ばす
take up：（物が空間を）占める、取る
open up：広がる、広くなる
primate：霊長類の動物：[〜s]霊長類
chronically：adv. 慢性的に、絶えず
in the moment：その瞬間に
universal and old：普遍的で古い（直前のhowはこの二つにかかっている。「これらの力の表現がいかに普遍的で古いか」）
Jessica Tracy：ジェシカ・トレイシー（ブリティッシュ・コロンビア大学の心理学准教授）
pride: n. プライド、誇り、自尊心
sight：n. 視力、視覚
congenitally：adv. 先天的に、生来（congenital ：a. 生まれつきの、先天的な）
blind：a. 盲目の、目の見えない
physical competition：運動競技
finish line：ゴールライン、決勝線（cross the finish lineで「ゴールラインを切る」）
the arms up in the V：腕がV字型の挙げられて
slightly：わずかに、少し、かすかに
powerless：a. 無力な、非力な
opposite：n. 反対、反対の物
bump into ~：〜に衝突する、ぶつかる
put together：組み立てる、組み合わせる、考え合わせる、一緒にする
when it comes to ~：〜のことになると、〜に関して言えば
complement：vt. 補足する、補完する
mirror：vt. 〜を映す、反映する
解説
生まれつき盲目の人が運動競技で勝った時、目の見える人と同じように腕をVの字に突き上げる、というのは興味深いですね。
私たちが普段考えているよりも、体の姿勢というものがより密接に心と結びついていることが分かります。