Hugging It Out:...A body-language expert searched photos of his visits with Latin American leaders

[Judi Lynn]

Hugging It Out
How is Bush’s south-of-the-border swing going, really? A body-language expert searched photos of his visits with Latin American leaders for clues about the man and his mission.

Web exclusive
By Susanna Schrobsdorff
Newsweek
Updated: 3:45 p.m. CT March 13, 2007
March 13, 2007 - What can a staged grip-and-grin picture tell you about international relations? A lot, says Peter Andersen, author of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Body Language" (Alpha) and professor of communications at San Diego State University. "The body language of world leaders is reflective of their attitudes either toward the individual or toward the country or the culture," he explains. The president suffers poor approval ratings in the region, and anti-Bush demonstrations have been common during the trip. So it’s not surprising that some of the photo ops from the five-nation Latin American tour reflect tension, Andersen says. "Bush's body language in many of the images from this trip is that of someone who's either very reluctant or somewhat inept, and that confirms the image that a lot of people in those countries and around the world have already developed of him." NEWSWEEK's Susanna Schrobsdorff asked Andersen to review photos from the trip to Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico. Excerpts:NEWSWEEK: Why are images so key to how we regard world leaders?

Peter Andersen:Pictures transcend culture and literacy levels. You don't have to read all of a 2,000-word newsmagazine cover story to get something from it. That image on the cover, it has irrefutable and intrinsic meaning. You can have an opposing article, but there's no way to refute a photo. It is what it is and it resonates deeply within us for that reason. Images even affect different parts of the brain than language does. The structures that process face are in a part of the brain that's very intuition and quick judgment. It has a logic of its own and it's extraordinarily powerful.

The photos of George Bush in Latin America were mostly formal, scripted events with regional leaders. What can we glean from those kinds of staged moments?

First of all, in those situations you're dealing with intercultural interactions. Body language is not identical across cultures, but it's still revealing. In Japan, you can see what's a reluctant bow, or a perfunctory bow. Part of it is how deep is the bow, how long it's held. Looking at these kinds of images, you can find out a lot from the attitudes, facial expressions, posture and the way the leaders touch each other. These photos are a rich source of all three kinds of information.
(snip/...)http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17597234/site/newsweek/?from=rss

[durtee librul]

1. Somewhat inept?

George? nahhhhhhh, not OUR boy George......he can't be inept, his momma made him eat dinner with the 'family' every night so he would stay away from drugs and evil drink. (I wish I could find that damn commercial on line to post here - it is a hoot and a half! It's on CBS early morning news about 5:30 a.m. EST. Help anyone?)

[msongs]

2. wish this article had more substance and examples nt

[Judi Lynn]

3. Same here. It seems only 1/4th as long as it should be.

You have to wonder if they didn't slip up and leave the rest of it somewhere....

There have been some GREAT photos from the last few days which would have been so useful, too. This really is a big disappointment, but at least it's good to see that photo of him clutching Uribe, too!

[ninkasi]

5. I agree

While it's nice to know that a bow in Japan can last longer as a sign of respect, it doesn't explain Bush's body language on his tour. I really don't see the point of the article, since it say much about the specifics of his body language. It says that body language can tell us a lot, but he failed to point out exactly what it said.

[DavidDvorkin]

4. There's no such thing as a body language expert

It's a pseudoscience.