He’ll either raise both the shoulders signaling ‘Sorry, I don’t know’ or he’ll raise one shoulder more than the other making it look like a partial or single shoulder shrug. When you ask someone, “Do you know anything about this?” there are two possible shoulder movements the person can make along with the “No” reply. When a group of people is observing something, say hearing a speaker or watching a movie in a theater, a person who has to cross in front of them will usually raise their shoulder to appear smaller so as not to obstruct the view. Subordinates usually approach their superiors with their shoulders raised and when teachers are rebuking students, the latter feel small and insignificant, conveying this emotional state with their raised shoulders.

Raising the shoulders also serves to make a person appear smaller, literally and figuratively. People who feel tense and insecure keep their shoulders raised most of the time while those who feel confident have their shoulders spread out and relaxed. It’s hard to imagine a person without raised shoulders and folded arms. Imagine a person standing alone in the middle of the night on a dark and creepy street, shivering with fear. Since our shoulders are strong, they can do a good job of protecting the neck should there be some kind of real danger. We do this gesture when we hear a loud, banging sound or when we think that some heavy object is going to fall on us. Also, when we have no confidence in what we’re saying or hearing, we tend to become submissive and try to ‘protect’ ourselves.īy raising the shoulders and bringing the head down, a person is protecting his neck and throat which are delicate parts of the body.

Look over the shoulder meaning