As we look at our environment and all of the people surrounding us, we need to be capable of quickly and accurately classifying their behavior into at least one of our 6 primary clusters.
In this video, the punk kid is doing everything he can to posture and hopefully intimidate the guy in the black shirt into submission. Posturing falls into the Dominance Cluster and can be identified by making yourself look larger, taking up more space around you, and demonstrating ownership (or territoriality) over nearby objects.
The kid in this video shows a number of Dominant characteristics:
– He has his arms spread out while he is yelling – trying to take up more space
– Putting his hands on the garbage can – taking ownership of more space and objects that he is touching
– Being the first to break the touch barrier – showing he can do whatever he wants and is in charge
– Pointing gestures – taking ownership of whatever he is pointing towards
– Standing up on his tip-toes in an attempt to appear to taller and larger
– Shouting – voice occupying more space
– Going face-to-face with the person – showing they can enter the other person’s intimate space without repercussion
– Looks like he is trying to gain access to the guy’s house – his anchor point – pushing into an anchor point is the same type invasion as entering someone’s intimate space
If you are going to get into someone’s face and try to posture your way into winning without a fight, you should be aware of pre-event indicators that would let you know when you are about to get hit. Each time the kid pushed the man, you can see the man’s right arm come back as he is cocking it in preparation to deliver a punch. Or just don’t keep your hands at waist level when about to get hit in the face, either way.
To identify this behavior quickly, you need to build and establish your file folder for Dominant behavioral cues. Watch this video a few times and focus in on one specific gesture listed above, and then watch it again to focus on another indicator. The greater number of times you view it will help you build this file folder through detailed and deliberate repetitious practice.
How Good Are You At Finding This Cluster?
Go out this weekend and take a picture of someone displaying dominant behavior. The more you focus on identifying the cluster and capturing it on camera will help you quickly classify people attempting to establish dominance over others.