Communication is inherent to the person. This means that a human being communicates information about himself even when he does not express words. Body language is manifested through posture and gestures. In relation to female body language, one of the possible gestures to interpret is touching one’s hair. Something that is more common in those girls who wear long hair. ¿What does it mean when a woman constantly touches her hair? In Psychology-Online, we analyze the different possible meanings that are always accompanied by a specific context, since gestural communication is related to the environment in which it occurs.
A gesture as seemingly simple as touching your hair can have different meanings depending on the moment and the situation.
1. A nervous habit
A person may develop gestures that they perform on impulse, especially in situations in which they are subject to some type of added stress. It is one of the emotional states that usually manifests itself on a physical level through the body’s own language. Constantly touching your hair can be one of those expressions that reveal a certain nervousness on the part of the person involved in a situation that forces them to go outside their comfort zone.
In those cases in which the gesture of touching one’s hair reveals some symptom of nervousness, one’s own insecurity is also perceived.
2. Self-esteem
Self-love is manifested through acceptance of one’s own body and emotional image. When a woman looks in the mirror, she observes the projection of her own reflection. In relation to the aesthetic level and the concept of beauty, hair is one of the factors that most influences one’s own image. For this reason, the gesture of touching your hair frequently can be a simple gesture of femininity.
In relation to the self-concept that a person has of themselves based on their body image, if a person feels that their hair is one of the characteristics that they like most about their image, this gesture of touching their hair on a regular basis is a manifestation of this fact.
3. Reaffirmation in the mirror
Currently, a person observes his or her own image recurrently in the presence of mirrors at home, the elevator, clothing stores, shop windows… The perfectionism syndrome associated with one’s own image is also common in those people who touch up their hair. hair frequently to show off perfect hair at all times, that is, to avoid a disheveled effect. Furthermore, in an era as visual as the current one in which the power of the selfie reflects the attitude of posing repeatedly in front of the camera, it is also common for each person to take care of all the details to show their best version, and retouching the hair is usually be a common gesture in these circumstances. Therefore, in these cases, this gesture reflects an interest in taking care of one’s own image.
4. A gesture of concentration
For example, a girl who brushes her hair away from her face to put it up practically in a ponytail or bun reflects a comfort gesture which promotes the state of concentration necessary to read a book, study a text or carry out a task on which you really want to focus.
Just as to understand the meaning of a word it is important to put it in the context of the sentence and the situation in which it occurred, when interpreting body language, it is also convenient to put it in relation to the moment and the circumstances in which it occurred. it shows.
While the gesture of touching your hair in a job interview can be a symptom of nervousness about the expectations of the situation, for example, on the contrary, within the , this bodily gesture accompanied by other visual signs can project interest and attraction. In that case, the gesture of touching your hair is a sign of flirtation.
Men and women, when they want to seduce a person they are interested in, try to project the best version of themselves. And in both cases, there is greater attention to caring for one’s own image. And when a woman touches her hair when she is with that person she likes, she makes an aesthetic gesture that connects with that emotional plane through that desire to please and capture the interest of others from one’s own personal attractiveness.
However, it is also important to remember that, beyond the desire to seek meaning in all body language gestures, human beings are very complex and just as words can hide many silences, in the same way, body language is complex enough to establish universal conclusions from gestures that cannot always be read literally.