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Spectator
3 days ago
- General
- Spectator
The ‘Gen Z stare' is another act of teenage rebellion
The latest complaint made against Generation Z is that its members now frequently assume a blank, glassy-eyed expression of indifference and boredom. The 'Gen Z stare', as it's known, has become so prevalent among those born between 1997 and 2012 that it's now a source of habitual frustration and annoyance among their elders – the millennials who coined this term. According to a Times report over the weekend, young parents now continually protest at having to confront this pose among their offspring, a demeanour that manifests itself in lack of eye contact and disregard for basic social niceties. This won't come as a surprise to those who recognise that modern technology, particularly smartphones, has had a deleterious influence on the youngest members of society. The increasing inability of Gen Z to engage in forms of ordinary social engagement is one widely accepted symptom of our technological revolution. There may be other factors, too. The lockdown years of 2020-21 severely stalled and stilted the socialisation and development of a youth at a crucial stage. Some people, speaking in their defence, say that the 'Gen Z stare' reflects a justified gloom and pessimism in that, in relation to future job prospects or the likelihood of ever owning their own home, the youth today have much reason to look disenchanted. In truth, teenagers and those in their early twenties have always been prone to behave like this. Geoff Beattie, a psychology professor at Edge Hill University in Lancashire, explains this perceived disengagement as 'a generational marker, an attempt to project the generation's values of authenticity and individuality'. It's always been thus with teenagers, ever since that word became common parlance in the 1950s. That was the decade which saw the publication of The Catcher In The Rye and the release of the film Rebel Without A Cause. These are two works that encapsulated a generational conflict between rebellious adolescents whose elders didn't understand them – a mutual misunderstanding hindered by teenagers never being masters at expressing themselves articulately or coherently. Affected nonchalance or genuine anomie has been a rite of passage for youths making their first, difficult and sometimes traumatic steps into the mental and physical grown-up world. It's why it's featured prominently in another offshoot of the 1950s: rock 'n' roll. Since then, pop groups have been fond of gazing from the front cover of their albums with looks of distraction, whether it be the Beatles appearing jaded and distorted on the sleeve of Rubber Soul (1965), or The Cure appearing in warped, morbid infra-red on the cover of Pornography (1982), their ultimate tribute to adolescent misery. Along with The Smiths, The Cure appealed most to the alienated and disaffected youths in the 1980s, and to judge by their undimmed popularity to this day, to adolescents of succeeding generations. This is a demographic eternally prone to existential angst. It was no coincidence that songs by The Cure referenced Albert Camus ('Killing an Arab') or Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast series ('The Drowning Man'). Robert Smith, their lead singer and intellectual driving force, did what David Bowie and Patti Smith had done in the 1970s, when they had drawn inspiration from Rimbaud and William Burroughs: appeal to a romantic or introspective artistic inheritance. The Goths, of whom The Cure were the undisputed figureheads, assumed that name for a good reason. Their heirs of the 21st century, Emo kids, came to dress in black and lock themselves in their bedrooms for the same reasons: they hated a world that didn't understand them. This spirit of disenchantment has continued to manifest itself over the years. We witnessed it in grunge in the 1990s, whose aficionados bore an appearance of world-weary disaffection – the dishevelled hobo uniform of that scene was not accidental. Tragically, it turned out that Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain was deadly serious when he sung in 1993 'I Hate Myself And Want To Die', but that track did encapsulate a mood of detachment and indifference. Oasis even immortalised in song that decade's youthful declaration of nonchalance: 'whatever'. The 'Gen Z stare' is, in many respects, the latest manifestation of a decades-old phenomenon. As the sociologist Dick Hebdige wrote in his 1979 work on youth culture, Subculture, The Meaning of Style, in respect of this tendency: Punk represents the most recent phrase in this process. In punk, alienation assumed an almost tangible quality. It could almost be grasped. It gave itself up to the cameras in 'blandness', the removal of expression (see any photograph of any punk group), refusal to speak and be positioned… the solipsism, the neurosis, the cosmetic rage. Teens will forever present themselves as bored. Those mired in that troubling transitional point in life will often do so out of defiance and self-differentiation, in rebellion against a world they often don't understand, and one which will seldom understand them.
The Sun
09-05-2025
- The Sun
The telltale signs to spot a liar – from slow hand clue that's a real giveaway & the trick they use to call your bluff
THE key mistakes everyone makes when trying to catch out a liar have been revealed - and some are not as telling as you may believe. Research suggests people lie once every day on average, ranging from little fibs to spare your feelings, to serious deceit by cheating partners. 4 4 It turns out our ability to spot liars isn't all that good, with little over half (54 per cent) of us able to pick up on a porkie. And the reason is because we're looking out for the wrong signs, Geoff Beattie, Professor of Psychology at Edge Hill University, told The Sun. "There are no telltale signs of lying per se," he explained. "There are indicators of planning in speech when you're making something up. "And there are indicators of negative emotions. "A lot of people feel shame or guilt or embarrassment when they're lying. "But some people don't, which of course makes it more complicated." Here are some of the biggest misconceptions about spotting a liar. Eye contact 4 Eye contact is the biggest telltale sign that people seem to believe in. The problem is, every liar knows of that trick and will do everything in their power to stop themselves from avoiding eye contact. How close you get to a person can unintentionally affect their eye contact too, making it appear like they're lying when they're not. "My mother always said she could tell when I was lying, she said, because you just can't look me in the eye," explains Professor Beattie. "She would lean forward when she'd ask the question and research has shown the police do exactly the same thing. "You've got somebody, you think they're guilty, you lean forward. "Well, the point about eye contact, it's also affected by interpersonal distance. "So if you're sitting very close to someone and they lean forward, you look away." Fidgeting and movements Another misconception is that fidgeting or excessive shifting is a sign that someone is lying to you. If anything, you need to look out for less movement, Professor Beattie says. "They think people are going to be nervous and therefore they move more," he continued. "All the indication is that people move less when they're lying. "So, what they're trying to do is they're trying to dampen down behaviours to give less away. "The best indicators of lying seems to be that people make fewer hand movements and fewer foot movements when they're lying, not more as people expect." However, gesture-speech mismatches could be a sign. Often when people speak they tend to move their hands to emphasis what they're saying. For example, if someone is talking about a long journey they might stretch their arms and hands out. "If they don't dampen down their gestural movement, occasionally they will say something and the gestural movement doesn't match what they're saying," he adds. Smiles A liar may use a smile to mask their emotions - but how long it stays on their face matters. Those telling a porkie tend to smile and it fades quickly, whereas those with not lying have smiles that fade a lot slower from their face. There's also something called micro-expressions, which are the really brief expressions that start appearing just before you get the masking smile in place - but they're so quick most people miss them. "If you play the videos back in slow motion, people can say, oh, there's something quite strange there or I didn't notice that," Professor Beattie says. "There's a kind of look of fear or look of sadness which they didn't pick up." Professor Beattie has published a book on the subject called Lies, Lying and Liars: A Psychological Analysis. 4
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Daring Macron risks angering Trump in touchy-feely White House showdown
There were hugs, back slaps and touching knees as Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron revived their tactile displays of diplomacy in the Oval Office. Yet the French president made an unusually daring move on Monday as the leaders jostled to use body language as a power play. Mr Trump, who tries to exude an alpha male supremacy, likes to 'get the upper hand in close combat sports', explained Prof Geoffrey Beattie, a body language expert from Edge Hill University, who noted the US president's love of handshake diplomacy. However, during Mr Macron's visit to the White House to present a European plan for peace in Ukraine, 'he contested Trump's right to dominate the interaction', the psychologist said, adding: 'It was no longer the boss and the apprentice.' In a particularly tense moment, Mr Macron, 47, interrupted his 78-year-old counterpart as Mr Trump falsely claimed that Europe was 'loaning' money to Ukraine and would get 'their money back'. Mr Macron put his hand on Mr Trump's arm and carefully corrected him: 'No, in fact, to be frank, we paid 60 per cent of the total default.' Like the US, he said, it was through a mix of grants, loans and guarantees, adding: 'We provided real money, to be clear.' This physical interjection was a 'daring move in this body language politics … and one that is uncommon in interactions with American leaders', Prof Beattie said. He added: 'He is wrestling for control of the interaction, by stopping him gesturing or interrupting. Trump looks surprised, and it takes him a few seconds to remember how to put on a patronising face.' In doing so, Prof Beattie said Mr Trump was forced to change his power strategy and so 'turns to the reporters in the room, looking for a kind of alliance, waving his other free hand to say, 'I don't believe this''. 'It is as if he is saying: 'Give the boy a chance,' in a patronising way,' he said. Throughout the press conference, which took place on the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Mr Macron had been unusually forthright in his gestures that told Mr Trump 'not to interrupt', Prof Beattie said. During Mr Trump's first term, Mr Macron was one of the first world leaders to fight back against the US president's trick of accepting handshakes and then yanking world leaders off-balance. In an infamous incident in 2017, he gave Mr Trump a white-knuckle handshake and the squeezing duel left white finger marks on his hand. A year later, Mr Trump took hold of Mr Macron's hand and practically dragged him into the Oval Office in an overt – and well-photographed – symbol of dominance. On Monday, Mr Macron also made it clear he disagreed with Mr Trump on key points, including clearly labelled Russia as the 'aggressor', a point on which Mr Trump wavered last week when he wrongly accused Ukraine of starting the war. The two presidents' high-profile meeting came amid a growing rift between Washington and Europe over Ukraine, following a major policy shift by the Trump administration to restart diplomacy with Russia. But both leaders appeared on the charm offensive as Mr Macron hailed their 'friendship from your first term', while Mr Trump ended the conference telling the Frenchman to 'say hello to your beautiful wife'. Prof Beattie said: 'From the footage, it's clear Trump doesn't want to go head-to-head with Macron, but he does want to come out as the winner. 'He is a narcissist, who wants to seem untouchable, but we all know he is thin-skinned.' He added that Mr Macron, at times, clearly had more to say but yielded the floor to Mr Trump in a clear sign that 'he is still playing the subordinate role'. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
25-02-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Daring Macron risks angering Trump in touchy-feely White House showdown
There were hugs, back slaps and touching knees as Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron revived their tactile displays of diplomacy in the Oval Office. Yet the French president made an unusually daring move on Monday as the leaders jostled to use body language as a power play. Mr Trump, who tries to exude an alpha male supremacy, likes to 'get the upper hand in close combat sports', explained Prof Geoffrey Beattie, a body language expert from Edge Hill University, who noted the US president's love of handshake diplomacy. However, during Mr Macron's visit to the White House to present a European plan for peace in Ukraine, 'he contested Trump's right to dominate the interaction', the psychologist said, adding: 'It was no longer the boss and the apprentice.' In a particularly tense moment, Mr Macron, 47, interrupted his 78-year-old counterpart as Mr Trump falsely claimed that Europe was 'loaning' money to Ukraine and would get 'their money back'. Mr Macron put his hand on Mr Trump's arm and carefully corrected him: 'No, in fact, to be frank, we paid 60 per cent of the total default.' Like the US, he said, it was through a mix of grants, loans and guarantees, adding: 'We provided real money, to be clear.' This physical interjection was a 'daring move in this body language politics … and one that is uncommon in interactions with American leaders', Prof Beattie said. He added: 'He is wrestling for control of the interaction, by stopping him gesturing or interrupting. Trump looks surprised, and it takes him a few seconds to remember how to put on a patronising face.' In doing so, Prof Beattie said Mr Trump was forced to change his power strategy and so 'turns to the reporters in the room, looking for a kind of alliance, waving his other free hand to say, 'I don't believe this''. 'It is as if he is saying: 'Give the boy a chance,' in a patronising way,' he said. Throughout the press conference, which took place on the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Mr Macron had been unusually forthright in his gestures that told Mr Trump 'not to interrupt', Prof Beattie said. During Mr Trump's first term, Mr Macron was one of the first world leaders to fight back against the US president's trick of accepting handshakes and then yanking world leaders off-balance. In an infamous incident in 2017, he gave Mr Trump a white-knuckle handshake and the squeezing duel left white finger marks on his hand. A year later, Mr Trump took hold of Mr Macron's hand and practically dragged him into the Oval Office in an overt – and well-photographed – symbol of dominance. On Monday, Mr Macron also made it clear he disagreed with Mr Trump on key points, including clearly labelled Russia as the 'aggressor', a point on which Mr Trump wavered last week when he wrongly accused Ukraine of starting the war. The two presidents' high-profile meeting came amid a growing rift between Washington and Europe over Ukraine, following a major policy shift by the Trump administration to restart diplomacy with Russia. But both leaders appeared on the charm offensive as Mr Macron hailed their 'friendship from your first term', while Mr Trump ended the conference telling the Frenchman to 'say hello to your beautiful wife'. Prof Beattie said: 'From the footage, it's clear Trump doesn't want to go head-to-head with Macron, but he does want to come out as the winner. 'He is a narcissist, who wants to seem untouchable, but we all know he is thin-skinned.'
