THE VICTORY DANCEStudents of emotional intelligence and body language will not find it surprising that researchers are pointing out that the human postures and gestures of triumph seen so often at the Olympics, are innate (found in both blind and sighted athletes, and present in every culture and country). They are also used by primates and other animals. It's just the way we say WA-HOOOO! I DID IT!
It's The Victory Dance - the one we saw when swimmer Phelps and his teammates won the men's 400-meter freestyle relay.
Says the LA Times:
This display of human pride and exuberance ... closely resembles the
dominance displays of chimps and monkeys, which also feature outstretched arms and exaggerated postures...The animal world is filled with inflated displays of superiority, noted Daniel M.T. Fessler, a UCLA anthropologist not involved in the research. Birds puff themselves up and cats arch their backs to make themselves look bigger and scarier to adversaries, he said.
It's a great release of that exuberant energy, too.
Ain't it great to win!
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