[John]

Some Indian and Pakistani people I’ve met have a mannerism of jiggling their head while listening to a conversation. I know some people nod or shake their heads while listening, as they mentally agree or disagree with a point made in conversation. However, this jiggling looks to me like they can’t decide whether to nod or shake their head, so they do a combination of both.

I’ve seen this stereotyped in some comedy shows, so I know its not just my imagination. Is this cultural? I’ve never seen an American or European do this. What does it mean?

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Name : John, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, City : San Francisco, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Software Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, 

[Jamie20910]

I remember seeing this covered on TLC by Cultural Anthropologist. Americans don’t have lock on the method for signalling approval, it seems some cultures, especially around the Aegean, shake their head for yes, and apparently sometimes alternate between shaking and nodding. To our eye it looks WAY strange and sends mixed signals, to them it’s totally normal.

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Name : Jamie20910, City : Baltimore, State : MD, Country : United States, 

[MK]

I dont know the answer to your question but there is a blonde and blue eyed ‘all-american’ mom at my work place that nods her head constantly while talking and if she is not in agreement with what you have to say it looks as if she has parkinsons disease.

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Name : MK, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Religion : Christian, Age : 25, City : Pittsburgh, State : PA, Country : United States, Occupation : computer repair, Education level : 2 Years of College, 

[Keisha-Joseph]

The jiggling of the head is the same as the Western practice of nodding your head up and down during conversation, so you were on the right track!

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Name : Keisha-Joseph, City : Bronx, State : NY, Country : United States, 

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