Feet on desk
Feet on the desk: relaxation in the West, serious insubordination elsewhere.
Meaning
Target direction : Relaxation, familiarity, personal comfort or arrogance.
Interpreted meaning : Mépris absolu, insubordination ou insult majeure en cultures hiérarchiques.
Geography of misunderstanding
Offensive
- china-continental
- japan
- south-korea
- taiwan
- hong-kong
- mongolia
- vietnam
- thailand
- indonesia
- malaysia
- philippines
- singapore
- myanmar
- cambodia
- laos
- egypt
- saudi-arabia
- uae
- qatar
- kuwait
- bahrain
- oman
- lebanon
- syria
- jordan
- iraq
Neutral
- usa
- canada
Not documented
- peuples-autochtones
- afrique-ouest
1. The gesture and its expected meaning
Relaxation, familiarity, personal comfort or arrogance. Biomechanics: chair tilted, feet rested desk/table, postural relaxation. Western context (USA, Canada): relaxed, confident, status-display familiarity. Poyatos (2002) analyzes as inverted hierarchical emblem: superior shows dominance through relaxed posture.
2. Where things go wrong: the geography of misunderstanding
Absolute contempt, insubordination or major insult in hierarchical cultures. East Asia (China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mongolia), Middle East, South Asia: office feet = extreme hierarchical violation, absolute contempt for interlocutor. In Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, also offensive (feet = impure, rejection).
3. Historical background
Status-display ritual (Poyatos 2002, Ekman 1985). Startup culture 1990s popularizes relaxed posture. Confucianism opposes strict postural hierarchy: table legs = rejection of Confucian civility.
4. famous documented incidents
January 2006: U.S. executive in meeting in Thailand puts feet up on desk; Thai client leaves meeting silently; incident resolved with formal apology (Bloomberg Business). September 2009: British diplomat in China lifts chair legs during trade negotiation; Chinese delegation interprets as major insult; Foreign Office report notes incident. March 2011: US startup CEO at Asian investor meeting puts feet up; investors withdraw; incident documented by VentureBeat.
5. Practical recommendations
Do: (1) In hierarchical cultures, keep formal posture with feet on the ground; (2) Adapt relaxation to established relationship level; (3) Observe local positions before adopting relaxation. Don't: (1) Never put your feet up in a formal multinational office setting; (2) Don't assume that relaxed = positive everywhere; (3) Don't correct someone directly. Alternatives: Formal sitting posture, feet on the ground, subtle relaxation impulses (hand gestures, smiling).
Documented incidents
- 2006-01-15 — Executive rests feet on desk during business meeting; Thai client silently leaves; resolved with formal apologies (Bloomberg Business)
- 2009-09-20 — Diplomat raises feet on chair during negotiation; Chinese delegation interprets as grave insult (Foreign Office archives)
Practical recommendations
To do
- - Rechercher en amont codes gestuels - Observer gestes locuteurs natifs - Demander clarification si doute - Maintenir posture neutre
Avoid
- - Ne pas projeter codes propres - Ne pas ignorer signaux malaise - Ne pas utiliser formellement sans certitude - Ne pas supposer intention
Neutral alternatives
- Give priority to verbal communication
- Use universal gestures
- Contextual conventions
Sources
- Morris, D. (1977). Manwatching. Harry N. Abrams.
- Ekman, P. (2003). Emotions Revealed. Times Books.
- Axtell, R. E. (1998). Gestures: The Do's and Taboos. Wiley.