From the 1st place I looked...
Quote:
Intimidation - Threatening behaviours are supposed to be a maladaptive outgrowth of normal competitive urge for interrelational dominance generally seen in animals.
Like all behavioral traits it exists in greater or lesser manifestation in each individual person over time, but may be a more significant "compensatory behavior" for some as opposed to others. Behavioral theorists often see threatening behaviours as a consequence of being threatened by others, including parents, authority figures, playmates and siblings.
Intimidation may be employed consciously or unconsciously, and a percentage of people who employ it consciously may do so as the result of selfishly rationalized notions of its appropriation, utility or self-empowerment.
Intimidation may be manifested in such manner as physical contacts, glowering countenance, emotional manipulation, verbal abuse, making someone feel lower than you, purposeful embarrassment and/or actual physical assault. “Behavior may include, but is not limited to, epithets, derogatory comments or slurs and lewd propositions, assault, impeding or blocking movement, offensive touching or any physical interference with normal work or movement, and visual insults, such as derogatory posters or cartoons.”[5]
so it's probably not something you're doing consciously but you will need to use your conscious mind to stop it, if you want to.
Quote:
from a psychology blog - In my experience, intimidation can take many different forms – it can be words, actions, simply a glance, or the company that you find yourself in.
it's not just the ovbviously threatening things that intimidate, if you frown a lot or never smile for instance or never look someone in the eye that can be intimidating to people who've never experienced such behaviour. Going up to them and telling them they need to get used to it would probably be intimidating too.
If you seem to use your intelligence as a way of making others feel small then that can be seen as intimidating. Note in the last sentence I said 'seem to', doesn't matter what your intentions are if other people see it as intimidating then it is.
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read all the pamphlets and watch the tapes!
get all confused and then mix up the dates.
Last edited by racooneyes on 06 Oct 2009, 8:47 am, edited 1 time in total.