According to The NY Post, the gesture is more impactful because it displays “disapproval”.
“It’s much more impactful than giving the middle finger because it’s such a major sign of disapproval,” Gabrielle Deleon, 28, said.
“It just hits different.”
On TikTok, the hashtag #ThumbsDown has more than 16 million views, as younger drivers share why they’ve started using it on the road.
“The second you receive a ‘thumbs-down’ in person, it’s like they just pushed your personal ‘dislike’ button. It can be triggering,” Brenna Sharp told The NY Post.
According to nonverbal communication and body language expert Joe Navarro, the thumbs-down gesture can have an instant negative impact on a person because of the way the brain experiences immediate emotional control.
“The brain thinks in heuristics,” Navarro told The NY Post.
“And when it sees something that dramatically changes the shape of the hand, leaving only one or two digits poking out … it makes you feel bad.”
By receiving the thumbs down, people immediately understand they’ve done something wrong.
We’re not angry, we’re just disappointed.
Image: Getty/ Universal Pictures
