 Fidgeting has been a part of human behavior for thousands of years, but what exactly is the meaning of fidgeting? Why do we do it? What are the psychological reasons for it? What purpose does it serve? Is it bad for you, or could it even be good for you? All these questions and more will be answered in this video, and if you're a fidgeter, a.k.a. someone who fidgets a lot, you'll definitely find this interesting. Without further ado, here are the top 10 meanings of fidgeting. 1. It's good for you. Yep, you heard right. It turns out fidgeting could have some pretty amazing health benefits. Fidgeting can be a cure for the so-called sitting disease. By fidgeting, you can actually improve the health of your heart, something that's reduced by long periods of sitting. They say that too much sitting can shave off years of your life. But apparently that's not the case if you're fidgeting. Research has shown fidgeters can burn hundreds more calories than those who sit still. This dispels the notion that there's something wrong with people who can't sit still. 2. Stress. A majority of our communication is done non-verbally, and a great deal of this non-verbal communication is done through our hands. Turns out that fidgeting fits neatly into this type of communication. Fidgeting can often reveal people's stress levels. For example, people who rub their hands together are unconsciously trying to self-pacify themselves, massaging themselves into calming down. If people are really freaking out, they rub their hands together in a motion called TP-hands, which involves rubbing your hands together with your fingers outstretched and interlaced. 3. Lying. Another element tied to fidgeting is lie detection. Have you ever noticed how people who are lying tend to fidget a lot? That was what Professor Eldred Virsch confirmed in his study of non-verbal behaviors directly related to lying. He found that scratching of the head, face and wrist, moving of legs and feet, and shifting sitting positions are all signs that someone is not telling the truth. So one meaning of fidgeting could simply mean that the person fidgeting is lying. 4. Daydreaming. Don't always assume the worst when someone can't sit still. They could just be daydreaming. A study from the University of Waterloo shows that fidgeting can be common when it comes to boring tasks such as listening to long lectures or in a meeting. But what is the meaning of fidgeting while bored? Researchers found that people are usually able to control urges to fidget, but once they begin to dip into deep mind wandering, this control went straight out the window and they started fidgeting. So if you see someone fidgeting, they may be just finding it hard to concentrate. 5. Focusing. And I know what you're wondering. How can the meaning of fidgeting be daydreaming if it's also focusing? Well it comes down to the root cause of fidgeting in both situations. Boredom. Although fidgeting can cause people to daydream when faced with a boring university lecture, it can also help people focus when they're doing boring work. That's because in the first example, the person is sitting and listening, but not doing anything with their body. On the other hand, if they're doing something incredibly boring, such as sitting and typing at their computer, fidgeting with their feet and legs might actually help them focus. This is because added physical stimulus of movement can make the boring task more entertaining. 6. Mental Disorders. One of the most obvious meaning behind fidgeting is a symptom of a mental disorder that could result in increased fidgeting, commonly include ADD, ADHD, and OCD. For many children with ADD and ADHD, fidgeting functions as a displacement behavior, which is an activity that replaces other emotions, such as boredom, anger, or frustration. It can also be a common trait among most people, who chew gum or light cigarettes to blows off steam. In OCD, acting out certain rituals over and over, such as obsessively straightening a tie or cleaning a surface repeatedly may indicate some underlining issue. Sometimes, the nature of the fidget can reveal what people are stressed out about. For example, obsessively checking your phone for new notifications could mean you are afraid of being alone. You can check out one of our first videos on this channel, called Definition of OCD, if you'd like to learn more about OCD. 7. Learning. Researchers found out that fidgeting can actually aid in memory. This amazing study was carried out in 2005 at the University of Hertfordshire. They came to the stunning conclusion that kids who were allowed to fidget actually learned faster than kids who were told by teachers to stop fidgeting. Children have a low attention span, and fidgeting helps them to keep entertained while the lesson is in progress. One of the lead researchers, Karen Pine, said, if teachers encouraged more fidgeting in class, they might find children actually learn more. 8. Memory. Karen Pine also reported that fidgeting is heavily linked to memory. The children she studied were more likely to answer a question asked by the teacher correctly if they were allowed to move their hands. This is because fidgeting is linked to the feeling you get when the answer is on the tip of your tongue. We've all been there, and sometimes waving your hands around really does help you remember that thing buried deep in your memory. The same parts of your brain that are active during speech and movement are also active during fidgeting. 9. Attraction. We all know that people tend to get nervous around other people they're romantically interested in. And as previously mentioned, fidgets can indicate stress and anxiety, but there could be more to it than that. Certain fidgets can actually mean people are attracted to you. The crossing and uncrossing of a person's legs or someone running their fingers through their hair may seem like fidgets at first glance, but they're actually unconscious messages humans send to one another to show they're interested. There are countless little signs that fall into this category, all of which look like innocent fidgets, such as raising your eyebrows or wiggling your toes while keeping eye contact. 10. It's What Makes Us Human. Fidgeting is a very weird thing if you think about it, but then again, humans are pretty weird creatures. Mike Kralaski, a PhD student at NYU and his advisor, Catherine Isbister, started a Tumblr page to gather all the different ways people fidget. How they fidgeted was most important to them, and found that people chose very specific objects to play within their hands. Some of these were seemingly mindless, such as pencils to tap on hard surfaces. Others were more specific, such as a rock that reminded them of a loved one. One thing is certain, fidgeting isn't as meaningless as many people think. It actually becomes somewhat of a repetitive ritual that people can grow attached to. Do you fidget? If so, how do you fidget? Let us know in the comments below. Thank you so much for watching this video. I'm Ashley. You can follow me on some of my socials in the description box below. If you enjoyed this video, be sure to follow our other social media for more psychology content. And don't forget to subscribe. Thanks for watching and have a great day!