Double meaning

During the role-playing interview, our partner suddenly covered his mouth with his hand and rubbed his nose after asking a question. He covered his mouth for a few seconds, then answered the question and returned to the open position. Up until this point, he was completely open: he unbuttoned his jacket, held his palms in full view, nodded, and leaned forward. We thought that negative gestures appeared out of context, in isolation or by accident. Analyzing the video of this role-playing game, we asked this person why he covered his mouth. He told us that, answering a question, he thought that he could respond to it in two ways — negatively and positively. Thinking about the negative response and what the reaction would be to him, he involuntarily covered his mouth. When he thought about a positive response, he involuntarily returned to an open posture. Uncertainty about the possible reaction to a negative response led to the appearance of an unexpected gesture - a hand covering the mouth.
This example shows us how easy it is to misinterpret such gestures and make wrong conclusions.