Reading Facial Expressions

A person’s emotions are reflected on his or her face, so there is a connection between facial expressions and feelings. We rely on facial signals every day. We often subconsciously respond to the facial expressions of other people without perceiving them consciously and identifying them.

Recognizing other people’s emotions is important for business people. Good face-reading can provide an insight into a person’s true emotions. Figuring out customers’, partners’ and employees’ emotions helps managers to run their businesses more efficiently and avoid many mistakes. As always, real skill demands certain knowledge and practice but anyone can learn a few basics.

We have twenty-two facial muscles on each side, more than any animal on earth. Facial muscles form a complex web. Facial muscles anchor to the bone as most muscles, but unlike most muscles, they are attached to skin, making the face more mobile (than the skin on other parts of the body).

Scientists distinguish six basic facial expressions that represent enjoyment, anger, fear, surprise, sadness and disgust,
but numerous expressions spin off from these basic emotions. Some of them are just of lower intensity, for example, annoyance is considered as mild anger. There is a variety of fusions of basic emotions, so our facial expressions can convey a wide range of emotions.

Face-reading also helps to recognize a lie, which is important in business and everyday life.
Most ordinary people are not very good at detecting lies. Even judges, policemen and psychiatrists,
who are supposed be skilled in this sphere, score only slightly above average. Prisoners, however,
spot lies fairly well, probably because they live in a world of deceit and become good face-readers with time.

There is no one sure single clue (or give-away) that indicates a lie. Good lie-spotters rely on a combination of several indicators or clues.

One key involves smiling. A liar shows fewer genuine smiles and more masking or cover-up smiles.
False smiles and higher vocal pitch are the surest evidence of deception.
The difference between a false smile and a genuine one is quite subtle - true smiles make little starburst crinkles in the skin near eyes; false smiles usually don’t. Phony smiles may occur too early or too late for the context,
halt instantly instead of fading away gradually, or show a slight asymmetry.

Honest expressions do not linger. Intense displays like rage and depression are an exception, but even they usually appear as a series of short bursts. Surprise, which resembles fear and often precedes it, is especially brief.
It usually lasts less than a second.  If it goes longer, it is a fake.
Unlike other expressions, it also begins and ends abruptly.
Many people can mimic the look of surprise, but few can perform its flick-switch start and end.

What about averted eyes? People tend to look down and away out of guilt or shame.
According to studies an eye gaze is an unreliable clue. Liars know that some people rely on it and exploit the fact.
When pressed to tell the truth, some liars increase eye contact, convincing questioners of their honesty.

According to folk wisdom, rapid blinking is a key to lying.
While this is true in the case of some lies, rapid blinking normally signals excitement, anxiety or other strong emotions.

Manipulators also deceive people non-verbally using facial expressions, but there are clues that help to distinguish between real and fake facial expressions.

One secret of facial truth is micro expressions.
When a person is hiding an emotion, his face often flashes this emotion for an instant or two.
Untrained people rarely notice micro expressions, although they spot them on slow-motion videotape.
Another give-away phenomenon, known as the squelch, is easier to spot.
When a hidden expression starts to emerge; the person senses it and covers it rapidly, usually with a false smile.
A squelch usually occurs quickly enough to hide the underlying emotion, but it usually lasts longer than the micro,
and even when people cannot catch the micro-expression, they often notice the squelch itself.


Questions for discussion:

How are facial muscles different from most other muscles?

What role do facial expressions play in communication and how important they are?

Why is it important to be able to interpret facial expressions correctly ?

Which emotions are probably universal across all cultures?

To what extent do you think we are aware of our own facial expressions?
To what extent do we 'read' facial expressions and respond to them unconsciously?

Give an example of a situation in which understanding facial expressions is especially important?

Which facial expressions are easy to 'read' and which ones are difficult to interpret?

What emotions do you think are easy to fake?

What facial expressions can be easily misinterpreted?

Why do you think prisoners are good at face reading?


Vocabulary

subconsciously  -  подсознательно
to perceive  -  понимать, осознавать
consciously  -  сознательно
to identify  -  определять, идентифицировать
to provide  -  обеспечивать
insight  -  проникновение
to figure out  -  выяснять
to run business  -  руководить бизнесом
unlike  -  в отличии
enjoyment  -  наслаждение
disgust  -  отвращение
annoyance  -  раздражение
fusion  -  интеграция, слияние
to convey  -  передавать
wide range  -  широкий спектр
average  -  средний
deceit  -  обман
clue  -  подсказка
give-away  -  разоблачение тайны
to indicate  -  указывать
genuine smile  -  искренняя улыбка
cover-up  -  прикрытие
pitch  -  высота (тона или звука)
deception  -  обман, ложь
false smile  -  притворная улыбка
subtle  -  едва уловимый
phony  -  искусственный
to halt  -  останавливаться
instantly  -  мгновенно
instead  -  вместо
to fade away  -  тускнеть
gradually  -  постепенно
to linger  -  задерживаться
rage  -  ярость
to resemble  -  походить, иметь сходство
to mimic  -  пародировать
to avert  -  отводить (взгляд)
to convince  -  убеждать
folk wisdom  -  народная мудрость
to deceive  -  обманывать
to distinguish  -  отличать
fake  -  поддельный
to flash  -  сверкать, вспыхивать
to emerge  -  появляться
rapidly  -  быстро

Alex Kritskiy, a private English teacher, Ph.D., 38-067-391-76-62