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Oct 16, 2023 · Understanding body language and facial expressions is essential for effective communication, building relationships, and understanding the emotions of others. Nonverbal signals, such as facial expressions, gestures, and posture, can convey more information than words alone.
- Why Understanding Facial Expressions Is Important
- The 7 Universal Facial Expressions
- Micro-Expressions
- How to Identify Facial Expressions by Facial Feature
- A Word from Verywell
If you have social anxiety disorder (SAD), you might have a hard time paying attention to facial expressions. You might have trouble with eye contactor read too much into negative expressions on other people's faces. People with SAD often interpret facial expressions more negatively (even if they're neutral), and they may even avoid looking at nega...
Research by Dr. Paul Ekman tells us that there are seven universal facial expressions that we all use, even across cultural divides. These expressions show: 1. Anger 2. Contempt 3. Disgust 4. Fear 5. Happiness 6. Sadness 7. Surprise
Not all facial expressions stick around for a long time. Those that pass quickly are called micro-expressions, and they are almost indiscernible to the casual observer. Micro-expressions can come and go in less than half a second—but they convey the same emotions as a longer-lasting facial expression would. Spotting and interpreting micro-expressio...
We convey a lot of nonverbal information in our faces, and we tend to focus on different areas of the face when we try to interpret what each expression might mean. We look at the eyes to determine if someone is sad or angry, for example, and at the mouth to check if someone is happy.
If you find you are having a hard time reading other people's emotions through their expressions, you might need more practice, or you might simply have trouble decoding what others are feeling. Some mental health conditions (including SAD) can impact your ability to decipher other people's facial expressions. If this is the case for you and it's c...
- Facial Expressions. Think for a moment about how much a person is able to convey with just a facial expression. A smile can indicate approval or happiness.
- The Eyes. © Verywell, 2017. The eyes are frequently referred to as the "windows to the soul" since they are capable of revealing a great deal about what a person is feeling or thinking.
- The Mouth. Mouth expressions and movements can also be essential in reading body language. For example, chewing on the bottom lip may indicate that the individual is experiencing feelings of worry, fear, or insecurity.
- Gestures. Gestures can be some of the most direct and obvious body language signals. Waving, pointing, and using the fingers to indicate numerical amounts are all very common and easy to understand gestures.
- Surprise. If you tell something that they did not expect to hear, you might see their eyebrows raise. (Eyebrows may also raise if the person likes what they hear.)
- Fear. Surprise and fear result in similar facial expressions, but there is a lot more tension in a scared person’s face. Their eyebrows may also raise, but rather than arching the eyebrows, they will look more flat.
- Disgust. Disgust looks quite a bit different. If someone looks like they’ve smelled something bad, they either have smelled something bad or heard something that they think is disgusting.
- Anger. If someone is angry, their face tenses up in three different places. The first place is the eyes and eyebrows. Anger causes people to lower their eyebrows and draw them together.
There are seven universal micro-expressions that give clues to our emotions. Behavioral investigator, Vanessa Van Edwards, discusses each facial expression a...
- 5 min
- 484.7K
- The Oregonian
Apr 8, 2024 · Join us as we explore what are the facial expressions that communicate far more than voices alone. We’ll decipher smiles, analyse eye movements and give you tips on how to improve your facial expression detection skills.
Jun 27, 2024 · Learning to read microexpressions and decode faces is one of the best people skills you can have. Microexpression training is a way for you to quickly learn each of the 7 microexpressions so that you can spot and respond to them in real life.
