How To Understand Emotions
Although most people have the ability to tell when someone is either happy or sad due to the look on their face, truly knowing how to read a face is something far more complex. In order to really know what one is feeling by simply looking at their face, microexpressions have to be understood and mastered first. Microexpressions display a concealed emotion, resulted of oppression or repression, lasting typically between 1/15 to 1/25 of a second.
Figure 1: Catalog of Facial Clues for Microexpressions.
An analysis on how to read the 7 basic emotions, according to Dr. Paul Ekman, will be made.
· Surprise
1. Eyebrows raised up and curved.
2. Upper eyelids stretched.
3. Wrinkles are stretched across the forehead.
4. Eyes widened.
5. Mouth opened.
Surprise is a short emotion, lasting for about 1 second. If the eyelids are raised for a longer period of time, fear must be the emotion felt.
· Fear
1. Eyebrows raised and pulled together, in a flat line.
2. Tensed lower eyelids.
3. Raised upper eyelids
4. Lips stretched horizontally back to the ears.
· Disgust
1. Nose scrunched.
2. Upper lip raised.
3. Eyebrows downcast.
4. Lower eyelid raised.
5. Cheeks raised
· Anger
1. Eyebrows lowered and drawn together.
2. Eyes staring hard.
3. Lower jaw juts out.
4. Mouth firmly pressed together, and lips drawn down at the corners.
· Happiness
1. Corners of the mouth drawn up and back
2. Teeth exposed.
3. A wrinkle runs from the outer nose to the outer corners of the lip.
4. Lower eyelids wrinkled.
There’s a difference between a genuine smile and a fake one. We use more facial muscles when we genuinely smile and that is possible to conclude from the picture below, as we see the lines round the eyes of the subject crinkling up more.
Figure 2: Differences between a genuine and a fake smile.
· Sadness
1. Eyebrows drawn in and up.
2. Skin below the eyebrows is triangulated with the inner corner up.
3. Corners of the lips turned down.
4. Loss of focus in the eyes.
Studies have shown that sadness is the hardest emotion to fake.
· Contempt
1. One corner of the mouth rises.
A feeling of superiority could be detected by rising one side of the mouth into a sneer/smirk.
With these few tricks and analysis on emotions, we are now able to comprehend them more profoundly , which leads to understanding people, their feelings and intentions better.
· Bibliography
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