Lying Smiles and other signs of deception

adopted from 'Emotionomics' by Dan Hill 

The presence of a social smile may simply reveal a degree of enjoyment that falls short of spirited, joyful happiness. Consumers or employees who are pleased with what they’ve received may nevertheless not experience an exalted happiness. That’s because, while their expectations were met, they were not exceeded. How they then respond to being satisfied, but not thrilled, could involve the exhibiting of a social smile. But if there’s pressure to be happy about the raise a boss has just given you, for example, the employee may gamely put a happy face on the situation. Or a prospect put off by a salesperson’s overly aggressive style may exhibit a social smile to hide the fact that the deal is headed south.
 

In those cases, a degree of deception is involved. And later on, the manager or salesperson may wish he or she had been able to tell from the other party’s facial expressions that the end was near. But alas, there is no one muscle movement that categorically reveals deception.
 

What better example for deceit than the classic clown face?
 

Painted to look like it’s always full of smiles, one glance beneath the makeup can dispel the myth of continuous merriment.
 

Facial coding does much the same thing by gleaning true, unfiltered, positive or negative emotional reactions.
 

Bear in mind that while Adolf Hitler practised his speeches in front of a mirror to test his accompanying expressions, most of us aren’t that deliberate. All of us can adequately guard against ‘two-faced’ people whose smiles aren’t the real thing by being alert to a few, basic situations
or patterns.
 

In particular, be alert to a polite, masking smile in situations where:
 

• It doesn’t involve the whole face. The cheeks will lie flat and still and the eyes don’t narrow as they do during a genuine smile.

• It lingers too long. A true smile tends to fade around the four-second mark. A false smile may run from five to ten seconds.

• It has odd timing. A deceitful smile tends to start or end too abruptly or arrive too early or late. A smile may also be deceitful if what the person is saying and the expression are out of sync.

• It’s asymmetrical and much more pronounced on just one side of the face. That happens because the smile is likely to have been consciously delivered.

• Finally, watch out for smiles given when the person’s face hints of other, darker emotions at or near the same time. In a case of mixed signals like happiness and anger, be careful not to discount the anger on display.

That last description of a deceitful smile involves what Ekman (1992) calls ‘leakage’. Basically, it amounts to unintended, fleeting glimpses of what the person is really feeling. On a related note, a micro-expression may happen because of ‘squelches’. These occur when a person interrupts his or her natural expression, usually to cover up a negative feeling with a smile. The squelch is something skilled politicians the world over attempt to master.

Facial Expressions Are Universal

Humans have evolved certain facial expressions that are so universal that all but the least perspective individuals can recognise them.' This is quoted from a book 'The Body Language Handbook: How To Read Everyone's Hidden Thoughts And Intentions' written by Gregory Hartley and Maryann Karinch. In the book, it mentioned that each universal expression has degrees and the differences characteristics combine with slightly different mental states to cause variations.

This is why certain expressions fall into the category of “universal” is based on research with diverse populations. The most well-known researches were conducted by Paul Ekman of the Human Interaction Laboratory at University of California's School of Medicine supported the observation that certain facial expressions are universal. The common expressions included in his work “Facial Expressions and Emotion: An Controversy and New Findings” are disgust, sadness, fear, anger, surprise and enjoyment (or happiness). Later, he added in contempt, pride, uncertainty and embarrassment. People try to mask them, but they still come out. As humans, we have a natural ability to interpret that base body language. Whether the constrained body language is a personal choice or cultural is a tough call by looking at one person. Biology and bone structure often play as big part as culture.

Bodies adapt to what we do. A long-distance runner who decides to take up weight training and become a competitive bodybuilder has to make adjustments in the way muscles are used – to recondition them the way you would tune a piano. When the wires become accustomed to holding one shape, the piano tuner has a big job: He has to come back repeatedly to condition the wires to stay in tune. The same thing happens with your face. Muscle memory kicks in and dictates how you use it, and shows all the world how you have used it in the past.

Of all the facial expression listed – disgust, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, happiness, contempt and pride – can you recall any of them?

Try look at these photos. What do you see in common?

All three of the photos have a clear, external focus, raised chin and set mouth that suggests pride. A look of pride can be associated with both positive and negative situations, but the emotion is the same. When a police officer confronts a gang member in front of his buddies, the gang member will stand indignantly, raise his head, and flash pride. It maybe just be the pride of “I got your attention.” But in the photo on the right, the kid is showing pride after doing something his parents are proud of. Both are pride rooted in accomplishment and acknowledgement.

Even someone who knows you well and feels comfortable with you will occasionally show some of the same signs of uncertainty that a stranger, or someone unfamiliar with your culture, will show. You can surprise him or her with a request or ask for her opinion on a topic that causes anxiety.

For example, you were asked to participate in a lucky draw contest by an unknown event representative while walking in the shopping mall. Obviously, you would have no idea of what the contest was all about. You would most likely to give a look of uncertainty. While she explained the process to you, you could probably be interpreting what she said and trying to organise the information so that you could be ready to participate.

With some emotions, you don't even need the whole face. The eyes say it all. It's all part of why for generations we have been quoting the proverb “the eyes are the windows to the soul.”

Other titles related to Facial Expressions

   

Emotions Revealed - KQED QUEST

Is your face giving you away? Meet renowned psychologist Paul Ekman, who has spent his life studying how our facial muscles involuntarily reveal emotions like sadness and anger. His comprehensive catalog of human facial expressions has become an important tool for everyone from law enforcement agents to animators.

 

 

Dr. Lightman Is Dr. Ekman

        

Dr. Cal Lightman (Tim Roth)                              Dr. Paul Ekman

The character of Dr. Cal Lightman (played by Tim Roth), a deception expert in the series ‘Lie To Me’ is pretty much based on a real-life clinical psychologist, Dr. Paul Ekman. In the show, Lightman is a scientist whose expertise in telling who is lying and who is not by detecting and interpreting microexpressions, or involuntary facial expressions that only last for seconds. He and his team of experts are running a consultation firm as they are usually hired by clients from law enforcement and government agencies to expose the truth behind the lies in unsolved cases, such as murders, bomb threats and even national security issues. Most of the significant elements that you can find in the series are based on Dr. Paul Ekman’s scientific discoveries from the last century in reading and analysing the emotional and behavioural information let out from the facial expression.

Paul Ekman (born February 15, 1934) is a psychologist who has been a pioneer in the study of emotions and their relation to facial expressions. He is considered one of the 100 most eminent psychologists of the twentieth century. The background of Ekman's research analyses the development of human traits and states over time. His research indicates that our facial expressions for emotion are innate, universal and nearly impossible to conceal. From the U.S. to Japan, Africa and New Guinea, happiness, anger, surprise and despair trigger the same facial muscles. Ekman’s research has made a strong argument, which in-line with Darwin’s theory, yet had been largely dismissed by scientists who believed that facial expressions are culturally determined.

In the 1970s, Paul Ekman and W V Friesen developed the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) to measure, describe, and interpret facial behaviours. This instrument is designed to measure even the slightest facial muscle contractions and determine what category or categories each facial action fits into.

His famous books include Telling Lies, Emotions Revealed and Unmasking the Face.

 
Some of Paul Ekman's works