Human Expression of Emotion

Have you ever wanted to know what someone was thinking or feeling in a given moment? Perhaps someone has, to all appearances, been feeling one way, but for some unexplainable reason you felt they were actually experiencing another emotion. It is possible that your subconscious was picking up on subtle clues in the other person’s face, manner of speaking, or posture that gave away their true reaction to the situation (“Gut Feelings”). To most people, these feelings are only vague hunches that are often dismissed, but to people who have honed their instincts and have learned to interpret these visual signals for what they are, other people’s true emotions become clearer. There are many subtle indications of what a person is thinking or feeling at a given time, which, when recognized, can be used to discern emotional reactions and detect lies.

The first and most obvious place one might look for insight into someone else’s emotional state is the face. There are many obvious expressions on people’s faces that we are accustomed to interpreting without thinking about it, smiling and frowning, for example. However, because these are so obvious, these are the expressions people will try to fake and will fake with reasonable success. Less apparent clues, however may be a better indication of what someone is feeling. For example, someone may crinkle their nose briefly when they dislike something, or begin to squint slightly when they are nervous or under tension (psychologytoday.com). Learning to recognize genuine smiles is also helpful in determining others’ feelings. “Smiling is a big part of facial body language. As a general rule real smiles are symmetrical and produce creases around the eyes and mouth, whereas fake smiles, for ...

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...t of their attraction (“Body Language”)

There are many, many ways people show emotion, both consciously and subconsciously that can be picked up on, and the more things one learns to look for, the sharper their internal instincts will be. Vague hunches can be replaced by careful observations. Small details can be documented and mentally recorded. Subconscious behaviors and verbal arguments can be cross-examined. But most of all, we realize that we can never truly hide anything. Something will give us away, whether it be the twitching of the nose, the flickering of our eyes, or the wringing of our hands, there are simply too many things to disguise. Luckily for us, not everyone can read our microexpressions or analyze our behaviors, and no reliable face-analyzing software exists. And so we live on with our lives, each content to have his own secrets, for now.