In: Anatomy and Physiology
What are microexpressions? Can you be trained to recognize these? In what ways are microexpressions potentially useful?
What is microexpression?
Imagine a friend told you she got a snake tattoo that extends from
the base of her neck to her waist. You are horrified, but you want
to hide your true feelings so that your friend is not hurt.
However, for a fraction of a second his mouth expands, his nose
wrinkles, and his eyes narrow with a look of utter sadness. Your
face returns to a neutral facial expression and your friend has
never noticed your micro-expression.
There are many reasons why we might want to hide our true feelings. For example, we may not want to show a job recruiter that we are nervous and unskilled in an interview. While concealing emotions and emotions is a natural part of life, we sometimes emit micro-expressions that reveal our true feelings
Micro-expressions
Micro-eruption is an involuntary display of genuine emotion that is
much harder to see because it only lasts a fraction of a second,
sometimes as fast as 1/25 per second. The person who has
micro-portrayed is usually unaware that they have expressed that
feeling through micro-expression, and may even want to hide it.
Paul Ekman, a professor of psychology at the University of California who coined the term microexpression, did several studies of micro-pressure and found that 80-90% of participants who noticed other feelings did not understand the micro-pressure of the other. Usually only a person who knows micro-expressions, those who are good at catching them (or those who are looking for them) will be able to detect micro-expressions from others.
Academic research on micro-pressures reports that it is sometimes so difficult to detect in real time that they are better identified using high-speed cameras. Another research study noted that by training 306 people in micro-pulse detection, their ability to detect the micro-strain of others has improved. This can have positive uses for many professionals, including agents.
Examples of micro-expressions
Learning to read micro-expressions can significantly increase
social skills. Imagine the following scenario. Oliver tries to
impress Sofia, a woman he has only met at a party. He starts
talking about what the new president loves, and Sofia narrows her
eyes for a millisecond in response. Oliver is an expert in
capturing micro-expressions and reads Sofia's eyes as a sign that
he is not well regarded by the new president. Oliver changes the
subject quickly to get Sofia's interest back.
It is important to note that Sofia's microfinance may have no bearing on what Oliver said. Sofia may have been thinking about the fact that she left a handful of dirty dishes in the sink. Sometimes it is difficult to know what caused the micro-strain while reading to others.
Micro-pressure can infiltrate the face or whole body, or just part of the face or body. Here are some examples of facial movements that could be incorporated into a micro-expression and what emotion or desire they usually express:
Micro expressions that express negative
emotions
Puckering lips, slapping or blocking / eye contact, disgust,
disinterest, disconnection or disagreement
Disappearing Lips - Stress
Eyelid flutter: discomfort
Closed-lipped or tight-lipped laugh: hide something or you don't
want to talk
Wrinkled Nose - disgust
Can you be trained to recognize these?
There are seven universal micro-expressions: shame, anger, fear, sadness, happiness, surprise and contempt. They often occur as fast as 1/15 to 1/25 a second. The persons face is the best indicator of a person's emotions.Dr. Paul Ekman, whose research was the basis of the Lie to Me program, pioneering research on human face decoding. He has shown that facial expressions are universal. That is to say, people in the US USA They have the same sad face as the indigenous people in Papa Nueva Guinea who have never seen television or movie characters to model after. He also found that people with congenital blindness, those who are blind at birth, make the same facial expressions, though they have never seen other people's faces. Ekman has seven facial expressions named among the most widely used and easy to interpret. Learning to read them helps you to understand the people in our lives. If you want to practice reading people's faces, it is important to know the following basic phrases. I recommend trying out the following faces in the mirror so you can see how they look on you. You will also find that if you do the facial expression, you will start to feel the feeling yourself too! Not only do facial expressions cause emotions, facial expressions also cause facial emotions.
The 7 microexpression
1) Surprising Micro Demonstration:
The eyelashes are raised and curved.
The skin under the forehead is stretched.
Horizontal wrinkles are shown on the top.
The eyelids are open, the white of the eyes are shown above and
below.
The jaw is opened and the teeth separate, but no hot
2) Microwave the fear:
The eyelashes are raised and drawn together, usually in a flat
line.
The wrinkles on the top are in the middle between the eyelashes,
not the other.
The upper eyelid is elevated, but the lower eyelid is tight and
stretched.
The eyes show the upper target, but not the lower target.
The mouth is open and the lips are slightly tight or stretched and
withdrawn.
3) disgust Micro Demonstration:
The upper lip is raised.
The upper teeth may be exposed.
The nose is corrugated.
The cheeks are raised.
4) Micro pressure of anger:
The eyelashes are lowered and pulled together.
Vertical lines appear between the eyelashes.
The bottom cover is tight.
The eyes are fixed or bulging.
The lips can be pressed firmly together, with the corners down, or
squared as if they were screaming.
The nostrils may be dilated.
The lower jaw exits
5) Micro pressure of happiness:
The mouth may be separated or not separated, the teeth
exposed.
Wrinkles extend from the outer nose to the outer lip.
The cheeks are raised.
The lower eyelid may show wrinkles or be firm.
Crow's feet near the outside of the eyes.
6) Micro-strain of grief:
The inner corners of the eyelashes are drawn in and then
up.
The skin under the eyelashes is triangular, with the inner corner
facing.
The corner of the lips is drawn down.
The jaw is raised.
7) Contempt / Hate Microexpression:
One side of the mouth is raised.
Micro-expressions help us locate one of the 6 main emotions. If someone says that they are sad, their micro expressions can say that they are angry or surprised, and furthermore, the frequency of those micro expressions combined with larger facial movements allows us to see that emotion to a certain extent.