Tag Archive for Emotion

Where Do Smiles Come From?

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The polite smile is used with people we only know in passing or not at all. The teeth are shown and the lips are curved upward modestly.

The polite smile is used with people we only know in passing or not at all. The teeth are shown and the lips are curved upward modestly.

Research on smiles has been a hot topic since its one of the facial features that is so prominent and important day-to-day. But what purpose do facial expressions serve overall if only to make others aware of our inner thoughts and feelings and perhaps betray us to our enemies? Surely our expressions could be used against us, for the benefit of others, especially given the fact that we often paint our faces with emotion easily and sometimes with abandon.

One theory says that facial expressions are a bit of a chicken and the egg type of situation where it is the expressions we make that in fact control our moods, rather than having our moods influence our expressions. In other words it might be that we give off facial expressions not because we feel happier, but because it helps us to feel happy. This implies that facial expressions are more gear to help those that hold them instead of those who view them and that smiling rather than indicate happiness actually creates happiness. Some of the research does tend to support this finding. When subjects were asked to fake smiles in research studies they tended to be more able to hold positive emotions rather than negative emotions so it seems that our minds are emotionally hardwired to mirror expressions that show up on our face.

We can see how a fearful expression might evolve into a full grin in this image.

We can see how a fearful expression might evolve into a full grin in this image.

Many biologists think smiles have roots as a fearful gesture, as a sort of “fear grin.”  Today though, human smiles are a universally submissive gesture but they can also symbolize pleasure, amusement, aggression, or anxiety (grimace). These other emotions never truly supersede the most common purpose of the smile which is to show submission. We will see this occur over and over again as it applies to smiling. Even pleasure must happen with or around people we feel we can submit to. Smiles are our way we to show that we are non-threatening and wish to maintain peace.

Chimpanzees, like humans have two common sets of smiles. One is a playful smile and the other is an aggressive smile. Humans, when aggressive, will display with a smile by pushing forward their lower lip and baring their lower teeth. This is turn induces either an appeasement or submissive smile in our counterparts or more aggressive body language possibly leading to a battle.

A genuine smile puts us at ease and builds trust.

A genuine smile puts us at ease and builds trust.

A friendly smile, on the other hand, occurs by pulling the corners of the mouth upward which may or may not include crow’s feet as we have seen. Those that lack smiles altogether or who smile infrequently are much more dominant and want to be seen as such. The grimace happens in situations where one is forced to talk or debate under a stressful situation. You will find that this sly face appears almost universally even though no pleasure is felt. The grimace is a disarming gesture meant to appease others, but it usually comes off as insincere and smug. We will see this face under high stress situations. To see this face authentically, pay close attention while watching courtroom television shows. Usually the defendant who is under stress will seem to beam with light from their teeth. The judge will often see him or her as being defiant, and often requests for them to remove their smug look whereas, in fact, no smugness is present at all. In this context a big smile is linked to stress from outside forces, and does not indicate either happiness or smugness. Regardless of the meaning of the specific smile, researchers have concluded that the smile is innate and not learned since even people born blind smile to display happiness.

Dilated Pupils

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Big pupils means big interest. Our eyes open up to the world to take in all the good things it sees.

Big pupils means big interest. Our eyes open up to the world to take in all the good things it sees.

In a classic study by Eckhard Hess in 1965, it was shown that pupil size was related to attractiveness in females. The men in the study were shown drawings of women’s faces, ones with normal sized pupils and ones with larger sized pupils. The men found that the larger pupil size was more attractive. This finding lead researchers to coin the term “pupillometry” referring to the measurement of the size of the pupil and its effect on others. Pupillometrics, on the other hand, refers to the evaluation of the pupil’s size in relation to interest and emotion.

The pupil is measured with the help of infrared cameras or sensors since visible light would throw off readings. The pupils are affected by light and open and close to allow more or less light in which assists in proper vision. In low light conditions the pupils will dilate or open to allow more light in and in bright conditions, the pupils will constrict to restrict the amount of light let it. Cameras are equipped with apertures which serve the same function. The bigger the hole, the more light comes through and the eye needs just the right amount of light to see properly.

Various studies show that our pupils also respond to positive stimuli by dilating or constricting when a person sees unpleasant or uninteresting stimuli. For example, pupils dilate more when heterosexual viewers see nude images of the opposite sex and constrict when viewing same sex images. Viewing unpleasant images such as crippled children, war scenes, or torture, leads to the constriction of the pupils. Hess and his colleagues found that an increase in pupil size was positively correlated with mental activity and problem solving and that people reached maximum dilation as they neared a solution. Further to this, images that were modified to contain female models with larger pupils tended to be rated more attractive and friendlier then images where the pupils were modified to be smaller or unmodified.

Pupil sizes can therefore be used to read people because it gives us a reliable tool for measuring interest and arousal even if in a subtle way. Subconsciously we are all aware of other’s pupil sizes as indicated by the study. Men were not able to consciously describe why they felt certain images were more attractive than others, but they did so anyway. Increased pupil size can be an indication of any positive stimuli such as food when hungry, or when seeking companionship, other potential suitors in a room. Paying at least some conscious attention to the pupil sizes of others can give us information about the overall state the people around us are in. One of the reasons pupil size is so powerful is because we are not able to consciously control the size of our pupils which means that pupils will always naturally react to stimuli we find attractive. Wearing sunglasses by professional poker players is partially explained with these findings since dilated pupils might provide a ‘tell’ to their opponents.

If you think pupils aren’t hardwired, then take the pupil test. Have someone look at the drawing in “image B” while covering “image A” then after some time have them look at “image A” while covering “image B”. You will notice that the eyes dilate in response as the brain naturally thinks it is looking at a set of eyes. Italian women in the 18th century would place eye drops called belladonna containing atropine to chemically induce their eyes to dilate in order to elicit attention from men. Today, marketing does the work for us, as images are commonly doctored by image modifying software to appeal to our innate biology. Turning the lights down or a candle lit dinner can have the same effect. Even artificially modifying pupil size by dimming the lights subconsciously produces arousal. Through their eyes they tell us that they are interested in us and so we become interested in them!

Gazing

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Avoiding eye contact shows disagreement.

Avoiding eye contact shows disagreement.

Eye contact and gaze are some of the most salient nonverbal behaviours in human interaction. It is the first connection a mother has with her infant and the first interaction that infant has with anyone. Through gazing forms a very powerful and special bond between mother and infant. However, even mothers differ in their strength and frequency of gaze with their children. Affectionate mothers will go out of their way to kneel so as to bring their eyes into level, whereas, less affectionate mothers tend to lean forward instead and use gaze much less frequently. These experiences from early development formulate our norms which can persist throughout our lives. Only with conscious effort can we change them, but first we must understand the purpose and function of gaze and also what good gaze habits really are.

Over the course of a typical day, eye gaze can reveal cues to interest, attention, affiliation, intimacy, approval, dominance, aggression and openness to personal involvement. Gaze happens in a much different way than a stare. Stares are like daggers, shooting invisible arrows into the face of another. A gaze is inviting and a display of warmth. A gaze includes the attachment of a positive emotion which men sometimes have difficulty with. Lovers are particularly adept at gazing, with bouts sometimes lasting for several minutes, other times even much longer. As early as six children seem to pick up that eye contact and gaze indicate a connection. Young girls tend to realize it sooner than young boys and women tend to enjoy gaze more than men and so use eye contact and gaze more readily. Additionally, women will hold eye-gaze for longer periods of time than men, which is most evident when women gaze at other women.

Gazing is eye language that can take up various meaning depending on how it is done. The “face-gaze” happens when one person directs their eyes at another person’s face. “Eye-gaze”, on the other hand, happens when the gaze is directed toward the eyes of another but of which that person might not reciprocate. “Mutual-gaze” happens when two people look each other’s faces which might include bouts of eye-gaze and “eye-contact” refers to two people looking directly into each other’s eyes. Other forms of gaze include “omission”, defined as a failure to look at someone without intending to and “avoidance”, in which a person purposely prevents eye contact. Most are familiar with “staring”, but to be sure, we define it as a persistent look that occurs regardless of what another person is doing. Simply defining the types of gazes and eye contact likely evoke some pretty strong feelings which can be positive as in the case of mutual gaze or negative as in the stare. Prolonged eye contact early in a loosely established relationship is almost always taken negatively, or with hostility, and decoded by others as offensive. We may even think prolonged eye contact is a result of projected dislike or even disapproval of others, even when it is the result of affection or attraction. Holding gaze for as little as three seconds longer than normal can come across as over-assertiveness and create contempt. However, because we aren’t always aware of eye contact consciously, others won’t be able to describe the reason for their feelings which is why the use of gaze needs to be taken seriously.

Recognizing Body Affect By Culture

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A universal facial expression - Anger.

A universal facial expression – Anger.

In 1969 researchers Albert Mehrabian and John Friar found that a person’s state, their mood, and their emotional state were reflected by changes in body positions. In this context we are referring to affect in terms of simple gestures like leg crossing and arm crossing to indicate a closed mind or palms up and arms uncrossed to show openness or a willingness to listen. In fact, most of this book covers body affect and systematically breaks it down in future chapters. This cultural discussion is therefore important in that it describes the universality of body language.

While little research has focused specifically on measuring emotion from body positions, it has been found that the central nervous system is responsible for perception of emotion and this emotion is fed back into our body’s machinery to produce affect. The ways in which people convey emotion through body positions (or affect) is mediated by many factors including age, gender and context. Despite these factors though, body positions due to emotion, also has a cultural component. It is generally agreed that the face holds particularly universal expressions in terms of emotions as mentioned in the previous section, but the remaining language spoken by the body seems less obvious.

For example, the Japanese tend to be less expressive with their body language overall and therefore rate others more intensely on their nonverbal language. In a 2006 study by Andrea Kleinsmith and her colleagues out of London it was found that even mild expressions were rated as more emotional by the Japanese subjects over the ratings of other cultures on the same affect. A Westerner in the eye of the Japanese appears like a flailing uncontrolled windmill with their arms moving about as they gesticulate while they speak, whereas the Japanese appear rigid and uptight to a Westerner. In the study however, the meaning behind body language was still rated similarly across all cultures showing that emotion does have universal traits and crosses cultures. Thus, while the amount of affect does vary across cultures, the meaning behind the body language crosses boarders.

Affect Or Emotional Displays

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A frown affect accompanies a sad story.

A frown affect accompanies a sad story.

Affect displays is subset of nonverbal language that reveal our emotional state. For example, if we are happy we can show enthusiasm, or if we are telling a sad story, we correspondingly show somber. Affect display include facial expressions such as smiling, laughing, crying or frowning.

Awareness of various kinds of affect and how it is used in speech will provide vital clues about the speaker and his or her intent. Affect displays occur in synchrony and within the rhythm of speech. They emphases certain words or phrases and are an integral part of speech and thought. They can tell us about the expressiveness of a person and also what they find most important in their speech by which words they choose to emphasize. Posture can also signal emotion as can a variety of other gestures.

Affect is also different from culture to culture. For example, Russians tend to smile much less than Americans and therefore an American might come across as overly friendly to a Russian. Conversely Russians might come across as disinterested or aloof to Americans because they smile less frequently. In reality, both cultures are neither aloof nor overtly content, they simply appear to be so as they are viewed through a complimentary cultural norm bias. There is no right or wrong way to display affect, which is to say that no culture is better or worse because it smiles, frowns or cries less or more than another during expression.

Genetic, Learned Or Cultural: Which Is It?

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Tongue jutting is a universal gesture of distaste. It means, I don't like that. Think of pushing gross food out of your mouth.

Tongue jutting is a universal gesture of distaste. It means, I don’t like that. Think of pushing gross food out of your mouth.

Much debate has been raised about the root causes of emotional facial expressions, that is if they are genetic or learned. In fact, the debate dates back to Aristotle and Darwin, even today studies still debate the universality of facial expressions and their relevance across cultures. The debate revolves around whether or not the language of the body stems from culture, and is learned, or if they are simply part of the human repertoire and exist at birth and are innate. For example, the Chinese stick their tongues out to display surprise, but this isn’t universally consistent. All cultures however, recognize laughter to express joy and tears to express grief. So while we might agree that some expressions are cultural like the Chinese tongue protrusion others are universal such as laughing and crying.

Thumbs up means good things in the West, but in other cultures it means "up yours!"

Thumbs up means good things in the West, but in other cultures it means “up yours!”

Many cultures also determine whether natural expressions are permitted, inhibited or exaggerated further confusing the issue. For example, certain cultures permit open public weeping from grief whereas others inhibit these natural gestures. This is called the “display rule” and it says that it is the culture from which we are raised that determines what level of expression of emotion is permitted. The culture sets the norm. In a study where a particularly gory film was projected to subjects, the Japanese and American subjects showed similar stress-type facial expressions. However, when a scientist was present, the Japanese more than the Americans tended to mask their negative expressions with the use of smiles. While being watched the Americans were more likely to be expressive and the Japanese tended to try to hide their disgust.

Very little research into emotional language by the body, face exempt, has been conducted thus far. It is however clear that gestures such as giving the thumbs up or the victory symbol with the index and middle finger extended, are particularly cultural, it is not clear yet if body posture are particularly cultural or innate. The research does show that cultural differences in expressiveness of body language tend to vary greatly across culture. Studies using blind children as subjects have shown that smiling and embarrassment gestures like hiding the face with the hands, occurs regardless of learning or copying, indicating that they are indeed genetic. There is still a fair amount of work that needs to be done before any real conclusion can be made about the origins of nonverbal signals.

Verbal Language Is Confusing, Body Language Sorts Things Out

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Body language makes the intent of a message much more clear. This 'spear thrower' isn't interested in listening to your viewpoint.

Body language makes the intent of a message much more clear. This ‘spear thrower’ isn’t interested in listening to your viewpoint.

What proportion of communication is affected by the actual words versus how the words are used and the body language that it accompanies it? I don’t know of any real metric by which to calculate this, so it’s really anyone’s guess. Suffice it to say that the vast majority of communication and meaning has nothing at all to do with words. Body language in this case gets lumped in together with other signals such as tone, pitch and word emphasis whilst we subtract the actual words and their meaning. Take the phrase “Would you prefer to lie?” as an example. If I were to emphasize the word “would” it puts the emphasis on “you”, but if I put the emphasis on “lie” it puts emphasis on the action. Confusing things further and not privy to the spelling of “lie”, one wouldn’t know if I was speaking about telling the truth or “lying”, or taking a nap or “laying”. Emphasis is used to add meaning and emotion to our speech by stressing specific words and can completely change the meaning of the sentence. This can also be done by using a higher tone, using longer stressed syllables, or increasing the volume as we speak certain words. Even in the cases above I have used a nonverbal method to emphasis words by using the italics function, a feature of this writing program that arose out of necessity.

Going back to our previous example, we also have homonym’s which are words that share the same spelling and same pronunciation but have different meanings. An example includes the word “bow” which can mean to bend forward, the front of a ship, a weapon which fires an arrow, a ribbon tied in a knot (a bow tie) or to bend outward to the sides (bow-legged). Polysemes are words or phrases with multiple related meanings. For example “bank” can describe a financial institution that handles money or it can be used to describe trust as in “We’re friends, you can bank on me.” Antagonym’s are forms of slang that actually mean their opposite. Examples of antagonyms include “bound” for a direction or heading, or tied up and unable to move, cleave can be to cut apart or seal together, buckle can mean to hold together or to collapse, clip means to attach or cut off, and so on. Other time we use words to mean the opposites. “That skateboard trick was sick” comes across in slang as meaning that it was actually a pretty good trick.

While the myriad of definitions stemming from word-use might confuse you, don’t let it bother you too much because this is the only time it actually matters. In fact, body language is the likely reason our vocabulary is permitted to be so confusing and most of us have at least a rudimentary understanding about how our bodies and verbal language coincide to produce meaning anyway. The point of raising the dysfunction that peppers verbal language is precisely because confusing word meaning plays such a minor role in our lives. When we just don’t get it, in comes body language to sort things out and bring everyone back on to the same page.

What we are looking to accomplish in this book is a higher order reading of nonverbal language to graduate from simple word meaning to get at the hidden ‘script’ that unfolds ‘between the lines’, so to speak!