There's a show on FOX that came out in Jan 2009 that is based on the scientific research of Dr. Paul Ekman. It is facinating. What did Ekman study? Applied psychology: interpreting microexpressions, through the Facial Action Coding System, and body language. A microexpression is "a brief, involuntary facial expression shown on the face of humans according to emotions experienced. Unlike regular facial expressions, it is difficult to fake microexpressions. Microexpressions express the seven universal emotions: disgust, anger, fear, sadness, happiness, surprise, and contempt. They can occur as fast as 1/15 to 1/25 of a second." (Wikipedia)
When I found out about this, it opened a whole new world. Who knew? The true emotions we feel are fleetingly betryed on our faces. Stating it that way makes it sound obvious, of course our faces reflect our emotions. But what about emotions we try to hide? Like the nervous worry that is felt when lying? Or the guilt we feel when we've made huge mistakes? Maybe even the anger we experience when a friend has mistakenly broken a CD they borrowed. Our face can give us away in a millisecond, without our consent, without our knowledge. And useually it doens't matter because most people can't read microexpressions anyways. A study that tested nearly twenty thousand (20,000) people found that only a little more than fifty were able to tell if a person was lying. (Source)
But there is a lot more involved. For example, here is a picture of Bill Clinton, lying, saying, "I want you to listen to me. I'm going to say this again: I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky." Several things give him away (of course, in retrospect this is a lot easier but it proves the point) and it is the composite amount that shows the whole picture. He is pointing and looking in two different directions. Why? When someone is lying, the brain can’t fully put everything together and the finger ends up pointing in the “wrong” direction. He also calls Miss Lewinsky "that woman." This is called distancing language; the phrasing used by people to "distance" themselves from a statement, either to avoid thinking about the subject or to distance themselves from its content. People can also try to distance themselve from a lie by stepping back, maybe folding their arms.
Notice Nixon stepping back and crossing his arms trying distancing himself from his words here.
Notice Nixon stepping back and crossing his arms trying distancing himself from his words here.
There are tons of websites and books with all sorts of good information on this subject. Learning how to read microexpressions really helps us understand people better, it's not just about catching people lying. Check out some of the links below for more information:
