The ability to read facial expressions or the ability to interpret the various movements of our muscles that form our face is a very interesting topic. Many doctors and scientists feel that it is virtually impossible to read one’s facial features, whereas there are other doctors as well as professionals that believe reading facial features and interpreting them is not all that difficult.
The ability to detect one’s answer to a certain question or the ability to detect one’s reaction to an allegation is perhaps some of the most intriguing characteristics that are very helpful to one’s daily life. Imagine the possibility of having to read the opposite sex’s facial expressions before making a move? Imagine the possibility of having to ‘read’ a culprit’s face before having to spurt allegations at them?
For some, it is quite impossible to believe that there are actually certain studies as well as exercises that can be used to polish one’s ability to read facial expressions. To outline possible methods to better read facial expressions, here is a list of basic emotions that can be interpreted through understanding how the muscles of the face form when such emotions are felt by a person.
* Anger: This is the easiest and most common of facial expressions that can be read. The anger emotion is shown in most people by squeezing the eyebrows a bit forming an extreme frown. Usually people tend to squeeze their teeth or even squeeze their lips together and often stare at the place or area that is causing the anger.
* Fear: This emotion can be interpreted as when a subject increases the width of their eyes or their eyes become more wide open in order to anticipate what might happen next. The pupils of the eye dilate so that more light can be absorbed. Other facial expressions that obey this emotion include the eyebrows to draw in whereas the lips of the person tend to widen as well.
* Joy: This emotion can also be very easily identified. A person who is happy will not be able to hold the joy in unless he is pretending to be unhappy. A person who is experiencing joy will smile and relax his eyebrows.
* Surprised: People who are surprised tend to raise their eyebrows in shock and pop open their eyes because they can’t believe what has just happened. The jaw of the person might also open a bit depending on the intensity of the surprise and shock.
* Lying: This is one of the toughest emotions to spot because there is no universal sign or expression that can be employed by every human being. This being said, people tend to differ and so do their facial expressions when they are lying. It is very hard just to spot someone lying from their facial expressions and sometimes additional clues such as body movements and body positioning are also needed.
The ability to grasp and understand facial expressions are sometimes very hard to do and can only be mastered by a very small sum of people in the world. Even then, those who master this art will sometimes be flawed by the opposite side, for example, imagine having two people who have mastered the art of face recognition. What happens when one of them is lying? Can the other master find out? That is a very tough question to answer and can only be answered if such a test is to be conducted.
Source:
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/reading-facial-expressions.html
