A person’s face and microexpressions serve as a window to their soul—if only you possess the ability to identify them. You would be surprised to know that a person’s microexpressions can reveal a lot about them and how they are feeling.
A microexpression is an involuntary and brief facial expression that humans make and they typically last between 0.5 to 4.0 seconds. It is essential to note that microexpressions cannot be faked and these quick expressions can help reveal a person’s true emotions.
If you are someone who can notice and identify these seven microexpressions before a person can cover them up, you are most likely brilliant at evaluating people’s emotions – despite their attempts to conceal them. Read on to find out if you can detect the following microexpressions.
Surprise is an ambivalent microexpression and being “pleasantly surprised” leads to curved and raised eyebrows. However, a hint of surprise signals trustworthiness. Other facial expressions associated with surprise are widened eyes and open mouth.
As suggested by researchers, of all the emotions, anger can be detected most effectively, presumably due to our basic instincts that enable us to predict danger and dodge it if possible. However, it doesn’t imply that every individual can notice a microexpression associated with anger. These brief expressions usually last for 0.5 seconds and can easily be missed.
Here is a breakdown of what microexpressions associated with anger look like: pressing the lips together, jutting out the jaw, intense staring or bulging out of eyes, and lowered eyebrows, Lowered brows are the most evident sign of anger and it firmly distinguishes from the other microexpressions like fear or surprise.
Let’s say you are afraid of something, but you want to appear nonchalant or brave, so you instantly try to hide your expressions. But if you are around someone who is an expert at reading microexpressions, they might have already spotted you raising flat eyebrows, widened eyes, wrinkles between your brows, or an open mouth.
Detecting happiness can be tricky because it can easily be faked with a smile. However, a brilliant reader of microexpressions can notice even the subtlest nuances, differentiating between the specifics of genuine happy expressions from the fake ones. It is critical to note that genuine happiness can be spotted in the eyes, raised cheeks, and lips curled up at the corners. Microexpressions of happiness are mainly about the wrinkles that spread all over the outer corners of the peepers, resembling crow’s feet. Always remember, our eyes cannot lie.
How to tell if someone's upset or sad even when they are claiming otherwise? Well, look out for the microexpressions of sadness: subtle pouting of the lower lip, scrunched eyebrows, and lips drawing at the corner.
If you are wondering how to recognize contempt, look out for a raised corner of the lip. The snarl is another microexpression that exhibits contempt and it is characterized by flared nostrils, raised upper lip, teeth showing and lowered brows. Snarl combines anger with contempt into one expression.
The typical elements that constitute disgust-based microexpressions are: raised upper lip, narrowed eyes, wrinkled nose, exposure of upper teeth and raised cheeks. While disgust can be easily spotted and recognized, it takes an excellent face reader to observe it within half a second before they cover it up.
Other than boosting your confidence in social settings, your microexpressions offer glimpses of your true emotions to other people.
