We know facial expressions convey feelings. Key facial expressions are universally recognized as expressing specific feelings or emotions, whether you are young or old, from the city or country, from developed nations or the untamed jungle.
We form impressions of the people we encounter. We take in their posture, their gait, their gestures, and we see their facial expressions. All contribute to conveying their energy levels and their feelings.
Every waking minute that we are in the presence of someone, we come up with a constant stream of inferences and insights about what that person is thinking or feeling.
When we meet someone new, we often pick up on subtle signals, so that afterwards, even though they may have spoken in a normal and friendly manner, we may say, “Something’s not right there,” or “I don’t think she’s very happy.”
What is it that we instinctively recognize? What are we reading on an unconscious level that gives us a sense of other emotions underlying the seemingly polite and socially acceptable facial expression? Is it real or is it put on?
When we get it right and read the facial expression accurately it helps us understand where the person is at, be appropriate to build rapport and interact effectively. When we get it wrong and misread the facial expressions, this can easily lead to misunderstandings, hurt feelings, accusations, arguments and disagreements.
Silvan Tomkins worked as a handicapper for a horse racing syndicate during the Depression. He spent hours staring at horses through binoculars. Tomkins believed that faces, even the faces of horses, held valuable clues to inner emotions and motivations, and he learned how to predict behaviour and outcomes from his observations.
He had a system for predicting how a horse would do in a race, based on what horse was on either side of him, and on their emotional relationship. His prediction rates were impressive and lucrative. If a male horse, for instance, had lost to a mare in his first or second year, he would do poorly if he went to the gate with a mare next to him in the line up.
Tomkins was honing his ability to read facial expressions and graduated in Psychology at University of Pennsylvania.
Charles Darwin noted in his book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals: ” ...the young and old people of widely different races, both with man and animals, express the same state of mind by the same movements.”
Silvan Tomkins later did his postdoctoral studies in Philosophy at Harvard and joined the Psychological Clinic staff in 1937. He went on to teach psychology at Princeton University’s Department of Psychology and Rutgers and became a much quoted author.
Over the years his ability to read faces and the emotions that created the facial expressions became renowned. He could say what crimes various fugitives had committed from looking at their police photos, could pick people who were lying on TV shows, watched interviews of political candidates, including Bill Clinton, and could give predictions of the outcomes.
So what was it that Silvan Tomkins could see and read accurately in faces? What does our facial expression relay to others? Why would a past win or lose experience, or which horse is in the next box, make a difference to the performance of a horse at a race? How does all this relate to humans?
These are some of the questions we explore in Dynamic Communications Program to uncover the secrets how facial expressions communicate emotions and how you can benefit by reading faces accurately.
Join the Program now and get access to more insights to increase your awareness . When you join the Program you’ll be excited with the results you’ll achieve because it will benefit you, your business, and your family in ways you can’t imagine – till you attend.
If you missed the start date on 29th April find out how to catch up. Contact me straight away by email: anna@annamcrobert.com.au
Cheers
Anna