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JIMINY SELF-HELP HANDBOOK 10

EYES: open, upper/lower white showing, crow’s feet
EYELID: raised, tense, drawn up
EYEBROWS: raised, lowered curved, drawn together
NOSTRILS: dilated
MOUTH: open, closed, corners up, corners down

LIPS: tensed, relaxed, stretched, drawn back,

non-verbal

verbal
EMOTIONAL WORDS:
BODY HEAD: tilted up/down,
turning away
METAPHORS: MOVEMENT: fast/slow
e.g. “I feel trapped”. CHEST: expanded
SHOULDERS: back,
slumped

ARMS: limp at sides, up
non-verbal
HANDS: covering face,
PITCH: high/low holding head clapping
LOUDNESS: high/low

RATE OF SPEECH: slow/fast

Decoding emotions by deciphering three different forms of emotional expression

Facial expressions

The face is a dynamic canvas on which people display their emotional states, and from which they
decode the emotional states of others (e.g., Willis & Todorov, 2006). When a single emotion emerges
and the individual does not attempt to modify or conceal it, facial expressions typically last between
0.5 to 4 seconds and involve the entire face (Ekman, 2003). These expressions have been referred to
as macro expressions; they take place when people do not try to conceal their emotions. Macro
expressions often take place when people are alone and with close others (i.e., family and friends).
Macro Expressions are relatively easy to detect. Micro expressions, on the other hand, are expressions
that take place in a fraction of a second, sometimes as fast as 1/30 of a second. Because of their speed,
they are more difficult to detect. Micro expressions can take place when the individual tries to conceal
his emotions. In an attempt to control the emotional expression, the individual fails to conceal the
immediate (uncontrollable) facial reaction, causing a quick, fleeting leakage of micro expressions. For
example, a person who tries to hide anger when her manager makes a snide remark, may very briefly
press her lips firmly together (immediate reaction), but quickly cover up this reaction by smiling. The
existence of micro expressions is based on the hypothesis that facial actions that cannot be controlled
voluntarily may be produced involuntarily, even if the individual is trying to control his or her
expressions. Research by Porter and ten Brinke (2008) showed that micro expressions occur when