Facial expression. Facial expressions and gestures in communication. Facial expressions

A man is such an interesting creature that all manifestations of his essence, personality and feelings are perceived with interest. Facial expressions, for example, can tell people a lot of interesting details, even if they themselves are silent. Gestures are also capable of betraying someone else's state. Watching people, you can find out many interesting details that will help to deal with the truth or falsehood, emotions, mood and other features of others. The psychology of facial expressions is truly vast. To study it fully, one article or even a book is not enough. Nevertheless, some rules and tips will help to learn at least elementary psychological "tricks" to use them in the future.

General information and definitions

Physiognomy is the art of reading a person according to his external signs, in particular according to his face, his expression, features and facial expressions. You can determine both the internal qualities and some psychological data, as well as the state of health. This method cannot be called completely scientific, but many are interested in it very seriously in view of its certain validity.

Facial expression is a facial expression in which a person gives out his inner sensations, feelings, feelings, mood, emotions and other spiritual qualities.

Gestures are body movements, most often with the hand / hands, accompanying or replacing the words of the individual who commits them.

Pose - body position. A person sits, stands, or lies exactly as he likes / is comfortable / comfortable.

Gestures, postures, facial expressions - all this plays an important role in people's lives. Not a single person can do without them, and therefore, if you learn to recognize them correctly, then life will become easier and more interesting. Facial expressions and gestures in communication are used everywhere and automatically, not everyone is able to control them. Thanks to this, more observant and attentive personalities have the opportunity to study people.

Face and facial expressions

What is the best thing to say about a person? Of course, the face. It is it that is capable of betraying a person with giblets when he experiences some emotions, reacts to something, lies or tells the truth, etc. The language of facial expressions is rich and diverse. It can be difficult to remember absolutely everything, but the elementary features of sincere joy, for example, or disappointment can be stored in memory. And also learn to hide your own feelings.

Despite the fact that facial expressions and human gestures are closely interconnected, they will be considered separately. So let's go.

Reactions

Mimicry of a person’s face manifests itself in different ways, and most often it can be seen in human emotions. The latter, in turn, are shown in reactions. Depending on their manifestation, you can find out what a person experiences from the information received. The difficulty lies in the fact that some are afraid, others do not want, and others are embarrassed to show their own emotions. Because of this, you have to have time to notice a quick, involuntary reaction that appears very first. Often it is almost impossible to completely control it, especially to an unprepared person. Therefore, it is possible to determine the real feelings of the interlocutor, which he, in seconds, most likely, will remove from his face, if you act quickly and extremely carefully.

Emotions

So, let's continue. As mentioned above, facial expressions in communication are manifested through the expression of emotions emanating from the reaction. Below are the most striking and significant of them, as well as ways to express them:

• Joy, happiness . Eyebrows and lips are relaxed, the corners of the latter are raised on both sides, the cheeks are also raised, and there are small wrinkles in the corners of the eyes.
• Anger, annoyance . Eyebrows are tense, brought together and lowered, mouth tightly closed. Often the teeth are brought together, as are the lips, the corners of which look down with anger or intense discontent.
• Contempt . The smirk The corner of the mouth is raised on one side and a slight squint in the eyes is visible.
• Surprise. Lips and face as a whole are relaxed, eyes are rounder than usual, eyebrows shot up, and mouth is parted.
• Fear. The eyebrows and upper eyelids are raised, and the lower ones are tense, like the whole face as a whole, eyes are wide.
• Sadness, affliction. Slightly lowered upper eyelids and raised eyebrows, relaxed lips with corners looking down, as well as an empty, extinct look.
• Disgust . The upper lip is tense and raised, the eyebrows are brought together, forming a small fold, and slightly lowered, the cheeks also slightly rise, and the nose is slightly wrinkled.

Among other things, to deal with emotions will help pictures. The facial expressions on them are depicted well, which clearly demonstrates the internal feelings and experiences of the people depicted. Smiles, by the way, are also not in vain invented. Often their facial expressions are not bad, which is why they are in demand when trying to transmit emotions over the Internet. After all, communication here mainly occurs in letters, which do not always succeed in conveying the sensations experienced at one time or another.

Human condition

Sometimes it’s enough to watch people a bit to see what they are. Facial expression affects a person, and not only "one-time", but for life. The brighter your interlocutor showed himself, the more you can find out about him.

- Smart people most often have a big forehead. This does not mean that their knowledge is great in everything. Sometimes it happens that a person knows a lot of information in one area, but is completely ignorant in another. If your acquaintance has a large forehead, but no signs of any special intellect are manifested, perhaps he just has not yet found his job.

- Brilliant eyes and a lively look mean a person’s enthusiasm for someone / something. Usually this happens with curious kids who are interested in everything in the world. On the contrary, if a person’s gaze is dull and indifferent, then his condition is depressed, perhaps close to depression.

- If, when laughing, many wrinkles appear in the corners of the eyes, this means that the person is kind, cheerful and cheerful.

- Bitten lips indicate that a person likes to think and is most often nervous when making a decision. Sometimes people automatically begin to act like this right at the interlocutor, because they can’t decide something.

- A solid, well-developed chin (often square) shows a strong human will. Since people, when they achieve their goals (even in a dispute), strain the lower part of the face, it begins to develop. With frequent victories, the chin becomes strong and firm, which proves the person’s ability to achieve their goals. Based on this, if the lower part of the face of the interlocutor is soft, weak and undeveloped, it can be assumed that it is easy to break. He will not go to the end if there is a serious obstacle ahead.

- The more various bulges, irregularities, “depressions”, “protrusions”, etc. (hollow cheeks, convex cheekbones, for example) on the face, the more emotional and hot-tempered a person. He is easily able to fall into a state of affect and vividly and vividly throw out his feelings on others.

Gesticulation

Both facial expressions and gestures in communication make it clear what and how a person says:

• Open palms mean trust and openness. If a person periodically exposes the inner side of the brush in front of you, it means that he has nothing to hide from you, and he feels rather well in your society. If the interlocutor constantly hides his hands in his pocket, puts them behind his back or makes other such “secretive” movements, he is probably not very comfortable. It can be both hostility to you, and guilt / shame for past actions.
• Hands located on the cheek mean thoughtfulness. Usually, at such moments, a person thinks hard about something, tries to figure out what to do in this situation, etc.
• With nervousness or, more likely, self-doubt, a person begins to touch either the neck or objects located on it like a pendant, chain, etc. In addition, he may begin to gnaw at the pen.
• A nod of head marks agreement. Sometimes people nod uncontrollably, thereby reporting on a subconscious level that they like the opinions of others. Shaking your head, on the contrary, means that the person does not agree with you. Just like a nod, sometimes this happens automatically.

Poses

Open facial expressions and gestures in communication are, of course, good, but one should not forget about the person’s postures that he takes during a conversation:

• If a person sits relaxed, stretching his legs forward in your direction, this means that he is well-disposed. The same importance is the approach to the interlocutor with the chair: a predisposition to you personally and the conversation as a whole.
• Sometimes a person unfastens buttons, or even takes off his clothes altogether, such as a jacket. This proves his trust and open attitude towards you.
• If your interlocutor draws something simple on a piece of paper, often looks at one point, tugs at a pen, shakes his foot, taps his fingers, does not express any special emotions, etc., then he is not very interested in you, because signs of boredom. Change the topic of conversation or try to bring liveliness to the dialogue.
• Crossed legs or arms (on the chest, for example) mean closedness, isolation, unwillingness to communicate and open. Perhaps a person just feels uncomfortable, and soon this state will pass, or perhaps it is unpleasant for him to be in your society.
  

How to recognize truth and falsehood in a person

That is why many people are interested in the details of our article - everyone wants to know how to read facial expressions of a person’s face, how to see when they are lying to you brazenly, and when they tell the truth. Some ways to expose a liar are given below, but remember that perhaps a liar about such tricks has long been very well aware, and therefore uses them skillfully and deftly, deceiving others so that the mosquito of the nose does not undermine.

1. When a person tells a lie, his pupils involuntarily narrow. If you previously managed to notice the initial state of the interlocutor’s eyes, then you will understand that he is cunning, after the pupils are reduced.
2. When a person lies, he looks away. This is due to the fact that subconsciously he is ashamed of the untruthful information that he says.
3. When a person lies and knows about the previous method, he gazes intently into his eyes. More often than not, he is so “flirting" that he hardly even blinks. It is also capable of betraying a liar.
4. The gaze of a lying person moves from one subject to another, not lingering on just one thing. Sometimes it’s just a sign of nerves, but more often it’s a lie.
5. Due to the compression of the zygomatic muscles, a lying person has a kind of half-smile, half-smirk on his face.
6. The direction of your gaze will also tell you whether you have to hear the truth or falsehood from the person you are talking to. If a person looks to the right, most likely, you are presented with a lie, if to the left - the truth. However, this rule is valid provided that the speaker is right-handed; otherwise, read the opposite.

Features of foreign language facial expressions and gestures

They do not always communicate in the same ways as ours. Of course, this is not a human language, but a sign language, poses and facial expressions. The list below showing specific countries and incorrect actions will help to avoid getting into trouble with foreigners.

Asia. Watch your arms and legs. You should not be the first to touch someone else's head and hair, because for Asians this is the most sacred thing in a person. Legs, in turn, also do not need to dissolve, however, in general. Even a casual touch (to any part of the body) can cause panic and even anger on the part of Asians. This is because, unlike the head, the legs are considered the “lowest” in the human body.

Near East. Raising your thumb up is like sending a man in the ass. True, children often show this gesture, trying to thereby annoy others.

Brazil. The gesture “everything is OK” (the thumb is connected to the index finger, forming a zero, and the other fingers stick out “out”) here has roughly the same meaning as our middle finger.

Venezuela. The “all OK” gesture here means homosexuality.

Italy. The “Goat” gesture from rock music here indicates treason and unluckiness. That is, if you show someone this sign, you will hint that you consider him a complete sucker, whom the other half is cheating on. In northern Italy, you can’t also touch the chin, as this means that you are as if showing a person the middle finger.

Fiji. A handshake is considered the trademark of the republic, which is why you should not be scared if the interlocutor holds your hand tightly and for a long time. This is just a sign of courtesy, and it can last a really considerable amount of time, right up to the end of the conversation.

France. The “all OK” gesture here means homosexual affiliation, and chin scratching is the same middle finger.

Conclusion

So, now you know what role facial expressions play in human life, as well as gestures, postures and other physiological features that are difficult to control. Of course, professionals like FSB or FBI agents will not prove to be in delicate situations, but if your environment does not consist of so “cool” acquaintances, then you can always “read” a person and learn a lot about him.