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examBoard: AQA
examType: GCSE
lessonTitle: Expressing Emotion
Have you ever noticed how you can often tell what someone is feeling without them saying a word? That's because a significant part of how we express our emotions happens through non-verbal communication. In fact, researchers suggest that up to 93% of emotional communication is non-verbal!
Key Definitions:
Non-verbal cues often reveal our true feelings even when our words say something different. They can be more honest indicators of emotion because they're harder to fake or control. Understanding these cues helps us navigate social situations, build relationships and respond appropriately to others.
Our brains are wired to detect and interpret emotional signals quickly. This ability evolved as a survival mechanism - being able to rapidly identify if someone was angry or afraid could mean the difference between life and death for our ancestors. Today, this skill remains crucial for social interaction.
In the 1960s, psychologist Paul Ekman conducted groundbreaking research that challenged the prevailing belief that emotional expressions were culturally determined. Through his cross-cultural studies, Ekman identified six basic emotions that appear to be universally recognised regardless of cultural background.
Characterised by the raising of the mouth corners (smile) and tightening of the eyelids. The "Duchenne smile" (genuine happiness) involves the eye muscles, creating crow's feet wrinkles.
Features drooping of the eyelids, downturned mouth and sometimes a slight pulling together of the eyebrows. The inner corners of the eyebrows may be raised.
Shown through lowered and drawn together eyebrows, tensed lower eyelids and lips that are either pressed firmly together or opened to expose teeth.
Identified by raised eyebrows that are drawn together, widened eyes and a mouth that may be slightly open with tensed lips drawn back.
Recognised by a wrinkled nose, raised upper lip and sometimes a protruding lower lip. The eyebrows are usually lowered.
Characterised by raised eyebrows that are curved and high, widened eyes and an open mouth. This expression is typically brief as surprise quickly turns to another emotion.
Later, Ekman expanded his list to include other emotions such as contempt, which is shown by a one-sided mouth raise and tightening of the lip corner.
Ekman travelled to Papua New Guinea to study the Fore people, who had minimal contact with Western culture. He showed them photographs of facial expressions and asked them to match them with emotional scenarios. Despite their isolation, the Fore people identified the same basic emotions as Western participants, supporting the theory that certain emotional expressions are universal rather than culturally learned.
While the basic recognition of emotions appears universal, how and when emotions are expressed can vary significantly between cultures due to different display rules.
Display rules are cultural norms that govern when, where and how emotions should be expressed. These rules influence whether certain emotions are amplified, suppressed, masked, or neutralised in different social contexts.
In collectivist cultures (like Japan and China), people often suppress negative emotions to maintain group harmony. In contrast, individualist cultures (like the UK and USA) typically encourage more open emotional expression, especially of positive emotions.
Matsumoto (1990) found that Japanese participants showed fewer negative emotions when an authority figure was present compared to American participants. This demonstrates how cultural display rules can override the natural tendency to express emotions in certain contexts.
While facial expressions are crucial for communicating emotions, our entire body contributes to how we express feelings.
Our body posture can reveal emotional states:
Hand and arm movements often accompany emotional states:
The same facial expression can have different meanings depending on the context. For example, a smile might indicate happiness, embarrassment, nervousness, or even contempt depending on the situation and accompanying cues.
French neurologist Guillaume Duchenne identified that genuine smiles (now called "Duchenne smiles") involve both the zygomatic major muscle (which raises the corners of the mouth) and the orbicularis oculi muscle (which creates wrinkles around the eyes). Fake smiles typically only engage the mouth muscles. This distinction helps us unconsciously detect genuine happiness versus polite or forced smiles. Research by Ekman found that people who displayed Duchenne smiles reported feeling more positive emotions than those showing non-Duchenne smiles.
Our ability to accurately read emotions in others varies. Some people are naturally more skilled at this than others, but it's also a skill that can be improved with practice.
Emotional intelligence includes the ability to recognise and interpret emotions in others. People with higher emotional intelligence tend to:
Micro-expressions are brief, involuntary facial expressions that last for just a fraction of a second. They often reveal true feelings that a person is trying to conceal. Ekman's research showed that these fleeting expressions can be reliable indicators of hidden emotions, though they require training to detect accurately.
Understanding non-verbal emotional cues has practical applications in many fields:
While research on non-verbal communication of emotions has provided valuable insights, it's important to consider some limitations:
You can improve your ability to read emotions in others by:
Non-verbal communication plays a crucial role in how we express and interpret emotions. While some aspects of emotional expression appear to be universal (particularly the six basic facial expressions identified by Ekman), cultural norms and individual differences influence how and when emotions are displayed. Understanding the complex interplay of facial expressions, body language, context and cultural factors can help us better navigate social interactions and build stronger relationships with others.
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