Wouldnt it be interesting if you knew what the person you are talking to thinks? One method that people have used and found efficient is reading the body language, more exactly the microexpressions. First things first, what are these kinds of facial expressions?
A microexpression is a facial expression that lasts barely a fraction of a second. When the amygdala responds adequately to the stimuli that the human perceives and the individual desires to conceal this specific emotion, it is the intrinsic outcome of a voluntary and involuntary emotional response occurring simultaneously and competing with one another. As a result, the person expresses their actual emotions for a brief moment before responding with a phony emotional reply. There are seven universal microexpressions: anger, happiness, sadness, contempt, surprise, fear, and disgust.
What is the importance of microexpression? There are several reasons why we, as individuals, should study these types of facial expressions. One of them is understanding people’s emotions and how they truly feel. Someone can use microexpressions to figure out how their parents, classmates, and teachers are feeling. An understanding of someone’s micro-expressions exposes their behavior patterns, as well as what they enjoy and dislike.
When you pay attention, you can notice when emotion begins, when a person becomes furious, and when a person suppresses his emotion, and you can plan your actions accordingly. This enables you to operate most properly. When you notice someone’s expression change to anger, for example, you know it’s time to retreat or talk more logically to calm the individual down. Understanding a person allows you to empathize with and connect with him or her more effectively. Microexpressions reveal what a person is afraid to say.
Furthermore, nowadays, some careers require such knowledge about non-verbal language. Microexpressions are commonly used in jobs that entail communicating with others and interpreting people’s emotional states. Police, government troops, detectives, psychologists, therapists, and even performers are among these professions. All of these roles necessitate some awareness of social behaviors and emotional states to better comprehend persons in specific settings.
For example, you can think about micro-expressions as a polygraph test. They are indicators of stress and incommodity, but instead of a machine that registers your heart, breathing, and sweating rate, you are observed by a human that studies your face. Even though microexpressions are important in these fields, they are not the only indicators used when it comes to catching criminals.
Moreover, when it comes to our day-to-day lives, we can make reading microexpression something useful. Combining the meaning of these expressions with rapid-fire questioning is a good method to use when you suspect that someone is lying to you.
On a personal note, I got interested in this field because I like observing people and microexpression reading requires a lot of human observation. After I saw the TV show called “Lie to Me”, I got more and more interested in this subject and after watching videos on youtube about microexpression I started paying a lot more attention to the way people transmit their message than to the message itself.
