Facial expression - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

A facial expression one or more motions or positions of the muscle

Muscle

Muscle is a contractile tissue of animals and is derived from the mesodermal layer of embryonic germ cells. Muscle cells contain contractile filaments that move past each other and change the size of the cell. They are classified as skeletal, cardiac, or smooth muscles. Their function is to...

s in the skin

Skin

-Dermis:The dermis is the layer of skin beneath the epidermis that consists of connective tissue and cushions the body from stress and strain. The dermis is tightly connected to the epidermis by a basement membrane. It also harbors many Mechanoreceptors that provide the sense of touch and heat...

. These movements convey the emotion

Emotion

Emotion is a complex psychophysiological experience of an individual's state of mind as interacting with biochemical and environmental influences. In humans, emotion fundamentally involves "physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience." Emotion is associated with mood,...

al state of the individual to observers. Facial expressions are a form of nonverbal communication

Nonverbal communication

Nonverbal communication is usually understood as the process of communication through sending and receiving wordless messages. Messages can be communicated through gestures and touch , by body language or posture, by facial expression and eye contact...

. They are a primary means of conveying social information among human

Human

Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...

s, but also occur in most other mammals and some other animal species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

. Facial expressions and their significance in the perceiver can, to some extent, vary between cultures.

Humans can adopt a facial expression to read as a voluntary action

Voluntary action

A voluntary action is produced by conscious choice of an organism. The organism, would in turn also be aware of the action while it is executed. This is the opposite of an involuntary action...

. However, because expressions are closely tied to emotion, they are more often involuntary. It can be nearly impossible to avoid expressions for certain emotions, even when it would be strongly desirable to do so; a person who is trying to avoid insulting an individual he or she finds highly unattractive might nevertheless show a brief expression of disgust

Disgust

Disgust is a type of aversion that involves withdrawing from a person or object with strong expressions of revulsion whether real or pretended. It is one of the basic emotions and is typically associated with things that are regarded as unclean, inedible, infectious, gory or otherwise offensive...

before being able to reassume a neutral expression. Microexpressions are one example of this phenomenon. The close link between emotion and expression can also work in the other direction; it has been observed that voluntarily assuming an expression can actually cause the associated emotion (Schnall & Laird, 2003; Soussignan, 2002 as cited in Papa & Bonanno, 2008).

Some expressions can be accurately interpreted even between members of different species- anger

Anger

Anger is an automatic response to ill treatment. It is the way a person indicates he or she will not tolerate certain types of behaviour. It is a feedback mechanism in which an unpleasant stimulus is met with an unpleasant response....

and extreme contentment

Contentment

"Contentment" seems realistically defined as "enjoyment of whatever may be desired". That definition is realistic because the more contented an individual or community becomes the less extreme so more acceptable their desires will be...

being the primary examples. Others, however, are difficult to interpret even in familiar individuals. For instance, disgust

Disgust

and fear

Fear

Fear is a distressing negative sensation induced by a perceived threat. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger...

can be tough to tell apart.

Because faces have only a limited range of movement, expressions rely upon fairly minuscule differences in the proportion and relative position of facial features, and reading them requires considerable sensitivity to same. Some faces are often falsely read as expressing some emotion, even when they are neutral, because their proportions naturally resemble those another face would temporarily assume when emoting.

Universality debate

Charles Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...

noted in his book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals
The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals
The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals is a book by Charles Darwin, published in 1872, concerning genetically determined aspects of behaviour. It was published thirteen years after On The Origin of Species and is, along with his 1871 book The Descent of Man, Darwin's main consideration...

:

...the young and the old people of widely different races, both with man and animals, express the same state of mind by the same movements.

Still, up to the mid-20th century most anthropologists

Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...

believed that facial expressions were entirely learned and could therefore differ among cultures. Studies conducted in the 1960s by Paul Ekman

Paul Ekman

Paul Ekman is a psychologist who has been a pioneer in the study of emotions and their relation to facial expressions. He has been considered one of the 100 most eminent psychologists of the twentieth century...

eventually supported Darwin's belief to a large degree.

Ekman's work on facial expressions had its starting point in the work of psychologist Silvan Tomkins

Silvan Tomkins

Silvan Solomon Tomkins is best known as a psychologist and personality theorist and as the developer of Affect theory and Script theory...

.
Ekman showed that contrary to the belief of some anthropologists

Cultural anthropology

Cultural anthropology is a branch of anthropology focused on the study of cultural variation among humans, collecting data about the impact of global economic and political processes on local cultural realities. Anthropologists use a variety of methods, including participant observation,...

including Margaret Mead

Margaret Mead

Margaret Mead was an American cultural anthropologist, who was frequently a featured writer and speaker in the mass media throughout the 1960s and 1970s....

, facial expressions of emotion are not culturally determined, but universal across human cultures.

The South Fore people of New Guinea

New Guinea

New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

were chosen as subjects for one such survey. The study consisted of 189 adults and 130 children from among a very isolated population, as well as twenty three members of the culture who lived a less isolated lifestyle as a control group. Participants were told a story that described one particular emotion; they were then shown three pictures (two for children) of facial expressions and asked to match the picture which expressed the story's emotion.

While the isolated South Fore people could identify emotions with the same accuracy as the non-isolated control group, problems associated with the study include the fact that both fear and surprise were constantly misidentified. The study concluded that certain facial expressions correspond to particular emotions, regardless of cultural background, and regardless of whether or not the culture has been isolated or exposed to the mainstream

Mainstream

Mainstream is, generally, the common current thought of the majority. However, the mainstream is far from cohesive; rather the concept is often considered a cultural construct....

.

Expressions Ekman found to be universal included those indicating anger

Anger

, disgust

Disgust

, fear

Fear

Fear is a distressing negative sensation induced by a perceived threat. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger...

, joy

Happiness

Happiness is a mental state of well-being characterized by positive emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. A variety of biological, psychological, religious, and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources....

, sadness

Sadness

Sadness is emotional pain associated with, or characterized by feelings of disadvantage, loss, despair, helplessness, sorrow, and rage. When sad, people often become outspoken, less energetic, and emotional...

, and surprise

Surprise (emotion)

Surprise is a brief emotional state experienced as the result of an unexpected event. Surprise can have any valence; that is, it can be neutral/moderate, pleasant, or unpleasant. If a person experiences a very powerful or long lasting surprise, it may be considered shock.-Reality...

(note that none of these emotions has a definitive social component, such as shame

Shame

Shame is, variously, an affect, emotion, cognition, state, or condition. The roots of the word shame are thought to derive from an older word meaning to cover; as such, covering oneself, literally or figuratively, is a natural expression of shame....

, pride

Pride

Pride is an inwardly directed emotion that carries two common meanings. With a negative connotation, pride refers to an inflated sense of one's personal status or accomplishments, often used synonymously with hubris...

, or schadenfreude

Schadenfreude

Schadenfreude is pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others. This German word is used as a loanword in English and some other languages, and has been calqued in Danish and Norwegian as skadefryd and Swedish as skadeglädje....

). Findings on contempt

Contempt

Contempt is an intensely negative emotion regarding a person or group of people as inferior, base, or worthless—it is similar to scorn. It is also used when people are being sarcastic. Contempt is also defined as the state of being despised or dishonored; disgrace, and an open disrespect or willful...

(which is social) are less clear, though there is at least some preliminary evidence that this emotion and its expression are universally recognized.

More recent studies in 2009 show that people from different cultures are likely to interpret facial expressions in different ways. For example, in Canada, the surprised face can be easily mixed up for the disgusted (or sometimes scared) in Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Eye contact

A person's face, especially their eyes, creates the most obvious and immediate cues that lead to the formation of impressions. This article discusses eyes and facial expressions and the effect they have on interpersonal communication

Interpersonal communication

Interpersonal communication is usually defined by communication scholars in numerous ways, usually describing participants who are dependent upon one another. It...

.

A person's eyes reveal much about how they are feeling, or what they are thinking. Blink rate can reveal how nervous or at ease a person may be. Research by Boston College

Boston College

Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...

professor Joe Tecce suggests that stress levels are revealed by blink rates. He supports his data with statistics on the relation between the blink rates of presidential candidates and their success in their races. Tecce claims that the faster blinker in the presidential debates has lost every election since 1980. Though Tecce's data is interesting, it is important to recognize that non-verbal communication is multi-channeled, and focusing on only one aspect is reckless. Nervousness can also be measured by examining each candidates' perspiration, eye contact

Eye contact

Eye contact is a meeting of the eyes between two individuals.In human beings, eye contact is a form of nonverbal communication and is thought to have a large influence on social behavior. Coined in the early to mid-1960s, the term has come in the West to often define the act as a meaningful and...

and stiffness.

Eye contact is another major aspect of facial communication. Some have hypothesized that this is due to infancy, as humans are one of the few mammals who maintain regular eye contact with their mother while nursing. Eye contact serves a variety of purposes. It regulates conversations, shows interest or involvement, and establishes a connection with others.

Eye contact regulates conversational turn taking, communicates involvement and interest, manifests warmth, and establishes connections with others…[and] it can command attention, be flirtatious, or seem cold and intimidating… [it] invites conversation. Lack of eye contact is usually perceived to be rude or inattentive.

But different cultures have different rules for eye contact. Certain Asian cultures can perceive direct eye contact as a way to signal competitiveness, which in many situations may prove to be inappropriate. Others lower their eyes to signal respect, and similarly eye contact is avoided in Nigeria, and between men and women in Islam; however, in western culture

Western culture

Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...

s this could be misinterpreted as lacking self-confidence

Self-esteem

Self-esteem is a term in psychology to reflect a person's overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her own worth. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs and emotions such as triumph, despair, pride and shame: some would distinguish how 'the self-concept is what we think about the self; self-esteem, the...

.

Even beyond the idea of eye contact, eyes communicate more data than a person even consciously expresses. Pupil dilation is a significant cue to a level of excitement, pleasure, or attraction. Dilated pupils indicate greater affection or attraction, while constricted pupils send a colder signal.

Face overall

The face as a whole indicates much about human moods as well. Specific emotional states, such as happiness or sadness, are expressed through a smile or a frown, respectively. There are seven universally recognized emotions shown through facial expressions: fear, anger, surprise, contempt, disgust, happiness, and sadness. Regardless of culture, these expressions are the same. However, the same emotion from a specific facial expression may be recognized by a culture, but the same intensity of emotion may not be perceived. For example, studies have shown that Asian cultures tend to rate images of facial emotions as less intense than non-Asian cultures surveyed. This difference can be explained by display rules, which are culture-specific guidelines for behavior
appropriateness. In some countries, it may be more rude to display an emotion than in another. Showing anger toward another member
in a group may create problems and disharmony, but if displayed towards a competitive rival, it could create in-group cohesion.

Facial expressions

There are six classically defined facial expressions:

Joy
Surprise
Fear
Anger
Disgust
Sadness

Some other examples of feelings that can be expressed are:

Anger
Anger
Anger is an automatic response to ill treatment. It is the way a person indicates he or she will not tolerate certain types of behaviour. It is a feedback mechanism in which an unpleasant stimulus is met with an unpleasant response....
Concentration
Attention
Attention is the cognitive process of paying attention to one aspect of the environment while ignoring others. Attention is one of the most intensely studied topics within psychology and cognitive neuroscience....
Confusion
ConFusion
ConFusion is an annual science fiction convention organized by the Stilyagi Air Corps and its parent organization, the Ann Arbor Science Fiction Association. Commonly, it is held the third weekend of January. It is the oldest science fiction convention in Michigan, a regional, general SF con...
Contempt
Contempt
Contempt is an intensely negative emotion regarding a person or group of people as inferior, base, or worthless—it is similar to scorn. It is also used when people are being sarcastic. Contempt is also defined as the state of being despised or dishonored; disgrace, and an open disrespect or willful...
Desire
Desire (emotion)
Desire is a sense of longing for a person or object or hoping for an outcome. Desire is the fire that sets action aflame. The same sense is expressed by emotions such as "craving" or "hankering". When a person desires something or someone, their sense of longing is excited by the enjoyment or the...
Disgust
Disgust
Disgust is a type of aversion that involves withdrawing from a person or object with strong expressions of revulsion whether real or pretended. It is one of the basic emotions and is typically associated with things that are regarded as unclean, inedible, infectious, gory or otherwise offensive...
Excitement
Empathy
Empathy
Empathy is the capacity to recognize and, to some extent, share feelings that are being experienced by another sapient or semi-sapient being. Someone may need to have a certain amount of empathy before they are able to feel compassion. The English word was coined in 1909 by E.B...
Fear
Fear
Fear is a distressing negative sensation induced by a perceived threat. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger...
Flirt
Frustration
Frustration
This article concerns the field of psychology. The term frustration does, however, also concern physics. In this context, the term is treated in a different article, geometric frustration....
Glaring
Glaring
A glare is a facial expression showing disapproval, fierceness and/or hostility. Glaring, in some cultures is considered offensive. A glare may be induced by anger or frustration....
Happiness
Happiness
Happiness is a mental state of well-being characterized by positive emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. A variety of biological, psychological, religious, and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources....
Sadness
Sadness
Sadness is emotional pain associated with, or characterized by feelings of disadvantage, loss, despair, helplessness, sorrow, and rage. When sad, people often become outspoken, less energetic, and emotional...
Snarl
Snarl
A snarl is a facial expression, where the upper lip is raised, and the nostrils widen, generally indicating hate, anger or pain. In addition to humans, other mammals including monkeys and dogs snarl, often to warn others of their potential bite. In humans, snarling uses the levator labii...

, mainly involving the levator labii superioris alaeque nasi muscle
Levator labii superioris alaeque nasi muscle
The levator labii superioris alaeque nasi muscle is, translated from Latin, the "lifter of the upper lip and of the wing of the nose". It has the longest name of any muscle in an animal...
Surprise
Surprise (emotion)
Surprise is a brief emotional state experienced as the result of an unexpected event. Surprise can have any valence; that is, it can be neutral/moderate, pleasant, or unpleasant. If a person experiences a very powerful or long lasting surprise, it may be considered shock.-Reality...
Love
Love
Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels...

Muscles of facial expression

Auricularis anterior muscle
Buccinator muscle
Buccinator muscle
The buccinator is a thin quadrilateral muscle, occupying the interval between the maxilla and the mandible at the side of the face.-Action:Its purpose is to pull back the angle of the mouth and to flatten the cheek area, which aids in holding the cheek to the teeth during chewing.It aids whistling...
Corrugator supercilii muscle
Corrugator supercilii muscle
The Corrugator supercilii is a small, narrow, pyramidal muscle, placed at the medial end of the eyebrow, beneath the Frontalis and just above Orbicularis oculi....
Depressor anguli oris muscle
Depressor anguli oris muscle
The Depressor anguli oris arises from the oblique line of the mandible, whence its fibres converge, to be inserted, by a narrow fasciculus, into the angle of the mouth.-Anatomy:...
Depressor labii inferioris muscle
Depressor labii inferioris muscle
The depressor labii inferioris is a facial muscle that helps lower the bottom lip.-Structure:This muscle arises from the oblique line of the mandible, and inserts on the skin of the lower lip, blending in with the orbicularis oris muscle.At its origin, depressor labii is continuous with the fibers...
Depressor septi nasi muscle
Depressor septi nasi muscle
The depressor septi arises from the incisive fossa of the maxilla.Its fibers ascend to be inserted into the nasal septum and back part of the alar part of nasalis muscle....
Frontalis muscle
Frontalis muscle
The Frontalis muscle , also known as the occipitofrontalis or epicranius, is thin, of a quadrilateral form, and intimately adherent to the superficial fascia. It is broader than the Occipitalis and its fibers are longer and paler in color...
Levator anguli oris muscle
Levator labii superioris alaeque nasi muscle
Levator labii superioris alaeque nasi muscle
The levator labii superioris alaeque nasi muscle is, translated from Latin, the "lifter of the upper lip and of the wing of the nose". It has the longest name of any muscle in an animal...
Levator labii superioris muscle
Mentalis muscle
Modiolus muscle
Modiolus (anatomy)
In facial anatomy, the modiolus is a chiasma of facial muscles held together by fibrous tissue, located lateral and slightly superior to each angle of the mouth. It is important in moving the mouth, facial expression and in dentistry...
Nasalis muscle
Nasalis muscle
The nasalis is a sphincter-like muscle of the nose whose function is to compress the nasal cartilage.It consists of two parts, transverse and alar:...
Orbicularis oculi muscle
Orbicularis oculi muscle
The orbicularis oculi is a muscle in the face that closes the eyelids. It arises from the nasal part of the frontal bone, from the frontal process of the maxilla in front of the lacrimal groove, and from the anterior surface and borders of a short fibrous band, the medial palpebral ligament.From...
Orbicularis oris muscle
Orbicularis oris muscle
In human anatomy, the orbicularis oris muscle is the sphincter muscle around the mouth."Orbicularis Oris is a complex of muscles in the lips that encircle the mouth; until recently it was misinterpreted as a sphincter, or circular muscle, but it is actually composed of four independent quadrants...
Platysma muscle
Platysma muscle
The platysma is a superficial muscle that overlaps the sternocleidomastoid.It is a broad sheet arising from the fascia covering the upper parts of the pectoralis major and deltoid; its fibers cross the clavicle, and proceed obliquely upward and medially along the side of the neck.The anterior...
Procerus muscle
Procerus muscle
The Procerus is a small pyramidal slip of muscle deep to the superior orbital nerve, artery and vein.-Origin and insertion:It arises by tendinous fibers from the fascia covering the lower part of the nasal bone and upper part of the lateral nasal cartilage....
Risorius muscle
Zygomaticus major muscle
Zygomaticus major muscle
The Zygomatic major is a muscle of the human body. It is a muscle of facial expression which draws the angle of the mouth superiorly and posteriorly . Like all muscles of facial expression, the zygomatic major is innervated by the facial nerve...
Zygomaticus minor muscle
Zygomaticus minor muscle
The zygomaticus minor is a muscle of facial expression. It originates from malar bone and continues with orbicularis oculi on the lateral face of the Levator labii superioris and then inserts into the outer part of the upper lip. Do not confuse this with the Zygomaticus major, which insets into...

External links

The Naked Face, August 5, 2002. Annals of Psychology
Facial Expressions Resources Page contains links to research concerning facial expressions
Bell's Palsy information site Information for sufferer's of facial palsy/facial paralysis

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Universality debate

Eye contact

Face overall

Facial expressions

Muscles of facial expression

See also

External links