What the Face Reveals: Basic and Applied Studies of Spontaneous Expression Using the Facial Action Coding System

Series in Affective Science

by Paul Ekman, Erika L. Rosenberg

While we have known for centuries that facial expressions can reveal what people are thinking and feeling, it is only recently that the face has been studied scientifically for what it can tell us about internal states, social behavior, and psychopathology. Today's widely available, sophisticated measuring systems have allowed us to conduct a wealth of new research on facial behavior that has contributed enormously to our understanding of the relationship between facial expression and human psychology. The chapters in this volume present the state-of-the-art in this research. They address key topics and questions, such as the dynamic and morphological differences between voluntary and involuntary expressions, the relationship between what people show on their faces and what they say they feel, whether it is possible to use facial behavior to draw distinctions among psychiatric populations, and how far research on automating facial measurement has progressed. The book also
includes follow-up commentary on all of the original research presented and a concluding integration and critique of all the contributions made by Paul Ekman.

As an essential reference for all those working in the area of facial analysis and expression, this volume will be indispensable for a wide range of professionals and students in the fields of psychology, psychiatry, and behavioral medicine.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Communication, Science, Research, Self Help, Reference

672 pages, Hardcover

First published February 12, 1998

About the author

American psychologist that pioneered the study of emotions' relationship to facial expressions.

Reviews

[Andreas Michaelides · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to know if someone is lying to you or deceiving you then this is the book for you, it covers the whole science behind the methodology by a man that spend a big portion of his life becoming a human lie detector.
It’s an amazing book, one I constantly consult frequently and I am sure I will never stop getting info out of it.
A must read book for anyone interested in learning how facial expressions work and not only that.
This book is a complete scientific based proven research that will expand your brain.

[Marisa Bennett]

I am not sure about this book yet. I got it because I am very good at discerning affect, and work with a lot of children, and traumatized adults. This is definitely a research textbook, and a little different than I expected. I have not gotten very far in it yet, but will definitely finish it. Then I will rate it.

[Gold Dust · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn’t get to finish the book. Left off on p. 178.

Chapters of interest: 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 19, 22. I finished 5, 7

Notes:

“Voluntary smiles are more frequently unilateral (present in one half of the face only) or asymmetrical (stronger in one half of the face); their onset is abrupt or otherwise irregular but not smooth; they are more frequently too short (less than half of a second) or too long (more than 4 sec); and they are more frequently asynchronous (i.e., the zygomatic major and obicularis oculi muscles do not reach their apex at the same time)” (113).

“Laughter displayed in response to humor has been shown to be exclusively symmetrical (Ruch, 1990)” (114).

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“Extraverts will show enjoyment displays (smiles and laughter) more often than introverts” (114).

“High doses of alcohol seem to facilitate negative affect while the effects of intoxication with low and medium doses includes elevation of positive affect; typically an increase in scales measuring positive mood states (e.g., elation) is reported” (114).

“Based on the inhibition theory of extraversion it is assumed that ‘depressant drugs increase cortical inhibition, decrease cortical excitation and thereby produce extraverted behavior patterns. Stimulant drugs decrease cortical inhibition, increase cortical excitation and thereby produce introverted behavior patterns’” (115).

“Extraverts reach the so-called sedation threshold sooner than introverts” (115).

“The average and the maximal intensity of the enjoyment display increased with increasing degrees of extraversion” (126).

“For non-intoxicated Ss (i.e., in the control group) the correlation between extraversion and laughter was the highest obtained for all individual behavioral indicators of positive affect” (126).

“Among those who appreciate the humor the extraverts will show enjoyment displays more frequently than introverts” (127).

“A low dose of alcohol seems to create a transition state which is characterized by the facilitation of emotionality in the range of negative to mildly positive affect” (127).

“The introvert is much more resistant to alcohol than the extravert” (128).

“Positive affectivity is more strongly prevalent among extraverts than among introverts” (128).

5-39% of subjects show no facial response to humor, tickling, or laughing gas. “Introverts formed the majority of the nonresponders” (131). Women were more expressive to pain than men (170).

“Embarrassment is marked by gaze aversion, shifty eyes, speech disturbances, face touches, and a nervous, silly smile that reaches its apex following gaze aversion” (134).

From p. 168-170:
Genuine pain: lowered eyebrows, raised cheeks, tight lids, raised upper lip, parted lips, eyes closed

Masked pain: compared to baseline, tight lids/narrowed eyes, less blinking. Compared to genuine pain, less outer brow raising, cheek raising, parting lips, closed eyes, blinking.

Faked pain: compared to baseline, less blinking; more of all of the following: lowered eyebrows, raised cheeks, tight lids, raised upper lip, lip corners pulled back and up, parted lips, eyes closed. Compared to genuine pain, less blinking; more brow lowering, cheek raising, lip corners pulled back and up.

People faking their pain display more vivid/intense responses than when in genuine pain, and people masking their pain made it hard to tell they were in pain at all (172).

Because people are able to stop their facial expressions of pain if they try, it’s evidence that it’s under their control (173).

“People blink less frequently when vigorously pursuing cognitive activities” (173).

[Clémence Dufresne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book cannot be read alone. To fully understand the meaning and recognize which muscle does what, you need to take the microexpression training from Paul Ekman. This book is the manual used for the training. It's hard to read, but contains so much information that can save yourself from complex situations, life or death situations, etc.

[Jovannah Bär · Rating 4 out of 5]

very detailed, but sometimes hard to read on.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a collection of research articles based on, well, what the face reveals. I have not been interested in reading about their experiments, though they seem as well done as these kind of experiments can be (hard to control for everything, some speculation and conjecture). I'm enjoying the discussion sections at the end of the chapters. They are well thought-out and professionally written.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very technical reading but brilliant work by Ekman!

[djreggiereg Mas Reg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would've never known about Paul Ekman if it wasn't for reading books on Darwin. This book will take me on a great path. Thanks.