What the face reveals - Essay Example

?Full What the Face Reveals Summary of Reading What the face reveals focused on examining Ekman and Friesen’s (1969) study about detecting deceit through observation of facial expression. According to Ekman and Friesen, most people tend to feign their facial expressions rather than disguise emotions through gestures or by using foot or hand movements for they think that observers notice more of facial expressions than body gestures. Ekman & Friesen main hypothesis reveals that there was more accuracy when observers attempt to detect deceit by merely viewing a liar’s body than when the observers attempt to view the face, or the face and gestures at the same time. 1 Communication Situation In the selected reading (What the face reveals), Ekman and Friesen communicates among the readers about deception through facial expressions, that in order not to be deceived of the truth by facial expressions such as mask smiling, it is important to observe the macroexpression of the individual as a whole. In a communication situation for instance, verbal communication (what the individual says) together with non-verbal communication (hand and foot gestures, and other muscular movements on the face) should be measured. 2 -------------------------------------------- 1 Ekman P., & Friesen, W. V. (1969). Nonverbal leakage and clues to deception. Psychiatry, 32, 88-105. 2 Ekman P., & Friesen, W. V. (1969). p. 98. To describe the outcome of the communication situation, it is a masquerade of truth wherein the face or facial expression of the liar attempts to mislead the interviewer/observer. The wider context of the communication revealed that those involuntary facial expressions may leak in spite of a liar’s attempt to deceive. 1 Analysis of Communication Techniques Using the information contained in the reading, the example of communication in an industrial setting can be a good example. Say for example, I am applying as a practicumer or on the job training in a certain company or hospital; however, we were informed by the dean and the guidance counsellor that the companies which are going to visit our school are going to conduct a mock interview to assess the abilities of the graduating students. All of the students are busy preparing themselves for this mock interview. Some are even rehearsing the lines they should say supposed when they are asked to tell something about themselves. In other words, the students needed to feign positive feelings instead of showing negative feelings like fear, intimidation, shame, etc., in order to give an impression to the interviewer and pass the interview. During a mock interview, the interviewer communicates in a way that there is an existing eye contact with the interviewee; moreover, to apply what we learned from Ekman and Friesen’s theory, we have learned that even though the face could mislead untrained eye, gestures and other involuntary expressions might still leak in spite of attempted deceit and lie. -------------------------------------------- 1 Ekman P., & Friesen, W. V. (1969). Nonverbal leakage and clues to deception. Psychiatry, 32, 88-105. 4 In the kind of context described, it is necessary to establish rapport with the applicant or interviewee and this shall be observed during the conversation proper; say for instance, smiling and nodding usually occurs when the interviewer affirms that he/she understands the interviewee’s response or that he/she understands what the interviewee is saying. On the other hand, positive emotions and felt facial expressions are elicited by both the interviewer and interviewee should real communication take place. Otherwise, when negative emotions are masked carefully, observer can infer that this lie is executed by an applicant/interviewee, or whoever student is nervous, intimidated, and the like. Communication Strategies Relatively, the theory used by Ekman and Friesen, communications practice should be applied in a way that the speaker (interviewer) addresses both non-verbal and verbal forms of communication, aside from the other facial expressions of the individual being observed (interviewee). The main purpose of this study then is to critically assess everyone’s own communication practice and to develop techniques and strategies to become more effective communicators (speakers). The two types of smiles are namely: the felt happy smile and the masking smile are distinguished truthfully. The first describes a pleasant experience from the latter’s deceptive description of an unpleasant experience. Gestures as well as facial expressions provide the usual clues to deceive when lie is about an emotion, and when especially, the emotion was felt at the instant of executing the lie. -------------------------------------------- 1 Ekman P., & Friesen, W. V. (1969). Nonverbal leakage and clues to deception. Psychiatry, 32, 88-105. On the other hand, Ekman theorized in 1985 that ‘even when lie is not about feelings,’ it may still produce behavioural clues to deception. Based on the preceding analysis and Ekman and Friesen’s theories, a new solution or communication strategy is recommended. The solution: A replication of the findings of the studies discussed in What the Face Reveals. In brief, studies which replicated that of Ekman and Friesen’s revealed that smile should not be reveal that smiles should not be considered single category of any individual’s behaviour. Most importantly, smile can be distinguished also with its different facades. It remains to be clear that different kinds of smiles may elicit different meaning and different social signals; smiles have different purpose in any social interactions. In relation, smiles are associated to different individual’s (subjective) experience. Conclusion What the face reveals focused on examining Ekman and Friesen’s (1969) study about detecting deceit through observation of facial expression. Most people tend to feign their facial expressions rather than disguise emotions through gestures or by using foot or hand movements for they think that observers notice more of facial expressions than body gestures. In What the face reveals, Ekman and Friesen communicates among the readers about deception through facial expressions: in order not to be deceived of the truth by facial expressions such as mask smiling, it is important to observe the macroexpression of the individual as a whole. The outcome of the communication situation is a masquerade of truth wherein the face or facial expression of the liar attempts to mislead the observer. The wider context of the communication revealed that those involuntary facial expressions may leak in spite of a liar’s attempt to deceive. References Ekman P., & Friesen, W. V. (1969). Nonverbal leakage and clues to deception. Psychiatry, 32, 88-105. Read More