“Emotions can override the more powerful fundamental motives that drive our lives: hunger, sex, and the will to survive.” – Paul Ekman

Social engineers have to become masters at understanding, reading and influencing people. Depending on the information being communicated, a large portion of our communication will not be the words we say but the message will be communicated through our nonverbal communications. This is why understanding nonverbal communication is so vital. Here, we will dig deep into what micro expressions are and how they are utilized by the skilled social engineer.

Macro Expressions: Normal expressions that usually last between 1/2 -second and 4 seconds. They often repeat and fit with what is said and the sound of the person’s voice.

Micro Expressions: These are very brief, usually lasting between 1/15 and 1/25 of a second. They often display a concealed emotion and are the result of suppression or repression.

Micro expressions are very brief facial expressions, lasting only a fraction of a second. They occur when a person either deliberately or unconsciously conceals a feeling. According to Dr. Paul Ekman, there are seven emotions that have universal signals: anger, fear, sadness, disgust, contempt, surprise, and happiness.

An emotion is defined as a process or particular kind of automatic appraisal influenced by our personal past, it’s a set of psychological changes and behaviors that tell us how to deal with a situation. A feeling is simply the resultant of any emotion. More than 40 muscles in your face combine to display the results of emotions. Most emotion that is expressed will be considered a macro expression. Take this scenario for example:

You are out at a local bar and you see an old classmate from high-school who you are not particularly fond of. In fact, this individual used to bully you back in the day but that was a long time ago, so you aren’t going to let that get in the way of at least saying hi if they approach you. What do you think your facial expressions were like in this scenario – from the start, when you initially saw the individual until the individual approached you and engaged in conversation?

More than likely, when you initially saw this individual, the emotion that was displayed on your face, was one of disgust or contempt, or maybe even anger. But that is the micro expression and you aren’t going to continue to display that emotion because you will do what 99% of people will do and portray a different emotion, an emotion that will be displayed as the macro expression. So instead of letting this individual know that you really don’t like him/her, and you still have hard feelings from getting bullied, you will give off a smile and show the emotion of happiness. More than likely, the individual would have no idea that you still hold a grudge because reading micro expressions is not an easy task and takes time and practice to become good at. So instead of seeing the true feelings that occurred quickly during the micro expression, the individual sees the emotion of happiness and thinks that everything is okay between the two.

In society, people are so talented at masking how they truly feel that one must wonder if what they are saying or how they are acting is really how they feel. One way to decipher this is to pay attention to micro expressions. Micro expressions cannot be faked, they are almost like a truth serum. The emotion that occurs within those first 1/15^th to 1/25^th of a second to a stimulus can give away even the most skilled liar. So, lets briefly take a look at Dr. Paul Ekman’s seven emotions and the characteristics of each.

Disgust

Disgust is a strong negative feeling of aversion or disapproval. You may have a sickening feeling of revulsion, loathing, or nausea. Disgust can be registered by the wrinkle of the nose, lowered brow, narrowed eyes, a protruded tongue and an open-mouthed look of an individual who has tasted lemon juice or something extremely sour.

Signs of Disgust:

• Raising of the upper lip. This can be moderate to intense.
• Wrinkle of the nose, which brings edges of eyebrows in and down.
• Slight upper lip raise.
• Disgust can occur with no activity evident in the eyelids or eyebrows.
• Relaxation of the lower lip can be a signal that disgust is beginning to be felt.
• Note: nose wrinkling can also occur in some people when they are showing enjoyment with a smile. This is seen more often with females than males.

Anger

An emotion that involves a strong uncomfortable and hostile response to a perceived provocation, hurt, or threat. Anger is used as a protective mechanism. The person feeling anger will get warm and feel a lot of pressure. Their voice will be on edge and get harsher and often louder.

Signs of Anger:

• Often a bulging of the lower eyelid.
• Narrowing of the eyes.
• Lowering of eyebrows, lowering of chin.
• Tightened lips.
• Wrinkle = higher than disgust. Anger = wrinkles between the eyebrows. Disgust = wrinkles around nose and cheek region.
• A glare.
• Jaw push the lips and chin forward, what in boxing is called “leading with the chin”. When you’re angry, your chin goes down, which is our instinct to protect our neck region.
• Head pushed forward in uncontrolled anger.

Contempt

Contempt is different from disgust, because contempt is only felt toward people. Often accompanied by a feeling of moral superiority. The person feeling contempt will often feel good about themselves, and even superior to the object of their contempt.

Signs of Contempt:

• When subtle, contempt can look like a smile.
• Only unilateral expression (one side of the face).
• Strong signal of contempt = teeth can be shown, cheek raised, eyelid opening narrowed but still unilateral.
• Tightening of the lip corner.
• Note: subtle hints of a smile (happiness) can be added to contempt. It’s not uncommon for people to enjoy contempt; feeling superior to another person.

Fear

Triggered by threat of harm, whether perceived or real. The posture generally involves freezing or running away. Fear will often cause feelings of cold or constriction in the person feeling fear, and the voice will take on a higher tone. Mouth makes an “eeek”.

Signs of Fear:

• Upper eyelid raise can occur with no change in the eyebrows and also with no change in the lower face.
• Eyebrows are raised and drawn together. Wrinkles occur horizontally across the center of the forehead.
• Lip corners are pulled outward / horizontally toward the ears.
• Upper eyelid raised, and lower eyelid tensed.
• Horizontal stretch of the lips.
• A light tensing of the lower eyelid and nostril dilation.

Surprise

Surprise is caused by a sudden and unexpected movement, often times the body will step away or back. The head will also move away. Surprise causes the person to feel attentive and may be accompanied by a gasp of air and the sound that comes with it. Mouth is in the shape of: “oohh”.

Signs of Surprise:

• Raised upper eyelid.
• Jaw falls open. May occur alone or with raised eyebrows and opened eyes.
• Eyebrows lifted slightly or strongly.

Sadness

Sadness is caused by a loss of something valued by the person. It will cause loss of muscle tone and lowering of body posture. It can make a person have a sore throat and aching, watery eyes. Voice will often be softer and can sound like sobbing. Sadness is a very powerful emotion.

Signs of Sadness:

• Eyebrows in and up.
• Everything goes down.
• Inner corners of eyebrows upward.
• Pulled down the corners of the lips.
• Lower lip is pushed up and outwards in a classical “pout”.

Happiness

Brought on by anything that makes the person feel pleasure. Body posture is often very relaxed and elevated. Happiness can make the person feel warm and comfortable.

Signs of Happiness:

• Lip corners raised.
• “Smile with the eyes”.
• Muscle around the eyes must be activated in a genuine smile = Duchenne smile.

Article Written By: Chad Gutschenritter