Week 8 - NonVerbal Communication: Understanding Yourself and Others

Non-verbal Communication in Facial Expressions

One of the most important ways that help one communicate his feelings and thoughts is non-verbal communication. Things such as gestures, your personal style and clothing, the way one talks or moves his body together with facial expressions, can sometimes say a lot more for a person than
words. To me, our facial expression says a lot more than the other ways of communicating non-verbally.

The basic facial expressions such as anger, joy surprise, sadness, fear, disgust are interpreted the same by everyone. These are referred to as macro-expressions whereas other emotions can be harder to read or be understood and as result, easier to hide (Matsumoto & Hwang, 2011).

One important part of communication through facial expressions are the eyes. Referred to as ' portal of the soul' by many (Eunson, 2012, p.262), they can express a lot more than other parts of the face. The movement of the pupils or the number of times that we blink can express interest in something or nervousness.



It is true that facial expressions are a body's immediate reaction, however that doesn't mean they can not be controlled or suppressed. According to Eunson (2012, p.261), this is affected by several factors, among which, their cultural background: Australians tend to express more through facial movements whereas the Japanese value suppressing their emotions.



Ekman (1973, p.73) discusses how facial expressions indeed differ between different cultures, but that also depends on other subjective factors like the expression itself, the context or even your social status. Eunson ( 2012, p.261) gives an example with lower-status individuals express more through their faces than those of a higher status.

To conclude, as humans we can change our face expressions and choose to show more or less emotion in certain occasions, but there is only so much that we can hide. Some of us are better actors, whereas others can be more 'honest'. Either way, our faces remain a great tool in understanding our reactions and feelings.

References:

CQUniversity 2016, COMM11011 Lesson 8 - Nonverbal Communication: Understanding yourself and others: Study Guide, CQUniversity, Melbourne. https://moodle.cqu.edu.au/pluginfile.php/242800/mod_resource/content/1/Weekly%20lesson%208.pdf

Disney 2015, Inside out: The little voices inside your head. Digital Image, viewed 15 January 2016.http://www.magicalmouseschoolhouse.com/2014/12/inside-out-trailer/

Ekman, P 2006, Darwin and facial expression: A Century of Research in Review, ISHK.

Eunson, B 2012, Communicating in the 21st Century, 3rd edn, John Wiley & Sons Australia Ltd, Milton

Matsumoto, D & Hwang, H.S 2011, 'Reading Facial Expressions of Emotion', American Psychological Association, May. http://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2011/05/facial-expressions.aspx

The tiffany that Draws 2015, digital image, viewed 15th January 2016. http://tiffanydraws.tumblr.com/post/77157419834/mental-disorder