#masking expression

(Remember: HIGHLY SIMPLIFIED for a specific 5th Grader who is interested in acting and cartooning! If you want something more comprehensive, you’ll need to go to the library or get training.You should be able to long tap or right-click the worksheets.) 

 Exaggerated (Comedy) Smiles:

                        This person is too happy. When someone exaggerates a facial expression and holds it for a long time, they are trying to make sure you believe it. It may mean they are lying, but it also may mean they are just insecure. This is a masking expression.

You may also have noticed her eyes are wide open, now that you know the trick. If you cover half of her face, she looks surprised, doesn’t she?

Another reason she might be exaggerating is she is trying to be funny. Actors in comedies and cartoon characters often linger on an expression longer than a normal person for comedic effect. Masking expressions are common in comedies.

These are pictures of a famous comedienne and business woman, Lucille Ball. Lucy was known for her comedic facial expressions. Which smile is real?

 1.   How to Act Happy:

You can act happy ALMOST any time (more on that later); sometimes acting happy can make you happier. So, how can you fake a Duchenne smile? Here are three ways:

1.    Cover the bottom half of your face and practice in a mirror, making sure to move your cheeks and make crows’ feet. Be careful not to glare. Glaring means your eyes look angry. Your eyebrows should be relaxed and neutral.

2.    Actors often use “Sense Memory” to make an emotion look right. Make a list of things that always make you smile and pull one out of your memory when you need a real smile.

3.    “Kitten Therapy” means looking at pictures of kittens to make yourself feel happy.

4.    Find something to smile about in the moment.

 2.   When NOT to Act Happy:

You should never act happy when you need help, or to make someone else happy.

1.    If you are very unhappy, for instance if you are sick, injured, or in trouble, or someone you love is, you should not act happy. People need to know the truth in order to help you.

2.    If someone says they can only be happy if you are happy, this is a type of toxic manipulation, and toxic manipulation is a lie. You can’t make someone else happy with pretend happiness; this is about power and control, not happiness. In this case, you need to be polite and distant, like Polite Cat, and they need to learn to make themselves happy.

(Remember: HIGHLY SIMPLIFIED for a specific 5th Grader who is interested in acting and cartooning! If you want something more comprehensive, you’ll need to go to the library or get training.You should be able to long tap or right-click the worksheets.)

(Remember: HIGHLY SIMPLIFIED for a specific 5th Grader who is interested in acting and cartooning! If you want something more comprehensive, you’ll need to go to the library or get training.You should be able to long tap or right-click the worksheets.)

Microexpressions are fast facial expressions that appear before someone uses their masking expression. FACS, or the FAcial Coding System, is a way of reading facial expressions that allows you to figure out what someone is really feeling.

A masking expression is the face people use to cover up what they are really thinking. It could be a blank, neutral face, or they may use another emotion as a mask. Happiness and anger are easy to fake, especially if someone feels ashamed or guilty, so people often exaggerate these as masking expressions.

A masking expression can be a lie or a deception. Most often they are used to smooth over social situations or protect privacy. (You should never point out when someone is using a masking expression for these reasons. Put it in your mental vault.) 

There are six universal emotional expressions based on human biology that cannot be changed by culture or upbringing: happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, and disgust.

(Remember: HIGHLY SIMPLIFIED for a specific 5th Grader who is interested in acting and cartooning! If you want something more comprehensive, you’ll need to go to the library or get training.You should be able to long tap or right-click the worksheets.)

This meme is called Polite Cat, so this is a Polite Cat Smile or Polite Smile. There are many reasons people use a Polite Cat Smile. You need to find out what type of person you’re talking to.

a.     “Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.” ― Margaret Atwood

Men use this expression when they want to be left alone or to mask hurt feelings. Women use this expression because they want to be left alone as well, but also because they are raised to be wary of making people angry. You will see the Polite Smile on women more often than men, which is why a lot of men have a hard time interpreting it correctly.

How to respond: If someone uses Polite Cat and ends the conversation by looking away or looking busy, or by not replying, let them. It’s OK to respond with a Duchenne or Polite Cat smile and leave.

b.    Your friends on the autism spectrum sometimes use this expression as a base because it’s neutral, but friendly, and people will have to interpret their words instead of their face. It doesn’t necessarily mean they want to be left alone. They will let you know otherwise. They might not make eye contact.

How to respond: You should respond with a Duchenne smile when appropriate to the conversation. Don’t get louder if they don’t get it right away. (And try not to use masking expressions with your friends!)

c.     Children from abusive homes and warzones learn to use this expression to keep from making adults angry. They may use it long after they have been free from violence. They may hug themselves or hold whatever they’re carrying in front of them as a barrier. They may not even be aware of it.

How to respond: A Duchenne smile and a consistently calm voice will make this person feel safe over time. Don’t trap them (or anyone, really) in a corner or booth.

d.    People trained to get information use this expression to create an uncomfortable silence that gets other people to talk. The smile part makes it look like they already know something, and they will keep looking at you as if waiting.

(Remember: HIGHLY SIMPLIFIED for a specific 5th Grader who is interested in acting and cartooning! If you want something more comprehensive, you’ll need to go to the library or get training.You should be able to long tap or right-click the worksheets.)

UNIVERSAL EMOTIONS: Happiness

a.     Elevation of the cheeks.

b.    Lip corners are pulled back and lifted.

c.     Wrinkles on the skin under the lower eyelid.

d.    Wrinkles between the nose and upper lip

e.    Wrinkles (“crow’s feet”) in the outer area of ​​the eyes.

The Duchenne Smile:

Real smiles have all five indicators. It is not a real smile unless the eyes are smiling. This is called a Duchenne Smile. The quickest way to find a real Duchenne Smile is to look for crow’s feet (e.).

Covered teeth usually means someone doesn’t want to talk, but sometimes they are just self-conscious about their smile or breath. You must use context to figure it out.

The Pan Am Smile:

Workers for a company called Pan Am were trained to smile whenever talking to customers, but because this was a forced smile, it got its own name, the Pan Am Smile. You can probably call the Pan Am Smile the opposite of a Duchenne smile.

Here is an advertisement from Pan Am. Sometimes makeup can make it hard to tell if a smile is real or not. See if you can guess which one is real.

Here’s a trick to help. Now that you know a real smile is in the eyes, just cover or ignore the mouth to tell for sure. See if the lower lid is pushed up or wrinkly.

The Polite Cat Smile:

This cat’s eyes are in a neutral position. She is not really happy. She is also keeping her teeth covered. This means she isn’t interested in being friendly and is just being polite. We call this being “tight-lipped”.

This smile is a learned masking expression in our culture, but once the Pan Am smile became commonplace in customer service, a lot of people lost the ability to recognize the differences in intent between this smile and a Duchenne Smile, even though this smile is very common.

(By request. Still highly simplified for 5th Grade.)

The general public wants to believe not making eye contact means someone is lying. You may see this in movies or on TV. This is a myth. In fact, too much eye contact can mean hostility.

There are all sorts of reasons someone may not maintain eye contact that have nothing to do with whether they are telling the truth or not.

a.     Allergies, contact lens problems, bad or missing glasses.

b.    Shyness.

c.     They’re interested in you.

d.    They’re not interested in you.

e.    You’re staring too long and making them uncomfortable.

f.      They’re on the autism spectrum.

g.     Something about you reminds them of someone they don’t trust.

h.    A noise elsewhere has gotten their attention.

i.    They’re remembering something. (See the image below)