Facial Expressions
By Brendan Brookens
Sometimes, we can figure out someone’s feelings without even having to ask just by looking at their face. A lot of times, a person’s emotional mood can be seen through their facial expression. This is a possible way of communication. Expressions could show someone is happy or sad, scared or angry, or even something else.
We have the ability to make many unique facial expressions. Facial expressions can be a useful communication source for people who are deaf. There are five main facial expressions. They are happiness, surprise, sadness, fear and anger. Facial expressions do not always show a person’s true feelings. Some people use fake expressions because they do not want others to know how they feel. This causes confusion with communication.
We tend to figure out someone’s emotions through facial expressions, but they could be hiding their true feelings by using fake facial expressions. There is an expression called “poker face,” which refers to playing poker and keeping a straight face and not revealing if you have a good or bad hand of cards. It requires 11 muscles in the human body to create a frowning face, but less to create a smile. We can make thousands of unique facial expressions.
Facial expressions can be helpful because we can figure out what someone is thinking. Facial expressions can be how we know if someone needs help in certain situations. Facial expressions can help predict someone’s possible actions. Research has shown that facial expressions are one of the first things that babies respond to as they start to see things after birth, especially their mother’s or other caregiver’s facial expressions. This is how we begin to respond and learn about people’s feelings and facial expressions. Communicating through facial expressions is important.
Not everyone is open with how they are feeling, so sometimes it’s important to pick up on clues. Facial expressions are a way to tell if someone is really “fine,” or if they may really need a helping hand or a moment with a friend. Taking an extra moment to really look could show more than what people realize.