The Ultimate Body Language Book

Anger
Disgust.
Some expressions are only seen very rarely, which is the case with the more extreme expressions
making them difficult to study. These facial expressions also happen very quickly, so it’s not always
easy to spot them. Usually the expressions are encoded by the viewer in large part to the context in
which we find them. For example, jumping out of the bushes and yelling at someone is bound to create
a surprised look, but can you decide if a face absent of context shows fear or surprise, what about
sadness? It’s not always that easy, but absent of slow motion photography and mind reading, the rules
of thumb covered here can make the process simpler and more manageable.
Chapter 11 - Emotional Body Language
Universal Facial Expressions
As discussed in chapter 2, there are six main facial expressions that are found throughout the world.
They are happiness, sadness, surprise, fear, anger and disgust. Each expression involves three
independent parts of the face, the forehead and eyebrows, the eyes, eyelids and upper part of the nose
called the “root” and the lower part of the face including the lower part of the nose, cheeks, chin and
mouth. Here is a breakdown of the six facial expressions:
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