The benefits of counting your blessings When it comes to cultivating gratitude, many of us intuitively know that it feels good to reflect on what we’re grateful for and to …
Experiences of filming other cultures abroad Compiled from excerpts of Dr. Paul Ekman’s New Guinea Journal and Nonverbal Messages Autobiography In my travels and studies, I found the people …
What your emotions communicate to others Emotions evolved to prepare us to deal with important events without having to think about them. While there are differing views among experts, …
How the benefits of compassion drive us to engage with it With an understanding of the different types of compassion and suffering, we are well equipped to begin cultivating compassion. …
Applying Compassion to Ourselves and Our Emotions Through the regular practice of compassion, we may find ourselves readily opening our hearts to our own and others’ suffering. Along with …
An emotion expert’s account of these difficult emotions Guilt and Shame I’d like to discuss some difficult emotions such as guilt, shame, and embarrassment. These emotions do not have unique …
Dr. Ekman’s controversial claim about the involuntary nature of emotional facial expression Based on excerpts from this article. I propose that all facial expressions of emotion are involuntary; they are …
Based on excerpts from this article. What do facial expressions tell us? What kinds of information can we gather from seeing the expressions of others? Whether or not we are …
Excerpts taken from this article. The influence of emotion Buddhists and psychologists alike believe that emotions strongly influence our thoughts, words, and actions; and at times, …
Dr. Ekman describes the steps towards feeling empathy and acting compassionately, as well as the different forms of compassion. Recognizing Emotion The first step toward being empathetic and …
The fear of being caught lying What is detection apprehension? Detection apprehension, or the fear of being caught lying, is a common emotion felt when lying. When mild, it may …
There is not one singular facial expression for any of the seven universal emotions, but many, which often reflect the intensity and purity of the emotion. Taken by Dr. Ekman …
FAST vs FACS : The need for a more comprehensive facial coding system In my cross-cultural studies researching display rules, I developed and published a tool for measuring facial movements, …
Most lies succeed because no one goes through the work to figure out how to catch them. Usually it doesn’t much matter. But when the stakes are high there is …
The odds are against judges and jurors What I learned in teaching police, judges, and attorneys over the years suggested a wisecrack- the criminal justice system must have been designed …
Who benefits from micro expression training? Every person can benefit from micro expression training. It can help people connect better with friends and family, challenge oneself with a new hobby, …
The ability to detect lying was evaluated in 509 people including law enforcement personnel, such as members of U.S. Secret Service, Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of investigation, National Security …
Our imperfect ability to lie When I first set out to study the ways to lie (and our (in)abilities at detecting deceit), I had no way of knowing what I …
To lie or not to lie? We all lie sometimes. In his research on deception, Dr. Ekman found nine common reasons why people lie. In which situations do you lie? …
The holiday triggers are upon us! Is Santa bringing a bag of gifts to you, or emotional baggage? Whether you’re triggered by a person, place, word, smell, thought or memory, …
While our emotions have evolved to help us, there are times when our emotional responses no longer serve us for a variety of reasons. Unwanted emotional triggers can range from …
Whether you’re triggered by a person, place, word, smell, thought or memory, identifying emotional triggers is an important first step toward living an emotionally balanced life. Find out what triggers …
Animal Expressions and Emotions The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals is the least known, and in my opinion, the most accessible of all of Darwin’s books. The topic …
In business and in life, it doesn’t matter what language you speak, where you live, what you do for a living–the facial expressions you show for anger, fear, sadness, disgust, …
What is a lie? Per my definition, a lie or deceit occurs when one person intends to mislead another or others, doing so deliberately without giving prior notification of said …
If you’ve been following Dr. Ekman’s work, you’ll know there is no single, definitive sign that we can count on to let us know with absolute certainty that someone …
Research suggests that most people cannot tell from demeanor whether someone is lying or telling the truth. Such poor performance is not because lies are told flawlessly. Most liars make …
Emotional events and themes There are a number of ways in which cultures do differ in their emotional expressions. One important way is through what I’ve coined as display rules, …
Due to popular demand, Paul Ekman Group is now offering Portuguese translations of Dr. Ekman’s micro expressions training tools. Starting in 2006, Dr. Ekman and his team created training programs …
When are our emotional reactions appropriate vs inappropriate? Most of the time, our emotions serve us well by bringing meaning and value to our experiences; they mobilize us to deal …
What does one mean by saying an emotion is either positive or negative? When we use the term negative we don’t know which emotion is being referred to. Is it …
Have you ever caught yourself wondering how and why we become emotional? First, it’s important to note the similar characteristics of emotions, regardless of the emotion being felt. Here’s a …
Emotion and the “chicken-or-the egg” paradox Our emotions impact how we perceive and respond to the world around us; how we interpret and, subsequently, judge the actions of others. We …
Rather than being a different type of compassion, heroic compassion is a subset of each of the main forms of compassion: global, stranger, familiar, or familial compassionate actions. The distinguishing …
Micro expressions can occur either as the result of conscious suppression or unconscious repression of emotions. As such, spotting micro expressions (or analyzing facial expressions) is key to learning how …
When it comes to deception and catching lies, there are a number of common errors you need to be wary of. The two biggest failures of judgment in deception detection …
We each experience the same emotions, but we all experience them differently. While my best known work is on the universal elements in emotion, I am now examining the exact …
The following has been taken from discussions between Dr. Ekman and the Dalai Lama. Read more in their book Emotional Awareness. Ekman: What I have been able to distill from …
What’s in a smile? Smiles, specifically the different types of smiles, are probably the most underrated and misunderstood of the seven universal facial expressions, with the science of smiling being …
It has always been a Buddhist tenet that compassion should be cultivated so that it extends to all living beings, not just the members of your family, tribe, or nation; …
Natural Liars During my research into deception and nonverbal communication, I discovered a small population of people I would come to refer to as “natural liars”. These individuals, while gifted …
Is it called a lie detector or a polygraph? First created in 1921 by a law enforcement officer, the polygraph machine’s sole purpose was to track moment-to-moment physiological changes in …
Take the Nonverbal Communication Quiz to see if you know the answers to questions about emotions, expressions, gestures, and other nonverbal communication.
Excerpt from Telling Lies A failure to think ahead, plan fully, and rehearse the false line is only one of the reasons why mistakes that furnish clues to deceit are …
Excerpt from Emotions Revealed pp. 213-215 Suppressed emotions versus truthfulness It was not my idea to find out how emotions (suppressed or not) might be useful in evaluating truthfulness. The …
Take this deception quiz to find out how much you know about the signs and reasons for lying.
While there is no single, definitive sign that someone is lying, there are clues to deceit that can help you get closer to the answer. Here’s how to tell if …
Excerpt from Emotions Revealed The range of emotions we feel when lying to someone The three emotions most frequently experienced by people when they are lying are fear, guilt, and …
Excerpt from Emotional Awareness pp. 211-215 Sharing Gratitude Ekman: I would like to mention two other emotions that I think are relevant to the development of compassion. Often, though not …
