Whether we like it or not, we all experience fear. However, the way we feel about fearful experiences varies for each of us. Some people enjoy fear so much that …
“S” is for September and Self-Improvement Month
Helpful tips for setting goals
Why is September Self-Improvement Month? September is the official Self-Improvement Month because it marks the end of one era (summer) and the start of a new one (fall). Self-Improvement Month …
Paul Ekman Group Launch New Website
Improvements to mobile design, load speeds mean better user experience
Welcome to the new and improved Paul Ekman Group website! Whether you’re a new visitor or a returning customer, we hope you enjoy exploring all that our new website has …
Why Do People Lie?
9 Motives for Telling Lies
Reading between the lies Why do people lie? Such a simple question should come with a simple answer (but doesn’t, unfortunately). There are indications, however, that most of us share the same the motives …
Emotional Awareness for Children
A new approach to provide emotional skills for children
July 11, 2018 A human experience We are the only creatures capable of attaching words to memories, anticipations, and plans; it is this unique ability that also allows us to …
Fear, Lies and Scott Peterson
How signs of fear can tell us everything and nothing
Original excerpt published September 2009 Show no fear Since the signs of fear look exactly the same for a liar afraid of being caught and a truthful person afraid of …
Verbal Deceit
Why liars choose their words carefully
Excerpt from Telling Lies by Paul Ekman, PhD What liars pay attention to When lying, people usually do not monitor, control, and attempt to disguise all of their behavior; they …
Smile Mask
Using emotional masks to pull off deceit
March 28, 2018 Excerpt from “Telling Lies” by Paul Ekman, PhD The importance of the smile Any emotional expression can be falsified and used to conceal any other emotion. The …
Your Emotional Reactions are being Tracked
Do you care about online privacy?
December 13, 2017 You’re being watched I am warning you: not only are your online habits being tracked and sold (likely without your permission), but so are your most personal, …
Spanish Micro Expressions Training Tools
Paul Ekman Group upgrades tools with new feature for Spanish training in micro expression detection
November 22, 2017 Striving to provide more inclusive educational opportunities, the Paul Ekman Group is now offering subtitles for Spanish Micro Expressions Training Tools, as well as closed captioning in …
The Las Vegas Shooter’s Motivations
Looking to understand Stephen Paddock
October 18, 2017 While it’s easy to understand the horror he inflicted, truly comprehending the motivations of Stephen Paddock (the Las Vegas shooter), let alone empathizing with his outlook, is …
A Special CEB Teacher Training Opportunity
A Letter from the Other Ekman
A Letter from the Other Ekman By Eve Ekman, PhD October 5, 2017 I am writing this letter to let you know about a special training opportunity which is very …
September 11th: Then and Now
Remembering the September 11th attacks through the eyes of an emotions expert
September 11, 2017 It was sixteen years ago on September 11th that the twin towers in New York City were destroyed by the airplanes that flew into them. It was …
My Six Discoveries
One scientist. Six discoveries. Fifty-five years in the making.
August 1, 2017 Number 1: Nonverbal behaviors provide accurate information. And it is not obscure; most people can derive at least some of that information with no trouble. It may …
The President’s Personality: Reconsidered
New thoughts inspired by our current president
July 18, 2017 I subtitled this ‘Reconsidered’ because it was first written in September 2016. With a new president in office, I offer some additional thoughts prompted by what he …
Dangers of Reading Micro Expressions
Do We Really Want People to Learn How to Spot Micro Facial Expressions?
June 21, 2017 The truth about micro expressions By definition, micro expressions leak emotions that people don’t want others to know they are feeling. Sometimes, even the person showing the …
Rent A Womb
Surrogacy and the Rights of the Child
May 9, 2017 by Mary Ann Mason and Tom Ekman Mary Ann Mason is the COO of the Paul Ekman Group and the wife of psychologist, Paul Ekman. She …
The Truth Behind Lie to Me
Science of Lie to Me
As featured on the Lie to Me website (www.lietome.com) June 6, 2017 The beginning It was the very successful producer Brian Grazer’s idea, not mine. Googling him, I learned that …
Mottos I Live By
Inspiration behind my success
April 12, 2017 With no parent to guide my passage through the bumps encountered emerging from adolescence into adulthood (mother died when I was 14, and I did not speak …
Cultivating Emotional Balance Teacher Training
CEBTT
The Cultivating Emotional Balance Training emerged from the Destructive Emotions dialogue between behavioral scientists and the Dalai Lama, Buddhist monks, and scholars at the Mind and Life Institute in Dharamsala, …
“Atlas of Emotions” Event
San Francisco Exploratorium
Emotions Education Join Drs. Paul and Eve Ekman as they discuss their latest project, Atlas of Emotions, at the San Francisco Exploratorium on Thursday, March 30. The Atlas of Emotions …
Growing Old
Reflections on my 83rd Birthday
March 14, 2017 Reflections on Aging While reflecting on aging, sensible living may have played a role, but genetic endowment and luck were more important. Contrary to what I have …
Rethinking Love
Is love an emotion?
February 14, 2017 Lasting Love Is love an emotion? Let’s put aside loving your job or a piece of clothing, in which the use of the word “love” is as a …
Officials Who Break the Rules
Why do they think they can get away with it?
December 14, 2016 A Common Phenomenon Nearly every day we read about some official — the head of a college, a business, a religious organization or a government agency — …
Despair and Exaltation: Our Country Divided
2016 US Presidential Election
November 9, 2016 We all know the election was very close. Hillary Clinton had slightly more of the popular vote, but Donald Trump had the edge in the electoral vote, …
“Nonverbal Messages: Cracking the Code”
Dr. Ekman's scientific autobiography now available
Excerpt taken from Introduction (pp. ix – xiv) November 1, 2016 “What motivated me to spend fifty years investigating facial expressions, emotions and deception? Why these topics, which had been …
The President’s Personality
President Personality Traits
October 11, 2016 Evaluating Personality You don’t need my expertise in evaluating personality from demeanor to have been struck by the night and day differences between Donald J. Trump and …
Constructive Anger
How to deal with anger
September 22, 2016 The following excerpt about constructive anger is taken from the book of dialogue between the Dalai Lama and myself, entitled Emotional Awareness (2009). Having just reread it, …
Emblematic Slips
The meaning of our movements and gestures
September 7, 2016 Types of Movement I don’t use the term gesture because it is too imprecise. Instead, I distinguish three very different ways in which movements (usually of the …
Should We Want a President Who Can’t or Won’t Lie?
Is honesty the best policy?
August 25, 2016 Presidents and Lying Would it be desirable to have a president who always told the truth; who played with his cards face up? Would that serve the …