Facial Expressions

 The Human face- in repose and in movement, at the moment of
death as in life, in silence and in speech, when seen or sensed from
within, in actuality or as represented in art or recorded by the camerais
a commanding, complicated, and at times confusing source of
information.
Ekman, Friesen, and Ellsworth (1972, p. 1.)

Every living creature has a way of communicating. Humans, just like other species, not

only use verbal cues to communicate but also use facial expressions. Primates, for example,

show their teeth as a threat, humans smile when their show no threat, usually impose

friendliness or happiness. The human face is a central organ of sense that allows to identify each

other and communicate and that is why perhaps is the most crucial skill in social interactions. It

is fascinating that in this variety of cultures and languages humans share something very unique

and universal that unites all social beings- facial expressions.

Facial expressions are produced by the movement of facial features. There are over 30

muscles in the head and face that are involved in creating facial expression. Facial expressions develop before the birth. A study by Sato et al (2014) investigated

facial expressions of fetuses at 2-24 weeks and 25-34 weeks using four-dimensional

ultrasonography found a relationship between different facial expressions and gestational age.

Another recent study also indicates that the complexity of facial expressions, specifically

“pain/distress” in the study, advance as the fetus develop (Reissland, Francis & Mason, 2013).

Although, Piontelli et al ( 2015) argue that fetuses do not express facial expressions but rather

facial motion, as the expression is necessary for communication, and fetuses do not require

social signals yet. Research shows that even newborn babies can imitate facial expressions

(Meltzoff & Moore, 1983). Children as young as 4-9 months can identify several facial

expressions such as happiness, fear, anger, sadness, and surprise (Serrano, et al., 1992). It was

found that accuracy to emotional expressions increase from 5 years of age to adulthood (Rodger

et al, 2015). 

“Speak, so that I may see you”, Socrates used to say to his students, that even if words

can mislead, the face cannot (Fridlund, 2014, p. 9).The interest in the face dates back to ancient

times. Aristotle, Plato often referred to theory in respect of the association between facial

features and personality. Face-reading known as physiognomy became very popular during the

18th century between many scholars. Pythagoras chose his pupils based on their facial

characteristics (Fridlund, 2014, p.2). The British psychiatrist Hugh Diamond (1856) used face

reading to identify psychopathologies. Sir Francis Galton developed "Composite Portraits" as a

technique to identify criminals and chronical illness. The results were obscure, however, a weak

but significant correlation was observed between physical peculiarities and criminality trait

(Galton, 1885).

The first scientific approach to study emotion appeared in 1872 by Darwin, who argued

that the expression of emotion is the result of evolution. Darwin also proposed universal

emotional expressions that even appear in people with congenital blindness (Darwin, 1882). In

his work “The Expression of the Emotion in Man and Animals” Darwin studied the muscles

involved in emotion expression, which was concluded to be universal and can be evident in both

nonhuman primates and mammals.

Recognition of Emotions from facial expressions: the role of gender, age, personality and empathy. 2016, Rasa Ramanauske