Friday, August 5, 2011

Negotiation Secret #315: Somalia Suffering plus corruption




This Somali Woman is displaying several different Emotions. Her primary one is disgust. This is evidenced by her central facial tightening and in particular the flaring/dilation of her nostrils (Something that doesn't come as easily in the desert country of Somalia. It can lead to drying of the nasal passages, throat and thus even can contribute to dehydration.).

Her head is not turned, but her eyes are gazing to her left. This is a signal that she doesn't like, doesn't trust or doesn't believe the person(s) at who(m) she is looking. These emotions, of course, certainly have some overlap with the that of disgust.

She has her head tilted slightly to her right - away from the object of her disgust. This is often seen with disbelief, disgust and dislike.

Her slightly down-turned mouth is, of course, an emotional display of sadness.

The forehead she displays combined with the slightly closed eyelids (inner portion of the obicularis oculi) indicates mild-moderate anger (think Clint Eastwood). There is very possibly a grief-distress component mixed-in with her forehead muscle contracture.

I would summarize her emotions at approximately 50% Disgust, 30% Anger, 10% Sadness along with 10% incredulousness. This is a relatively complex photo to analyze from a body language standpoint - however very illustrative of the real world in which we live. Often more than one emotion is felt and therefor displayed at any one time.

The story behind this photo is very telling. Apparently some soldiers were trying to take food from the relief efforts and some of those who tried to prevent this were shot and killed. I can certainly understand all of her Disgust/Anger/Sadness/Incredulousness when I think about her situation and what she has witnessed. My heart goes out to her and those suffering with her.

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