Zeid Ali (left) and Hodayfa Ali are cousins. They were in their home in Mosul, Iraq when it collapsed upon being struck with artillery fire. At the time of this photo, some of their family members were missing.
Notice how each boy's central forehead, along with their medial eyebrows, are contracted upward (an elevated central forehead contraction [CFC]).
Their mid-face regions are also very tense - most notably with tremendous flaring of the nostrils and, continuing down past the corners of the mouth, a dramatic deepening of their nasolabial folds.
Hodayfi's and Zeid's upper teeth are primarily visible (little or no lower teeth can be seen) while their lower lips are protruding simultaneous with their dimpling chins. The corners of their mouths are also pulled laterally and most notably vectored downward.
Why is this image difficult to view? The answer is empathy. Why is it more uncomfortable to look at for some people than others? Because empathy varies from person to person.
These are also the faces we'll adopt when we're viewing others who are in emotional or physical pain.
When a person experiences pain - be it physical pain or emotional pain - the faces they'll project will look similar to Zeid's and Hodayfa's expressions - albeit often less extreme (for all human suffering is this not this intense). However, the high percentage of people who misidentify subtle, or even moderate examples of this same expression would surprise you (and thus moments of pain are frequently overlooked). Also, there are many people who, in everyday life (often subconsciously, although sometimes certainly consciously) feign empathy, physical pain, and emotional pain.
Recognizing the sincerity of any emotion will help you better discern these insincere scenarios - and this expression, when displayed for another person, is a crucial barometer of empathy. And it's to our profound advantage to date, marry, hire, be hired by, become friends with, and surround ourselves with empathic people.
How good are you at qualifying and quantifying empathy?
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See also:
Body Language Analysis No. 3984: Trump's Tweets, Tics, and Sarah Huckabee Sanders
Body Language Analysis No. 3982: Bangkok Police Officer's De-Escalation Genius
Body Language Analysis No. 3979: Ivanka Trump, "I Try to Stay Out of Politics"
Body Language Analysis No. 3977: Anthony Kennedy - One Signal You Never Want to See From a Judge During Your Testimony
Body Language Analysis No. 3974: Elle Fanning, Robert De Niro, and Easter
Body Language Analysis No. 3971: Elon Musk, Amber Heard, Affection, and Ownership
Body Language Analysis No. 3968: The Grenfell Tower Fire, Empathy, and Emotional Processing
Body Language Analysis 3962: James Comey's Testimony - Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence
Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3829: Mary Tyler Moore - Flirtatious, Sexy, Alpha Female Smile
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