Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2019:
Sarah Palin's "Co-Hosting" on The Today Show -
She Fears Romney's Candidacy




Former Alaska Governor, Sarah Palin, is shown here in this video interview with Matt Lauer. She also later co-hosted a portion of The Today Show (aka "Today"). When asked about Mitt Romney and her opinion of his being the probable Republican Party's candidate this November, Ms. Palin never answered Lauer's question directly. Just before her indirect response she displays a classic "Neck of Fear" as well as a "Fear Mouth" (at about the 0:31-0:32 mark, freeze the video here for a good look). These body language tells were accompanied by the very common hiss-like inhalation. The duration of this nonverbal cluster is quite brief - only about one second, however not evanescent enough to be classified as a microexpression (less than 0.5 seconds). This certainly doesn't alter the meaning of her body language though. Palin indeed fears something here - either Romney's ability to beat Barack Obama in the general election, that Romney is less conservative than her own political beliefs, or maybe she just fears her ability to handle Lauer's question - or perhaps all three. 

See also: Secret # 329: The Neck of Fear

See also: Secret # 1081: Newt's Mouth of Fear

See also: Secret # 931: Harbaugh's Fear and Anxiety

See also: Secret # 1267: John McCain, Sarah Palin and Bell's Palsy

See also: Secret # 54: The Manubrium Touch Betrays Our Feelings

___________________________________________________________________________________