Friday, May 11, 2018

Body Language Analysis No. 4281: Michael Cohen's Duplicitous Smile - Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)



Michael Cohen has been using his shell company not only to funnel hush money to Stormy Daniels - but he's also received more than $1,000,000 from Russian oligarchs, $600,000 from AT&T, greater than $1,000,000 from Novartis, and $150,000 from Korea Aerospace Industries.

Whenever assessing someone's nonverbal behavior, one particularly crucial red flag for which you always should be on guard - is the insincerity of insincere "smile". This axiom is amplified when such feigned smiles are frequent.

Now, there are many varieties of fake smiles - however sincere smiles have much less variation. This principle is analogous to the first sentence of Tolstoy's Anna Karenina:

“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” 

One of Michael Cohen's default facial expressions is characterized in both of these images. 




While it's true that sincere smiles can begin asymmetrically, as they fully form they will bloom into symmetry - projecting true joy-happiness. Cohen's "smile" however, remains one-sided.

Suppressed but sincere smiles can also sometimes be dampened on one-side - but once again, efforts at quelling sincere smiles are quite difficult - and the true smile nearly always "leaks"/pushes through.

It's profoundly important to bear in mind that the subjects, events, discussions, ideas, etc. which engender your smiling - may be very different than those of a person with nefarious motives.

Medical etiologies for lopsided smiles must also be considered (e.g., residual facial nerve palsies [such as Bell's Palsy], stroke, old injury, surgical complications, etc.) - none of which applies in Cohen's case. 

To nuance this Michael Cohen's expression even further - one side of his mouth (typically his left) is contracted upward - while the other mouth corner is turned down (most often his right). Depending on the other nonverbal signals with which this is clustered, this mouth configuration - at best - indicates superficial sarcasm - yet the vast majority of times it's deeply duplicitous.

SUMMARY: The next time you encounter this insincere "smile" - with one corner of the mouth turned up and the opposite side is turned down - protect your flank! You're probably about to get skinned. Careful observation will likely yield other signals of duplicity. You can be sure that what they're saying is the complete opposite vs. what they're thinking-feeling.


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See also:

Body Language Analysis No. 4280: David Beckham, Princess Leia, and Embarrassment

Body Language Analysis No. 4279: Rudy Giuliani regarding President Trump's alleged Sexual Relationship with Stormy Daniels

Body Language Analysis No. 4277: Donald Trump's First Person Shooter/Terrorist's POV Display at the NRA Convention

Body Language Analysis No. 4180 (REPOSTING): White House Press Briefing Re: President Trump's Physical - Dr. Ronny Jackson

Body Language Analysis No. 4274: Ariana Grande, Jimmy Fallon, and Recalling the Manchester Bombing

Body Language Analysis No. 4251: Cristiano Ronaldo's Bicycle Kick vs. Juventus F.C.

Body Language Analysis No. 4235: Beware the Ides of March • Donald Trump removing H.R. McMaster

Body Language Analysis No. 4217: Chadwick Boseman, Black Panther, Anxiety, and Alpha Up-Regulation

Body Language Analysis No. 3948: The Manchester Bomber, Nonverbal Communication, Threat Assessment, and Emotional Intelligence


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