Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3237: 2015 FIFA World Cup Champions, Fiero and Emotional Processing (PHOTOS)

It's intriguing that while English has more words than any other language - it suffers from a relative lack of words which nuance emotion - particularly positive emotions.

Coined by the Italian Psychologist, Isabella Poggi - "Fiero" is a term describing the unique emotion experienced in moments after great accomplishment. Of course fiero can be experienced in almost any field of human endeavor - yet it's most predictable and witnessed by those on the athletic field and thus here it is commonly photographed.

In each of these photos there is one American Woman with a facial expression, which if isolated and removed from the rest of the photo, we would label them as pain, anger, fear or even violent aggression (Abby Wambach [20] in the first, the second image Tobin Heath [17] and in the third Lauren Holiday [12]). All of these athletes are in the midst of emotionally processing the events - while their surrounding teammates (Kelley O’Hara [5], Carli Lloyd [10] and Ali Krieger [11]) are a few seconds further down this natural emotional pathway. Their faces have progressed and are expressing sincere and pure joy which most everyone will recognize.

Thank you Dr. Poggi. 

Congratulations to the U.S. Women's National Team - the 2015 FIFA World Cup Champions.

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3236: A Common Body Language Disparity Display - Donald Trump

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3047: Ethan's Christmas wish comes true - Emotional Processing of Joy-Happiness

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3133: The Red Flag of Robert Durst's Body Language 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3155: Aaron Hernandez found Guilty - gets Life Sentence without possibility of Parole - Body Language Tells


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Body Language at The FIFA World Cup Fiero after Accomplishment

Fiero is a word coined by Italian Psychologist Isabella Poggi. It is a term which describes a unique emotion that is often seen after sporting events, but it's certainly not limited to athletic events alone. It is felt and seen after a difficult problem is overcome whether the obstacle is physical, emotional, intellectual, financial, etc. - and regardless of  it's origin, once a significant problem is overcome and a great accomplishment is achieved, fiero is the name given to describe this emotion.

It is interesting that although English has more total words than any other language, it doesn't have as many words which describe the different positive emotions as many other languages. It needs more. The word "Fiero" is Italian in origin.  In this photo American football/soccer player, Abby Wambach, experiences fiero after scoring the go-ahead goal in the semi-final match against the France.  The posture of arms up and moving rapidly, running wildly and jumping are highly typical of fiero.  Ms. Wambach's' facial expression is also highly consistent - shouting, mouth open extra wide with teeth bared (including the bottom teeth)  - interestingly similar to, but not identical to, extreme pain and anger - is demonstrated well after her team's victory.  Note how her eyes are nearly closed as well.  After a few seconds to a minute or so, just after the accomplishment is achieved, these very extreme facial expressions resembling pain and anger are replaced by classic emotional expressions of pure and extreme joy. This is displayed well below where Ms. Wambach is sharing this with team-mate, Hope Solo.  It is here in these post-fiero moments, where you will see some of the most sincere examples of smiles and happiness.

Fiero does not need an audience.  It is not braggadocio in nature. We all can recall moments when we felt fiero and we were alone - but like all positive emotions it is much more enjoyable when shared.

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