Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3419: George Pataki, Asymmetry, Trust and Body Language (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

And then there were twelve.

George Pataki ended his campaign for president of the United States today. From a body language perspective, the former Governor of New York has an idiosyncrasy which works against him. He speaks chronically out of the side of his mouth.

Normally when a person speaks with such mouth asymmetry, it is temporary. Depending on the other nonverbals and paralanguage with which it is clustered, such speaking out of the side of one's mouth can be a signal of bravado or acquiescence/resignation (and medical causes such as stroke and Facial Nerve Palsy must be excluded). Yet this is not the what accounts for the majority of this nonverbal mouth pattern.





















The human psyche is hard-wired to interpret this asymmetrical mouth configuration as dishonest. And while this facial appearance is by no means 100% indicative of deception (e.g., the above causes must be ruled-out) - there is a relatively high correlation with lying and insincerity while speaking out of the "corner of the mouth".

Yet for Governor Pataki, this is simply an idiosyncrasy. Of course, every politician lies - it's just that with Pataki, we cannot and should not use this particular signal when it comes to nonverbal deception detection. Nor should we use it to discern any bravado or acquiescent behavior (even though of course, he is withdrawing from the race today). He certainly experiences all of these thought-emotions, but we just can't use this sign to suss him out. Fortunately there area many other nonverbal tools we may use.

If George were to hop in his DeLorean and go back to 1985 however, he'd be well-advised to "unlearn" this facial habit - for it's profoundly important to emphasize that this certainly does NOT engender trust or sincerity.


 



See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3418: Mayor Eric Garcetti, The Port of Los Angeles and a Body Language Mistake Leaders Commit Routinely

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3416: LeBron James Catches a Golden State Fan "calling" him a Cry Baby - Body Language

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3410: Bernie Sanders Apologizes to Hillary Clinton for Data Breach at Democratic Debate - Body Language Faux Pas 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3402: UFC 194: Conor McGregor and José Aldo - Octagon Post Fight Interview

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3393: Syed Rizwan Farook, Tashfeen Malik, San Bernardino Shooting and Predicting Violent Behavior

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3352: Donald Trump's Contradictory Body Language

Negotiation Nonverbal Communication Secret No. 1267: John McCain, Sarah Palin and Bell's Palsy 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3142: Mike Pence - Governor of Indiana interview with George Stephanopoulos & the Religious Freedom Restoration Act - What Makes Gov. Pence Look Worse? 

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Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2771: Australian PM Tony Abbott regarding Malaysian Airlines MH370 Search - Body Language Misinterpretations and Regret (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

The hunt for Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 has captured much of the World's attention during the last three weeks. Yesterday Tony Abbott, the Australian Prime Minister, spoke again on the issue and his country's commitment to leading the search.

Mr. Abbott's nonverbals in this video provide some very illustrative and valuable lessons. Of the two examples discussed here, one is a false signal - oft misinterpreted, and the other is a rarely recognized microexpression. What follows is a partial body language analysis:

At multiple times throughout this video, Mr. Abbott's central forehead and left forehead muscles can be seen to be contracting - while Mr. Abbott's right forehead remains relaxed. This is most probably due to old trauma damaging a portion of the P.M.'s right facial nerve (Cranial Nerve VII) or some other cause of facial nerve palsy (e.g. a partially resolved  idiopathic cause aka Bell's Palsy).





It is also possible (although doubtful in this example) that a significantly asymmetrical forehead contraction be secondary to uneven administration of Botox.

This asymmetry can often lead to the erroneous impression that Mr. Abbott is doubtful or in frank disbelief of his own or others peoples' statements (e.g. if he displayed this same expression while he was listening).

Great care must be taken is such circumstances to avoid this false-incredulity nonverbal.

Beginning at 0:49, Mr. Abbott continues, "... We are searching a vast area of ocean, and ah, we are working on, ah, quite limited information. Never the less, the - best brains in the World - are applying themselves to this task, ah, all of the technological mastery that we have, ah, is being applied and brought to bear here [deep inhalation with downward distant gaze] .... so, [microexpression of regret at 1:14] ... if this mystery IS solvable, ah, we will solve it. But I don't want to underestimate just how difficult it is..."

Note how the left corner of Mr. Abbott's mouth evanescently contracts laterally in this example of a microexpression of regret.

In distinction to the first example in this post, an important distinction to see here is how only Mr. Abbott's central forehead is contracted (CFC) in this instant. Coupled with his left-mouth microexpression of regret, his downward, distant gaze and slightly downward directed inner (medial) eyebrows, this cluster is highly correlative for significant emotional pain - most significantly expressing empathy for those lost on MH370 and their loved-ones.

There is a multitude of other body language in this video. What other signals did you notice?

See also:

Negotiation Body Language Analysis # 991:  Australia's Aboriginal Angst and Julia Gillard's Hands

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2457:  Surfer Gets Knocked Unconscious by Whale  Body Language Basics from Bondi Beach

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2227:  Sincerity and Insincerity regarding  Suicide Death of Jacintha Saldanha

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2261:  Mom pulls Python off of her 2 year old daughter -  Body Language & Microexpression of Fear

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2414:  Sen. John McCain after his Trip to Syria -  Body Language of Regret and Contempt  ... and Facial Nerve Palsy

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2770: Oscar Pistorius and Contrasting Confidence Levels - Body Language

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2150:  Body Language Advice for  President Obama and Governor Romney in Tonight's Debate

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Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2765: Obama, Romney, Russia and Facial Asymmetry - Contempt at The Hague (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Like most people, President Barack Obama has some degree of facial asymmetry. In this momentary and relatively neutral emotional moment, we can see that the nasal-labial furrow (which runs from the side of the nose down to the corners of the mouth) is more shallow on Barack's right side - however it runs down past his mouth corner. On his left - it is more deeply defined but stops at the corner of the mouth. This asymmetry (among other things) makes some nonverbal signals more difficult to interpret. One example of this phenomenon is that - to many Mr. Obama will seem as if he is feeling contempt when he is not. Below however are examples of two very subtle and very real microexpressions of contempt. 

During the 0:14 second mark in his speech yesterday at The Hague,  just prior to and just after "... Russia's ..." (during 0:19 shown in image below) when President Obama says, "..... With respect to Mr. Romney's ah, assertion that, ah ... Russia's, ah, number, our number one, geo-political foe ... " (highlighted with red).

Note that at both of these moments, the presidents eyelids are closed in a slightly extended blink.

This extended blink in this context serves as a "Contempt-Amplifier" - which is extremely valuable yet very  under-appreciated body language signal.




There are multitudes of additional nonverbal examples seen in this short video. How many did you miss?

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2646: Does Barack Obama Want to Go to the Sochi (Russia) Winter Olympics? What His Body Language Tells

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2752: Barack Obama, Zach Galifianakis, Funny or Die - Body Language

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2758: Barack Obama Regarding Further Sanctions to Russia for Annexation of Crimea - Body Language

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2764: Embarrassment, Affection & Flirtation - Mila Kunis & Ashton Kutcher - Kiss Cam Body Language

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2727: "I am a Ukrainian" Video - Body Language

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2745: Vladimir Putin Deception regarding Crimea - Body Language

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2647: Vladimir Putin regarding Edward Snowden, What Does the Russian Leader Think? 

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Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2714: Justine Dufour-Lapointe Wins Olympic Gold in Sochi and Brandishes Swagger - Body Language (PHOTOS)

Justine Dufour-Lapointe won Canada's first Gold Medal of the Sochi Olympics today. In this photo (close-up below) the Champion freestyle mogul skier is celebrating with a nonverbal facial sign commonly displayed with the swagger of victory (and of course often seen outside the arena of sports). Because this (female analog of) "Machismo" facial expression also has similar components of asymmetry, it is commonly mistaken for contempt - yet it is a very different emotion. Note how the right side of Justine's mouth is opened wider and her right eyelids are partially closed vs. her left side. Somewhat less asymmetrical is her mid-face contraction component - which is slightly more prominent on her right side.

The mouth component of this emotion is commonly seen in isolation and is referred to as "Mouth Swagger".

Amazingly Justine's sister finished with a Silver Medal and another sister Maxime finished 12th in this same Olympic event.

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2680: Chris Christie's State of the State Address - Body Language Swagger and Sincerity

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2651: Peyton Manning sets a Single Season Touchdown Record - Body Language at Press Conference

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2670: Janet Yellen Confirmed by Senate for Federal Reserve Chair - Body Language

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2650: Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Pardoned by Putin, is Released from Prison, One Important Thing His Body Language Tells Us

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2506:  Barack Obama, the Self-Righteous Head Wiggle and  Retaliation Against Syrian Poison Gas Attack 
 

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