There are many variations of fake/feigned/social ‘smiles’. Vivek Ramaswamy frequently displays one of these in particularly telling.
During the above interview with Mehdi Hasan last week, Ramaswamy displayed this false and deceptive ‘smile’ multiple times. Note the above image, displaying an example captured during the 20:06 time maker in the following video:
Ramaswamy's bottom teeth are showing. When a sincere smile is being displayed, the lower teeth are almost always never visible. There are some exceptions however.
Bottom teeth may be visible during sincere smiles if:
• Crescendoing to or Decrescendoing from sincere laughter
• You're taller than the other person (physical downward angle)
• Elevated camera angle (looking downward)
• The person is flexing/tilting their head/neck forward
• They have dental or jaw abnormalities
Vivek Ramaswamy is not laughing, nor is this suppressed laughter. However, this assumption does fool a lot of people and it's the core reason why this manipulative behavior often works.
The camera angle is also level with his central face. Nor does Ramaswamy have any dental or jaw abnormalities.
Vivek Ramaswamy is also tilting his head/neck backward, not forward. Tilting one's head backward makes teeth even less visible — and this speaks to the extreme degree of the falseness of this expression.
Vivek Ramaswamy frequently tilts his head backward while listening or speaking. With the exception of a neck injury/problem or relatively rare ophthalmic abnormalities, this configuration indicates arrogance and condescending emotional tones.
Vivek Ramaswamy also juts his jaw forward — during his speech (when he's being particularly forceful in his opinion — which is often, and a sign of an adrenaline surge) — but also during these feigned smiles.
During sincere smiling (or sincere laughing) the jaw moves in the *opposite direction* — it retracts backward, rather than projecting forward. Ramaswamy's jaw configuration is completely incongruent with sincere smiling (or any feelings of joy-happiness).
SUMMARY: This feigned smile of Vivek Ramaswamy is one of his common default expressions. But he's faking it. This is not a sincere smile. When we see this type displayed frequently, it's strongly correlated with manipulative individuals.
All individuals, businesses, and organizations who want to (need to) dramatically improve their Body Language skills and nuance their understanding of Emotional Intelligence, please email me at: Jack@BodyLanguageSuccess.com
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This post and others accompanying it, serve as a reference source for the art and science of Body Language/Nonverbal Communication. The views and opinions expressed on this website are those of the author. In an effort to be both practical and academic, many examples from/of varied cultures, politicians, professional athletes, legal cases, public figures, etc., are cited in order to teach and illustrate both the interpretation of others’ body language as well as the projection of one’s own nonverbal skills in many different contexts.
Thursday was Hope Hicks' last day as the White House Director of Communications. She had served at this post for approximately six and a half months - and another month as acting Director.
The video above shows her saying goodbye to President Trump just prior to his departure on Marine One. While the nonverbal elements in this brief exchange are numerous - the one highlighted here, while not as dramatic, is quite telling.
The instant captured in the image above (and the cropped-close up below, during the 0:09 mark in the above video) shows Donald Trump with his left arm around Ms. Hicks' waist, waving at the camera with his right hand - and smiling.
But wait - that's not really a smile.
Notice the left corner of Trump's mouth is elevated, while the right side is vectored downward. Such asymmetrical "smiles" - with one side up and the other side down - are always duplicitous. They're universally insincere.
Yet, even if the President's right side exactly mirrored the left side of his face - it would still not be a sincere smile, for all the other components of sincerity are missing in this moment (Can you name them?). Moreover, at no time during this departure did President Trump display a true smile of Joy-Happiness (aka a Duchenne Smile).
Fascinatingly, the side of the President's mouth which is feigning joy - is the same side as Ms. Hicks.
Summary: As he says his final goodbye to Hope Hicks, President Trump's expression is insincere. His "smile" and emotions are duplicitous.
While we may never know what Donald Trump meant by "covfefe" in his tweet last night - the meaning of his body language in the moment above (close-up image below) is not up for debate.
Although his hair obscures a good share of his forehead, we can still see that his central forehead is contracted and drawn upward (an "elevated CFC").
Crucially, if a CFC is displayed, particularly an elevated CFC, one should immediately evaluate the status of the mouth. Note Trump's mouth is configured in a false smile. It's an act. Its overt insincerity is betrayed by the corners of his mouth vectored primarily laterally (rather than up) as well as its asymmetrical shape.
Whenever a CFC is seen in the presence of a "smile" - the "smile" always false - always insincere, and thus, with this cluster, the feelings being experienced in that moment fit into one of the following three (often overlapping) emotions:
Notice also, Trump's head and neck are contracted backward together with a simultaneous downward neck tilting (causing a "bunching up" of neck tissue and giving him a "double chin"). This is a signal of disbelief, and is rarely seen in isolation. Here it acts as a disbelief amplifier.
Summary: Whenever the Central Forehead is Contracted accompanied by a "smile" - the "smile" is always insincere - and indicates disbelief, arrogance, and/or contempt. When observed frequently, this behavior has a very high correlation with a sociopathic personality.
This image is an example of Donald Trump's most common variation of a Social Smile. It is NOT a sincere one. Mr. Trump displays a sincere smile of joy-happiness (Duchenne Smile) on exceedingly rare occasions. To thin-slice this particular expression (which Trump projects in place of a smile) a bit further - the primary emotion being felt (and thus transmitted) here is Disgust.
Some people may say, "That's just the way Trump smiles." Wrong. This is a ruse - and anything but sincere. It's also important to note that there are many - and more palatable types of social smiles.
What is your "go-to" social smile? Can you smile sincerely "on-demand"? Are you able to readily differentiate sincere smiles from the many variants of insincere smiles?
Katie Holmes was recently a guest on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. Although Ms. Holmes is a skilled actress, when she's "just being Katie" and not "in character", she's no better than average at suppressing her anxiety. A particular body language example of this behavior is examined below.
Holmes: This year, um, no, [nervous laugh] I, I di -, I was doing a cooking class with my - ch, child.
Fallon: How lame!
Holmes: I know!
Fallon: Get out!
Holmes: I know!
Fallon, Come on!
Holmes: No, no! Then we went, then we went to the museum - and then I s-, I like, right before the halftime show, I was like [knocks 5 times on Jimmy's desk] to my friend's apartment, I'm like, lemmie in, lemmie in, lemmie! - 'cause I knew Beyoncé was about to come up...."
From 0:14 through 0:21, Katie twists her ring on her right ring finger while also sliding it partially up and down.
Note that although Katie is an accomplished actor - her smile is a false one. We discern this because of her prominent display of her lower teeth.
Her fake smile is a conscious, forced behavior - while her manipulation of her ring occurs at a subconscious level. It's important to note that this does NOT indicate Katie Holmes overall personality is insincere - however in this particular moment, her smile is indeed forced and thus insincere.
Whenever a consciously initiated nonverbal signal (e.g., a false smile) is seen simultaneously with a subconsciously driven one (e.g., the twisting and sliding of her ring) - always look to the unconscious body language in order to tell the true thought-emotions.
After four and a half years of the Syrian Civil War which is rapidly escalating with multiple actors, Bashar al-Assad has found a stronger ally in Vladimir Putin. Beginning on 30 September 2015, Russian planes began bombing al-Assad's opponents. And while initially, Putin claimed the purpose of these attacks were to fight ISIS, the Russian President has since admitted his priority of strengthening al-Assad.
Bashar al-Assad's "smile" is a false one (AKA a pseudo-smile, fake smile or social smile) and more importantly, in this particular flavor contains a significant component of disgust.
In addition, Putin's body is turned 90 degrees away from where it should be. Vladimir is facing the camera when he should be looking at al-Assad. In order to build rapport - and show respect, your feet, hips, torso, head and eyes must be pointed at the person whose hand you're shaking. Vladimir's behavior here is highly unusual - even for a head-of-state, posed greeting.
In summary, President Putin's body language is tremendously disrespectful toward the Bashar al-Assad and very much validates the assertion of many - that Putin is using the Syrian President and conflict in order to re-assert himself on the World stage and hold onto Russia's only strong ally in the Middle East.
From a nonverbal communication perspective, Walter Palmer gives us a very public example of an insincere smile. Now, the man is a Dentist, so perhaps he wants to show off his own teeth. Yet because of his presumably detailed knowledge of the human mouth and its surrounding and associated physiology - he should absolutely know that his smile, although a pretty good social smile (aka false smile, fake smile or pseudo-smile) - it is indeed INSINCERE.
If we look closely at Walter Palmer's face we see his eyes are partially closed - which is required for a smile to be sincere (aka Duchenne Smile). Yet all partially closed eyelids are not the same. Upon closer scrutiny we can see that although there is horizontal wrinkling/creases of his lower eyelids, there is a lack of the deeper concave-up furrows which are transiently seen and are required in the context of a sincere smile (with a possible exception of his right eye on the lower image). Moreover, even if such deeper concave-up furrows were present, the configuration of the Minnesota Dentist's mouth negates any possibility of sincerity.
Note the bias toward lateral vectoring of Palmer's mouth corners. Such primarily sideways movement certainly allows increased visibility of more teeth - but the relative lack of mouth upward movement is crucial and precludes sincerity. Again, this is a pretty fair social smile. Had this controversy concerning the apparent illegal killing of Cecil the Lion never occurred, most would look at this picture and say to themselves, "This looks like a fairly friendly guy".
Indeed, those who have "a good smile" are usually envied and - all other things equal - considered more attractive and friendlier. Additionally, those who project good social smiles when needed (e.g., posed professional photos and in advertising) are common. Yet to slice this nonverbal nuance even thinner, others who display an insincere smile in many contexts - and relatively chronically - are suspects for being sociopaths. Such behavior is by definition chronically insincere. These are but two photos of Walter Palmer (statistically, a small sample size) are posed for advertising (e.g., not candid, daily, random moments).
What is your gut reaction to Palmer's smile now that you know what he has done? Is your assessment of his sincerity influenced by whether you are sympathetic to wildlife - or you're a hunting enthusiast? It should NOT be. There is objective value to learning body language. It's a profoundly valuable objectivity tool which, when learned and used accurately, allows for much greater nonpartisan evaluations, when as human beings we all are inherently biased the vast majority of the time.
From a nonverbal standpoint, in the above YouTube segment, several moments of this short clip of Belichick's interview are particularly striking. Watch it with the sound muted once or twice, then again with the sound on. How does your impression change with sound?
This image (captured from 8:22) shows the Patriots' coach with an expression - for what many may would describe as "That's just the way Belichick smiles". They would be dead wrong.
This false-smile has clear elements of contempt, disgust and anger present. Can you isolate their features?
There was a clear microexpression of contempt seen at the 8:44 mark as he says "... scientifically ..."
[It's more than a slip of the tongue here that Belichick uses the world "deflate" rather than another word choice - for there is an important physical difference between pressure reduction as a function of lower air temperature and deflation - which involves the removal of air.]
Did you catch it the microexpression? YouTube has a feature ("settings" in the lower right hand corner) where the speed is adjustable. Watch it at full speed (with sound muted) and then at 0.25 speed. You should be able to isolate it.
Another display at 9:31 shows the New England Coach with a classic expression of disgust.
After watching this video, has your opinion of any cheating changed? What other microexpressions are present in this video which were not discussed in this post?
After 11 years of Marriage, Giada De Laurentiis announced yesterday her impending divorce. The chef and her husband Todd Thompson have been separated since July 2014. Giada has made statements stating that their relationship is amicable. The couple has one child (Jade, 6).
What are the components of a sincere smile? How about an insincere one?
Giada is famous for her "toothy" smile. When a person's lower teeth are visible during a smile - it's almost always insincere. Ms. De Laurentiis is well known for this appearance. Her teeth are spectacular - however her sincerity is lacking. Depending on what the rest of the face/neck is doing, such a widely opened and sometimes squared-off mouth appearance can be associated with or is confused with anger or fear - although here neither of these are present with Ms. De Laurentiis. For many people this is their default mouth configuration when they're trying to "push out" a smile which they don't really feel.
The exceptions for lower teeth exposure with sincere smiling are seen during the beginning or end of a display of true laughter (during sincere laughter the lower teeth may be visible), due to a skewed camera or eye angle (e.g., a shorter smiling person next to a taller observer) or with the fatigue associated with prolonged posing (thus after very brief duration the smile becomes insincere).
A sincere smile must also always have eyelids which are partially closed. This is an absolute requirement. The lower eyelids must also always show evanescent, concave-up furrows. This is natural for all ages - and yet plastic surgeons have popularized the removal of this dynamic and natural change seen in the normal and healthy moments of a true smile (Duchenne Smile).
When the cheeks have much less upward movement and more lateral movement (such as when the bottom teeth are exposed) the lower lid crease will not form.
Another component of a sincere smile is a forehead that is always relaxed - Always! - thus when a forehead is contracted - there is always insincerity present. This is a common component of a subconscious, default, false smile for many people - particularly celebrities and politicians.
Badruddin Haqqani, a known leader of the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network (who later was killed in August 2012), was revealed today in this twitter published image with his arm around a man who many believe is recently released American P.O.W., U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.
Below is a nonverbal analysis of Bergdahl's facial expression.
If this is Bowe Bergdahl, he made this false smile under duress. It is in no way sincere.
Note Bergdahl's (or other's) central forehead. Although this image is of low resolution, we can see it is contracted (CFC). A sincere smile NEVER has any component of forehead contraction.
Notice also this man's mild elevation of his right, inner eyebrow - this is consistent with the CFC.
The asymmetry of his mouth as well as the primarily lateral vectoring of his mouth corners is also not consistent with a smile of sincerity.
If you look closely at his eyes, they are partially closed - and some of this closure is secondary to edema (swelling) and ecchymosis (bruising) associated with injury. This is particularly prominent on his left lower eyelid. His right upper lid also appears swollen and the white part of his left eye (sclera) also appears reddened (subconjuctival hemorrhage).
In summary, whether this is Bowe Bergdahl (or another man), his emotion in the moment of this photograph was one of emotional pain and a forced, insincere smile made under duress. He is very probably experiencing physical pain as well.
In the photo above (with high magnification shown below) Eliot Spitzer displays an insincere smile. While Spitzer does have a prominent jaw, he does not have an under-bite. Note his jaw is jutting significantly forward - which is known as a "Jaw Jut" and is a strong nonverbal signal which is NEVER seen in the context of a sincere smile. Indeed the jaw jut is highly consistent with anger.
In addition Spitzer's lower teeth are exposed. When the bottom teeth are visible, the smile is also NOT a Duchenne smile.
There are a good many types of "false smiles" (how many do you know?). People tend to have a favored species of these "social smiles". This jaw jut with lower teeth exposed variety is Eliot Spitzer's default feigned smile.
San Diego Mayor Bob Filner recently announced he's going to undergo therapy for his alleged sexual harassment behavior. At least seven women have accused him of unwanted sexual advances. This is a second post regarding Mr. Filner's Forehead - however today article showcases a key aspect common to one variety of an insincere smile.
Note Bob Filner's contracted forehead muscles. The deep furrows are evidence of this and it is important to distinguish these from passive forehead wrinkles that most everyone has to some degree after middle age. There is no mistaking the dynamic and dramatic example in the above photo though. Whenever the forehead is actively contracted the smile is NEVER a sincere one. Never. Regardless what the mouth looks like or if the eyes are also consistent with smiling. Always look to the forehead and make sure it is relaxed with no dynamic contraction present. If it is, it means that in that moment - sincerity is NOT present.
Another important distinction to remember is that EVERYONE displays false smiles. These are also known as social smiles. This does NOT mean that the person as a whole is insincere - but it means in that moment at least, the person feels the need to "push out" a fake emotion of joy. As pointed out previously however, chronic displays of a contracted forehead muscles carries significant diagnostic weight as to an overall insincere personality pattern.
Warning: The video above contains sexually explicit dialog as well as other graphic details. If you are younger than 18 years or such subjects are offensive to you, please do not watch it. The body language exemplified and discussed in this post is not germane to the sexual-related portion of the video and you can jump ahead to about the 2:28 mark (approximately 85% of the way through this 3:02 length video) to view the dynamics & context of the specific nonverbal sited here - which occurs at the 2:47 mark).
Jodi Arias is on trial for the murder of her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander. During the 2:43 - 2:51 segment, when asked to explain a note she left at her boyfriend's memorial service, telling him how much she loved him - Ms. Arias (in part) says, "...Well I still had love for him yes and [pause with microexpression display - see below] I was thinking now more in terms of eternity...."
At the 2:47 mark (noted in the above paragraph an in the image below but much better viewed dynamically in the video), Jodi Arias displays a microexpression of regret. Regret has a primarily lateral vector of one corner of the mouth (here, Ms. Arias' left), whereas contempt has a primary upward vector. Contempt also has more nostril flaring (aka nasal dilation) than regret (which in its pure form has little nostril involvement). Contempt also has more tension of the "mustache area" (the tissue between the upper lip and nose) and thus looks more like a snarl. Another way of saying this is that with this expression of pure contempt (because emotions are often mixed), the primary lip movement occurs in between the cupid's bow and the corner of the mouth - and with this type of pure regret expression, the primary motion occurs at one corner. Regret has very little to no eyelid involvement - however contempt will (with moderate to extreme examples) often have a partial unilateral eyelid closure (similar to a unilateral appearance of what occurs bilaterally with mild to moderate anger). Regret may often be amalgamated with self-contempt and indeed regret is often the more dominant component (e.g. We may regret our own misdeeds - while we tend to judge others).
This microexpression of regret may also be confused by some with that of "Duping Delight" - but it is not. Duping delight (Ekman) is often (but not always) seen expressed unilaterally and is often seen in a courtroom setting. Unilateral regret, self-contempt and contempt towards others may also be confused with the nonverbal of a pseudo-smile - aka a false, fake or social smile.
Regret or self-contempt - in this example, does not indicate guilt or innocence.
