Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2728: Mikaela Shiffrin wins Gold at Sochi - Sincere Surprise Body Language (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

Mikaela Shiffrin won a Gold Medal in Sochi today. She is the reigning World Cup and World Champion in Slalom - and has become the youngest person ever to win Gold at an Olympic slalom event. Shiffrin is shown in the above image (L) earlier today next to Silver Medalist Marlies Schild (Austria).

The surprise on Shiffrin's face is sincere. Note how widely her eyes are opened here. Her mid-face is also stretched as her mouth and eyes are opening very wide. When people feign surprise they will open their mouth somewhat widely - however this is nearly always with a greater horizontal component. However, notice how Mikaela's mouth is open more widely VERTICALLY. Moreover her teeth are not visible. Although there are exceptions (when other emotions are co-existing) neither upper nor lower teeth are almost never visible during SINCERE surprise - thus if teeth are visualized - the surprise is almost always fake.

Congratulations Mikaela!

See also:

Negotiation Nonverbal Communication Secret # 1171:  Not So Fast Swift ....  Taylor's False Surprise

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2653: Carey Mulligan - Blunted Surprise and ... Body Language on Jimmy Kimmell, Part I

Negotiation Nonverbal Communication Secret # 1261:  True Surprise - Rarely Captured  IMF Director Christine Lagarde

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

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2719: Julia Mancuso at Sochi Olympics - Body Language of a Heightened Adrenaline State 




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Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2211: David Beckham, Body Language signals of Honest Surprise, Emotional Processing and Sincerity

In this video from earlier this year at the London Summer Olympics, David Beckham (who just played his last match with the LA Galaxy helping them win the 2012 MLS Cup) provokes shows some great body language examples of several primary emotions.

David Beckham is surprising people in a photo booth. True surprise is very evanescent. The full expression is thus relatively rarely captured in an image. Freeze frame at 1:08. The woman in the middle exemplifies the expression of surprise fully. Her very widely opened eyes along with her equally widely opened and vertically elongated oval-shaped mouth are highly characteristic of sincere surprise. Rapid mouth covering seen here as well is also a nonverbal signal of surprise as well as emotionally processing. The intellectual mind knows something has happened - yet the emotional mind is in a sort of momentary denial and playing catch up. When you see this occur rapidly after the wide mouth and eye opening - it's a telltale sign of sincerity and sometimes empathy.

The young boy and his mother towards the beginning of the video show addition signals of sincerity with a full palm contact touching of the sternum (0:26 - 0:30) and the left chest (0:35 - 0:39). When the palm makes contact in this context - it signals "heart felt" sincerity. Many people feign this emotion with the nonverbal MAP (manipulator, adaptor, pacifier) of finger-tip only contact or unwittingly touching the right side of the chest - where they are "heart-less".

See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2170: The San Francisco Giants, Surprise, Bird Poop and Body Language

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 1914: Sincere Surprise - Often Faked & Difficult to Capture  Spain Beats Portugal in Euro 2012

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2159: Tom Hanks drops the F-bomb on GMA - Body Language of Fear, Surprise, MAPs and a Bitter Smile

Leadership Secret # 221: Spontaneous Mouth Covering & Empathy - Hillary Clinton's Body Language during Osama Bin Laden raid.

Negotiation Nonverbal Communication Secret # 1212: Sudden Mouth Covering

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2096: Canadian Tenors, Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen) and Celine Dion

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 1900: Palmar Touch of another Person, an Animal or Object 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 1866: Miley Cyrus & Liam Hemsworth are Engaged - An Affection-Love Sincerity Signal  

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Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 1525: Up for Auction, Up for Interpretation - Edvard Munch's "The Scream"

Edvard Munch's painting, "The Scream", goes on the action block in New York Next month. Sotheby's expects it to fetch more than $80 Million. The primary emotion being displayed here is that of surprise. There are also components of fear and empathy. It is interesting to note that a more careful translation to English is "Shriek". 

The combination of the highly characteristic widely opened, oval mouth with the eyelids also opened very widely - is classic body language display for the emotion of surprise. The "white and wide" eyes are also consistent with fear. Full palmar (palm of the hand) contact in this context signals empathy - although this would have more fully captured had Munch painted the subject's hands a bit more forward on the face - perhaps even with a partial mouth or eye cover. The eyes (right more so than the left) looking downward-and-to-the-right, adds to the deep emotional tone of this expression. If this were a photograph of a real person, the subject in the foreground would very likely be looking at the rapid unfolding of a tragedy.

See also:

Secret # 617: Ginger White and Herman Cain

Secret # 21: Surprise + Fear + Empathy

Secret # 269: I Just Remembered + Surprise

Updated 3 May 2012 - "The Scream" sold for $119,900,000 yesterday:



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