(Bk Business) Carol Kinsey Goman Ph.D.-The Nonverbal Advantage_ Secrets and Science of Body Language at Work -Berrett-Koehler Publishers (2008)

72 The Nonverbal Advantage
Blushing Cheeks
No other part of the body reacts more dramatically to a flow
of blood than the cheeks. This telltale sign is a simple physiological
fact. When you are emotionally aroused—whether
angry or excited—blood rushes to the face in various degrees.
And when a person is nervous or embarrassed, he blushes.
Taut Skin
Tenseness and anger can be detected by looking for tightness
around the cheeks, along the jaw line, and in the neck. To get
a feel for this, try holding your breath and feel the increased
stiffness in these areas on yourself.
Smiles: Real and Fake
A fake smile is the most common facial expression used to
mask other emotions. A person who doesn’t want her true
feelings revealed (especially if she wants to disguise displeasure
or anger) may “put on a happy face.”
Dr. Paul Ekman identified eighteen distinct smiles—most
of them false. One of the most common in organizational
situations is the “qualifier” smile, which bosses use when
rejecting an idea or criticizing an employee. And we all use
the fake smile in business settings when we don’t really feel
an emotional closeness to those around us; the real smile is
reserved for those we truly care about.
We’ve had a lot of practice doing this. We’ve been displaying
both real and fake smiles all our lives. According to
studies at the University of Maryland, ten-month-old infants
curve their lips in response to the coo of friendly strangers,
but they produce happy, genuine smiles only at the approach
of their mothers.
A fake smile is easy to produce: it takes only one set of
muscles to stretch the lip corners sideways and create a grin.
But a false smile is also easy to detect. A genuine smile not