Basic Emotional Expressions

When it comes to talking about body language, facial expressions come first because our eyes pick the muscular movements given away by the face on which they're located. Paying attention to the face and facial experssion is obvious due to the peculiar location of eyes. We pay a lot of our attention to the way our entire face move its muscles.

According to renowned American psychologist Prof. Dr. Paul Ekman, seven basic emotions are widely experienced in different human cultures across the whole planet. Expressing emotions is not required to be taught. It's an autonomous process and we all inherit from our remote common ancestors.

Apart of the seven basic emotions, all other emotions (and their expressions) can be classified under a single emotion or a combination of two different emotions. For example, aggressiveness is closely related with anger whereas nervousness is combination of fear and sadness.

Don't forget to watch below YouTube video of Dr. Paul Ekman himself talking about the emotions - their evolution, purpose and sensory stimulus.

1) Fear: It’s a state of preparing to run away from imagined or actual warning or danger.

Eyebrows tensely get curled, shoulders fall down, neck gets stiff, eyes stay focused or averted, blinking goes up, eyes get widely open to let more light pass to retina, mouth opens wide to let more air pass to lungs, vocal tone trembles, respiration soars, heartbeats go up, face becomes faint, throat gets dry and saliva’s swallowed, torso lowers, stomach gets pulled inside, whole body starts sweating and shivering, hands appear muffling the mouth to suppress scream, body hides itself behind something and feet gets ready to flee.

2) Anger: It’s a state of preparing to retaliate, oppose or punish somebody. 

Whole body is tightened or bluffed to appear bigger and hostile.

Eyes get wide open, body temperature starts rising, eyes stay focused, short darts move all over target, neck gets stiff, face and eyes turn red, shoulders spread wide, torso elevates, chest puffs, nostrils flare, respiration soars, pulse jumps, lips get tightly closed or opened, teeth get exhibited, vocal tone becomes fierce, feasts get clenched, arms get crossed over chest or rest on hips, feet get firmly grounded and separated apart to prepare for attack.

3) Disgust: It’s a state of exhibiting loathe or lack of interest about a person or an object.

Torso and face turn away, eyes become faint, heartbeats drop, gaze becomes more fleeting than fixated, mouth gets opened on either side, lower lips push out, tongue protrudes, nostrils pull upward, breath exhales briskly, throat clearing sound generates, sounds like “Yuck”, “Whack”, “Ooom” expel from mouth, vocal tone gets dull, hands push or hold the source of disgust away.

4) Sadness: It’s a state of disapproval or physical exhaustion to make person appear in a demand of others' attention and support.

Posture doesn't remain stiff, responses dampen, neck hangs loose or tilts side way down, hands support neck or cover face, shoulders come closer, respiration rate drops, eyes hover around own body, eyes barely open, lower lip pushes over upper lip, edges of mouth curl down, palms clamp together and rest on lap or hid in pocket, vocal tone becomes dull - heavy and sluggish, sounds like “Hmm”, “Whoosh” expel from mouth.

5) Surprise: It’s a state of hyper curiosity and great attention being paid to object, person, situation or phenomenon that is unexpected, inexperienced or takes place suddenly.

Eyes get wide open to let more light pass to retina, eyebrows raise, neck remains straight or tilts backward, mouth gets wide open, lips get rounded, hair raise, jaw drops, vocal tone accentuates, sounds like “Wow”, “Ohh” expel from mouth, torso gets raised, hands are kept in ready position, whole body faces and points partially or fully towards the source of surprise.

6) Happiness: It’s a state of expressing and enjoying some kind of achievement, benefit, fulfillment or victory. 

Whole body starts sending message of excitement, open and outgoing or sharing temperament.

Body raises upwards, footsteps appear flying, movements become energetic, facial muscles get relaxed, mouth opens, edges of mouth curl upward, teeth get partially or fully exhibited, eyes glitter, gaze remains more upward or ahead and away from body, palms gets open and held upward, hands get separated and are raised shoulder high or above, vocal tone gets crunchy - chirpy - sweet, sound like “Ha…Ha...Ha...”, “Hurray…” “Ho...Ho…”, “Hey...Hey...”, “Yeah”, “Yippee…”, “Yee Haw” expels from mouth.

7) Contempt: It's an exhibition of self-evaluated superiority i. e. assumption about oneself as better than the other (in some areas) or an utter dislike.

Unlike other six basic expressions, contempt is expressed consciously or thoughtfully and mostly on face.

Eyes are narrowed, lips tightly press together, either edge of mouth gets pulled upward appearing like an asymmetrical smile, sound like "Hhhhh" rapidly expels from mouth.

Either or both edges of lips deeply pinched inside cheeks is also an expression of contempt.

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