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Facial Expressions

2-12-24
I didn’t know I couldn’t read facial expressions because I thought all there were was happy, sad, surprised and angry. Happy being turned up lips. Sad being turned down lips. Surprise being an open mouth. And angry being eyebrows down. I realized I didn’t understand when I was on the Personality Cafe forum and a lady wanted to play a game where we guessed each others facial expressions. Not only could I not guess her 100’s of expressions, I also couldn’t make more faces with my face other than the basic ones I listed above. I took a test just now analyzing faces and I don’t understand contempt or disgust or fear. Fear looks like surprise. I wonder if it even matters if I understand negativity? Maybe that’s part of what makes me childlike is that I don’t interpret all the mean faces.

Comments

Hello! I suggest looking at pictures of different facial expressions and memorizing them. you could take that test over and over again until you nail it, and then take it again once every other day just to make sure you nail it. You could also imagine various scenarios of people with certain facial expressions and then figure out based on your best guess of what the expression means, what would be a good response. I suggest trying to practice certain facial expressions and verbal intonation that seem to match the context of what you're saying. They don't have to be extreme depictions of the expressions.

I am not naturally expressive, but i force myself to use a variety of different expressions in specific moments of conversation. I will do this especially if I feel obligated to be expressive whenever I think it's likely that the individuals I'm speaking with come to a wrongful judgement if I don't use any expression at all.
 
I think I have about the same ability to recognize faces as you do - it doesn't come natural, and for my own expressions even smiling is difficult, at Christmas one of my aunts wanted to take a picture of me, and kept asking me to smile, but I felt I was smiling all I could wiht my mouth, my eyes, all I knew, but still she couldn't see I was smiling :) And at the same time, other people think they can read me like an open book, just sometimes, what they tell me they see me do is opposite of what I really feel... it's confusing...
 

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Lilacleia16
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