The Universality Of Emotional Expressions with Dr. Paul Ekman

The Universality Of Emotional Expressions with Dr. Paul Ekman

How we recognize each other as humans have a lot to do with what we see physically. When it comes to showing emotions, we rely so much on facial expressions. Dr. Paul Ekman, Professor Emeritus at the University of California, San Francisco and the world’s deception detection expert, goes deep into universal expressions. Contrary to the belief that every culture has unique expressions, Dr. Ekman goes against the grain and points to the universal expressions we all share. Also a co-discoverer of micro-expressions and the inspiration behind the hit television series, Lie to Me, he dives into the whole idea of how we perceive other people, taking it on from the biological side, the mental side, and even cultural. Discover more how our emotional systems are shown in our facial expressions and how we can use it to tell whether to trust someone or not.

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Facial Recognition and Emotional Intelligence

I have quite a few of my doctoral students who are working on their dissertation on emotional intelligence. In our book, It’s Not You It’s Your Personality, Toni Rothpletz and I include a chapter about emotional intelligence. When I wrote my dissertation on the relationship between emotional intelligence and sales performance, I found one book to be particularly useful in explaining the different models. If you are researching emotional intelligence, I would suggest reading: Emotional Intelligence: Key Readings on the Mayer and Salovey Model. I think another very interesting and useful thing to read on the topic is this article by Mayer, et al, Human Abilities: Emotional Intelligence. It has some very comprehensive information about emotional intelligence, the difference approaches and measurement techniques, as well as what it does and does not predict. No list of important reading in the area of emotional intelligence would be complete without mentioning Daniel Goleman’s book as well . . . See: Emotional Intelligence: Why it Can Matter More than IQ.

One of my students is looking into adding the facial recognition aspect to her studies. If you missed my blog about taking facial recognition quizzes, click here. For those of you who have seen the TV show Lie to Me, they have some interesting research they tie into that show about facial recognition. Dr. Paul Ekman’s work was the inspiration for this show. On his site, he discusses whether you can be like the show’s character Cal Lightman. Ekman does a review of the show on a blog where he points out what is based on truth and what is not. Eckman has produced some courses for facial recognition called the Microexpression Training Tool or METT and the Subtle Training Expression Tool SETT. Click here for more information. To find out more about Dr. Ekman’s books, including one he wrote with the Dalai Lama, click here.