Social Engineering - Christopher Hadnagy [64]
This definition is not a new understanding either; Charles Darwin wrote a book in 1872 called, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. In this book Darwin noted the universal nature of facial expressions and how muscles were used in facial expressions.
In the early 1960s two researchers, Haggard and Isaacs, first discovered what today is called microexpressions. In 1966, Haggard and Isaacs outlined how they discovered these “micromomentary” expressions in their publication titled, Micromomentary Facial Expressions as Indicators of Ego Mechanisms in Psychotherapy.
Also in the 1960s, William Condon, a pioneer who studied hours of tapes frame by frame, discovered that humans had “micro-movements.” He also heavily researched neurolinguistic programming (more on that later) and body language.
Probably one of the most influential researchers in the field of microexpressions is Dr. Paul Ekman. Dr. Ekman pioneered microexpressions into the science it is today. Dr. Ekman has been studying microexpressions for more than 40 years, receiving the Research Scientist Award as well as being labeled one of Time Magazine’s most influential people on earth in 2009.
Dr. Ekman researched facial expressions with psychologist Silvan Tomkins. His research revealed that, contrary to popular belief, emotions are not culturally determined, but are universal across cultures and biological.
Working with Dr. Maureen O’Sullivan he developed a project called the Wizards Project. He began to pioneer the use of microexpressions in lie detection. He used a base of 15,000 people from all walks of life and all cultures and found out of that large number that only 50 had the ability to spot a deception without training.
In the 1970s Dr. Ekman developed FACS (Facial Action Coding System) to label and number each conceivable human expression. His work branched out to not only include facial expressions but also how the whole body was involved in deception.
By 1972, Dr. Ekman had identified a list of expressions that were linked with basic or biologically universal emotions:
Anger
Disgust
Fear
Joy
Sadness
Surprise
Dr. Ekman’s work began to take on a following, and many law enforcement and corporate environments began to use this research in detecting deception. In 1990, in a paper entitled “Basic Emotions,” Dr. Ekman revised his original list to include a range of positive and negative emotions (www.paulekman.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/Basic-Emotions.pdf). Dr. Ekman has published many books on emotions, facial expressions, and lie detection that can help each person to understand the value in being able to decode facial expressions.
This brief history indicates that the subject of microexpressions is not some fantasy; on the contrary, real doctors, researchers, and professionals in the field of human behavior have put countless hours into understanding microexpressions. As a social engineer, understanding microexpressions can go a long way toward protecting your clients and teaching them how to notice subtle hints of deception.
If you are a social engineer, or just a person interested in learning about microexpressions, I strongly suggest reading Dr. Ekman’s books, especially Emotions Revealed and Unmasking the Face. He is truly the authority on this topic. The following sections describe the microexpressions in a simplistic format so you can see how you can use this later on as a social engineer.
As mentioned earlier, Dr. Ekman labeled six main microexpressions and later on added contempt to the list, making seven. The following sections cover these one by one.
Anger
Anger is usually easier to spot than some other expressions. In anger the lips become narrow and tense. The eyebrows slant downward and are pushed together—then comes the most noticeable characteristic of anger, the glare.
Anger is a strong emotion and can trigger many other emotions along with it. Sometimes when a person feels anger