Social Engineering - Christopher Hadnagy [68]
Try this exercise to show surprise:
1. Raise your eyebrows, not in fear but with the goal of widening your eyes as much as you can.
2. Let your jaw unhinge and open slightly.
3. After you get the expression down pat try doing it quickly.
I noticed I almost was forced to gasp in some air when I did it, causing me to feel something similar to surprise. You should see an expression similar to Figure 5-9.
Dr. Paul Ekman
Figure 5-9: Notice the way the eyes and lips appear similar to fear.
Surprise can be good or bad. Hearing your daughter’s first words, of course, is a good surprise. Or the surprise can be one of an event, statement, or question that you didn’t expect that causes this response.
That is what I suspect is happening to Jessica Simpson in Figure 5-10. Notice how her eyebrows are raised and her jaw is unhinged and open. She is showing all the classic signs of being surprised, maybe by the question that was just asked of her or a response to something she heard.
Figure 5-10: Often confused with fear, surprise has some minor differences.
If the surprise is positive, it can often cause even a smile or a jovial response. As Jessica’s expression in Figure 5-10 shows, she looks surprised, but also happy about the surprise. A social engineer can sometimes use surprise to open the target’s door, so to speak; following up with quick wit or a joke can quickly put the target at ease, causing her to lower her guard.
Sadness
Sadness is an overwhelming and strong emotion. Sadness is one of those emotions that we may feel ourselves when we see other people who are expressing this emotion. Some people can feel sadness just by seeing others who are sad, even to the point of crying.
To show you how easily you can feel sadness, try this exercise:
1. Drop your mouth open slightly.
2. Pull the corners of your lips down.
3. Hold your lips in place, and while doing that try to raise your cheeks as if you are squinting.
4. While maintaining that tension, look down and let your upper eyelids droop.
Most likely you will begin to feel sadness. When I first did this exercise, it was overwhelming for me. I instantly felt sad and found I had to control the length of time I performed it because it caused me to be sad for quite a while. To see how this should look, notice the expression in Figure 5-11.
Dr. Paul Ekman
Figure 5-11: Notice the lips and eyes drawn back and down, signifying sadness.
Another aspect of sadness that makes it an amazing emotion is that it does not always have to display as agony or extreme grief. Sadness can be very subtle. Sadness can also be displayed in just one part of the face. People may try to hide sadness by using a fake smile or what I call “stoic eyes,” where they stare straight ahead, almost in a daze, but you can tell they are trying to control the emotion they are feeling.
Take a look at Figure 5-12; in this picture you can see an example of sadness being expressed that way. During an interview about her divorce and family, Kate Gosselin tries to hide her emotion, but if you look at her lips you can see very subtle hints of sadness.
Figure 5-12: Notice the lips drawn back and down, signifying sadness.
Besides the lips, the eyes are another key indicator of sadness. This expression can be hard to read and can be confused with tiredness and other emotions, but looking at a person’s demeanor and body language can also help with the cues.
This is the case with cultures that cover much of their face. As you can see in Figure 5-13, these women are attending a funeral; although mostly covered, the center woman reveals in her eyes that she is feeling sadness.
Figure 5-13: Notice the eyes looking down and the upper eyelid drooping.
Sadness is often used in social engineering because it can trigger people to take an action such as donate money or give out information. You have probably seen it used in television commercials showing a very disadvantaged child. These children may be malnourished, poverty stricken, and seemingly unloved, but for just a small donation you can bring